London in the Snow

There isn't much I like doing more than walking through regents park to Primrose Hill and then on to Camden markets from there. So that's exactly what I did a few weeks ago, in the snow.

It's quite rare to get as much snow as we did in London, and although it disrupts travel in most other parts of the South East, thankfully the tube lines carry on running as normal (for the most part!) 

As a regular visitor to London now, I find myself drawn back to regents park and the surrounding area quite often, and what better place to go when it's snowing?

Just the other side of the park of course is Camden Locks. This was actually my first visit to the markets and I'm sure they are even better on a summers day.

Did you do anything nice in the snow?

Berlin

Although it's probably not the best time of year to visit Berlin, I needed a Holiday, and it's a relatively cheap place to visit from the UK. As expected, the weather was cold and a little damp, but no worse than at home at the moment.

I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from Berlin before visiting. I was aware of the history and expected to spend a lot of my time wandering through museums. What surprised me was how much of the city itself actually showed the history.

We were lucky enough to be staying just down the road from Checkpoint Charlie, so we walked past it almost everyday to get to other area's of the city. It was amazing to think how historic a landmark that was at one time.

Berlin had plenty of nice places to stop for a tea or coffee. I particularly liked this one, selling loose leaf tea and great big seeded sandwiches. This was just around the corner from Checkpoint Charlie and very convenient when we first arrived in the city!

Great to see what fun people can have with what was an oppressive symbol at one time. Also god to see that the wall wasn't just removed and forgotten, it's in plain sight so that everybody can see and remember the atrocities that the country has seen in the past.

People willing to que for a ticket to see some of the great museums on Berlin's Museum Island!

There were lots of reminders of the Holocaust. This was the most striking. Towering pillars of concrete creating a maze in memory of the concentration camps and murdered Jews. Very imposing and lifeless.

There was plenty of opportunity to sit, listen and digest the huge amount of history on offer. Definitely a good place to when the weather isn't very nice outside. It may not be the most glamorous holiday destination, and you certainly won't get a tan, but it's definitely stimulating and very interesting!

Canon S110

Although posts about just a camera can be very boring, and I've already done one about an almost identical camera, I couldn't help but share this with you. I'm a sucker for a nice gadget, and this camera is right up my street.

The S110 is the newest addition to canon's powershot range of S series camera's. And I think it's just fantastic.

I was a huge fan of the S95, both because it was small enough to fit in a pocket, but took excellent pictures at the same time. The S110 is even better.

In terms of picture quality it's just as good as the S95. The main difference being that it looks slightly better, has a touch screen and has Wi-Fi so that you can directly transfer photo's from your camera to any device with Wi-Fi. This means that you can upload photo's of anything, almost anywhere and be happy with the quality. Obviously camera's on phones are getting better, but you still can't beat the image quality of a 'proper' camera like this one.

February Wish List

I always have a huge wish list of items and I can never afford to buy them all. But we have to aspire to something i suppose!

Here's a quick roundup of what i'd love to buy at the moment.

I love technology, but specifically anything Apple. Although i have a MacbookPro, i'd love to add a Macbook Air to my collection. I think it would be perfect for all the travelling that i do. Ideally i'd get the 11inch model. I think i'd prefer one of these to an iPad, mainly because i think the laptop is slightly more versatile and so that i can blog while i'm away of course. But obviously this means that i would have to shell out a little more. Keep on dreaming…!

Obviously, if i was to buy a Macbook Air, i'd need to buy a bag to go with it. Luckily, the Kilkenny bag by Knomo is made to fit the 11inch perfectly. I think these two would have to be bought in tandem really!

I've been eying up the B&W P5 headphones for some time now, and i think they would be the perfect travelling accompaniment to the above two items. Judging by the reviews, they sound fantastic. I'm sure you'll agree with me that they also look fantastic!

Please let me know if there's any major technology that i should add onto my 'gadget wish list'. For now, if any of you would like to treat me to these, please let me know.
Hopefully one day i will be able to afford to buy one, if not all of these. I will be sure to post about it if/when this happens.

ModernMan.

Canon S95

So, this is a quick look at the now outdated Canon S95 camera.

I love this camera because it gives me the photo quality of a DSLR but it fits in my pocket easily. This obviously means that it's handier, and i'm more likely to carry it with me. They do say that the best camera is the one that you have with you after all, hence the great success of mobile phone camera's! Although this is the older model now, with the recent release of the Canon S100, i still think it's a fantastic camera, and it means that you can pick one up on eBay for under £200. Bit of a bargain really win they retailed for nearly £400 less than a year ago! I especially like the ring that runs around the lens of the camera and allows quick and easy adjustment of nearly any setting.

As you can see, not only is the ring an easy way to navigate settings, but the rest of the features are well laid out. Even if you don't want to fiddle too much with the technicalities of this camera, you can still render some fantastic photo's.

I would certainly recommend this camera to anybody looking to replace theirs, especially if your torn between getting a pocket digital and a DSLR. You won't regret it, i promise you!

Modern Man

Desk setup

So, this is my workstation. I love having the extra screen connected to my macbook pro, means that i can either have two monitors or just concentrate on one slightly bigger than i would otherwise have! Also love the stand that i have for my laptop. It's by rain design and it's called the mstand. This lifts my laptop to eye level and makes working at it much easier. Also enjoy using a fountain pen at home. Just makes writing look that much better!

The one thing i would change is the mouse. The one i have at the moment is pretty old and the ball for scrolling is completely ruined. I'm toying with the idea of the apple magic mouse/trackpad to replace it, but i just can't decide which one to get! Thoughts on this would really be appreciated.

Any questions about what i have on my desk, just fire away!

ModernMan.

New stationary

I love stationary of any kind, and decided that today i would buy myself a nice new notepad for those times when you just want to note something down. I couldn't resist splashing out on a new pen to go with it! These are what i ended up getting (i've been eyeing up the moleskin pads for a long time!)

Apologies for the pretty boring post, but i'm sure there are some people out there who can appreciate the beautiful simplicity of a new pen and notepad!

ModernMan