16.07.19 - Oi sumida

Halloooo,

Off to Switzerland today with a heavy heart, but it has been a rollicking good few weeks back home!  

Football and pub on Thursday, first dance rehearsal on Friday followed by a burger at the Zona Norte's latest swinging hangout, another surprisingly extravagant baby shower on Saturday, and a trip to the Serra on Sunday for nice food and views.  Then we went on a whirlwind tour of pretty much every part of the city delivering wedding invites on Sunday evening, so I've certainly had my fill of SP.

We're in good stead for the wedding season and the app is (touch wood) almost ready to launch, so it's not all doom and gloom.  Really not looking forward to living in a Swiss valley with no luggage for a month though.  Anyway, my phrase of the week ("hey, [one who has gone missing]") is usually used by people looking to hook up with their ex, but I feel it has a certain poignancy in this context. 

Also: come on down, compilation #200!

See you in Zurich,

Fred, White and Blue

09.07.19 - Cebolinha

Halloooo,

Greetings from chilly Brazil, where temperatures have dropped into single figures (!), notably on Saturday night where we went for dinner with friends of Ridaut and Adny in the mountains and literally had to huddle together for warmth over pasta.  

We've focused on hibernating, keeping the cats warm and eating lots of nice food, and have been to a baby shower and first-dance rehearsal, among other wedding-related goings-on. Brazil won the Copa America and their breakout star, Everton, has been nicknamed "Cebolinha" or "Little Onion", for reasons unclear. And I've made a new compilation!

Until next week,

Your Fredly Neighbourhood Spiderman

02.07.19 - Durchzug

Hallooooo,

Great to be back in São Paulo after a Friday night flight and a particularly sweaty week in Berlin.  Although I discovered the expression "durchzug" - or "courant d'air", which the Germans are also apparently averse to, even in the middle of a heatwave - and went to a packed Olympic pool again on Wednesday, so it wasn't all bad.

Since I've been back we've been to several lovely parties, to deliver wedding invites in person and catch up with various folk, and had BBQ for lunch AND dinner on Sunday at Claudio's, which scratched that particular itch.  Gone made a new compilation too, have a listen if you like.  

Speak soon so we can go over our Brazilian plans in detail!

Freddity (is the soul of wit)

25.06.19 - Cama de viúva

Hallooooo,

Lovely to speak to you in sunny Italy, hope the rest of your trip was productive and filled with pasta.  Here in Berlin I'm literally just marking time until I head back home on Friday, with ridiculous heat and humidity forecast for the rest of the week, which should be fun.

At the weekend I went to check out Hackescher Markt and its delightful Hofes, then on to Museum Island for a stroll in the sun, down Friedrichstraße and back home, then on Sunday I went for a dip in the Olympic Stadium pool and went for a huge Syrian-style lunch with my flatmate before collapsing.

I've made not one but two new compilations, and my phrase of the day is one of the weirder idiosyncrasies of the Brazilian furniture industry: a bed which is somewhere in between a single and a double in size is commonly referred to as a "widow's bed", because that's obviously the only market demographic for them...

Speak soon!

Fred Up

18.06.19 - Uma mão lava a outra

Wa'gwan? Back to work here after an enjoyable flying visit to the UK at the weekend. 

I got to Isleham on Saturday morning to take in a farmer's market, meet Fred the dog, pick up my deliveries and eat an assortment of pies, only to relocate to Cambridge in the afternoon for practical transportation purposes, which worked out quite well as I got to see Henar, Brenna, Callum and the kids, have a jam in Tom's shed, eat lots of scones and eventually collapse before an early-morning trek to Stansted. 

The rest of the weekend was spent napping, eating Sudanese haloumi and watching The Young Pope, which is ruthlessly absurd and quite brilliant. I've made another compilation, and my phrase of the day ("one hand washes the other") is the (typically hygienic) Brazilian equivalent of "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours".

Speak soon!

StanFred Airport

11.06.19 - O sujo falando do mal lavado

Halloooo,

Lovely to speak the other day - as mentioned, we've been trying to crack the UK market with our forever-delayed website, holding several quickfire meetings with potential investors and partners in London (all either positive or at least not totally confusing), and grabbing home comforts like fish & chips where we could.

At the weekend I went to Potsdam to check out the Dutch Quarter and the Sanssouci Park, which had so many opulent castles that I got castle fatigue and had to wander back for a Lindt milkshake, which I highly recommend.  Then I stopped by the Film Museum which was most amusing, particularly my in-costume screentest as a character from Sonnenallee.

On Sunday I went to the Reichstag for a guided tour of the halls, the plenary chamber and the cupola, which was pretty cool (and free!), then on to the sunny East which had been taken over by pedestrians, food trucks and Brazilian samba troupes, before heading back and napping furiously.

I've made another compilation, and my phrase of the day ("the dirty speaking of the badly-washed") is a more hygiene-based take on the old "pot calling the kettle black" chestnut. Makes sense given the relative importance of tea and showers to the English and Brazilians, respectively.

That's all for the noo,

Freidrich der Große

04.06.19 - Die Ritter der Kokosnuss

Hallooooo,

Hope all well mit du.  Work is moving full speed ahead, apart from the actual website, which is still stuck in bug-laden purgatory, and we're off to London tomorrow for a whirlwind few days of meetings. 

This weekend, after consulting the Berlin book you gave me, I went to check out the Grunewald Hunting Lodge deep in the forest, where all sorts of weird Masonic Weimar stuff probably went on back in the day. And on Sunday I went to the Olympic Stadium and swimming pool for a few laps in the sweltering heat, which was rather fun.

Elsewhere, I've made a sparkling new compilation, and my phrase of the day comes from browsing German Netflix, which has translated "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" as "The Knights of the Coconut".

Speak soon!

Fredday I'm in Love