Heaven café

Last friday my mother was frantic to take me to this café in Heppenheim and I couldn't understand why she was so hectic but as soon as we stepped into the café, I got it. This is the most beautiful café I've ever been in, called Muse Chocolat. The decoration is the cutest thing ever, I'm guessing french renaissance? Well I'm no architectural genius, but exactly this is how I picture my future house.

 

And the food was simply art. You kinda stare at it for a while admiring the work that has been put into it.

 

 There's an open kitchen on the ground floor and you can take a look at the kitchen action while waiting for your dish.

Who wouldn't fall in love with this place? 

If you're ever in Heppenheim, I strongly recommend you to have brunch there, it's most picturesque and lovely. It's located in the Altstadt

Marktstr. 4, 64646 Heppenheim.

xx

Andy

Books books books

I came across this article on StumbleUpon about Neil deGrasse Tyson's list of books that should be read by any intelligent person. Of course it's not meant that if you haven't read them you're a stupid person; it's more about knowing which books he considers to be enlightening for a person. And come on, it's NdT, he's a superhero in the astrophysics world.

1. The Bible. To learn that it's easier to be told by others what to think and believe than it is to think for yourself

2. The System of the World (Newton). To learn that the universe is a knowable place

3. On the Origin of Species (Darwin). To learn of our kinship with all other life on Earth

4. Gulliver's Travels (Swift). To learn, among other satirical lessons, that most of the time humans are Yahoos

5. The Age of Reason (Paine). To learn how the power of rational thought is the primary source of freedom in the world

6. The Wealth of Nations (Smith). To learn that capitalism is an economy of greed, a force of nature unto itself

7. The Art of War (Sun Tsu). To learn that the act of killing fellow humans can be raised to an art

8. The Prince (Machiavelli). To learn that people not in power will do all they can to acquire it, and people in power will do all they can to keep it

NdT said: if you read all of the above works you will glean profound insight into most of what has driven the history of the western world. Original post here

Do you agree? Are you a big fan of books? Which ones would you recommend?

A literary quest

Some of the people that know me declare that I have a temporary obsession disorder and I do. From time to time I take a particular interest on something and obsess with it for months until I've sucked the life out of it and it out of me allI let it go. It doesn't bore me at all to have this little obsessions, I do enjoy having them and learning from them. I now have a flow of several topics of interest, but as I'm reading the A Song of Ice and Fire sequel (praise George R. R. Martin) I decided to polish my literature basics.

Academic Earth is the place to quench your short obsession's thrist. I mean, you can learn from every subject you want and from the best universities. If you also take interest in Literature, here you go!

Heidelberg

I was in Heidelberg last Thursday with my dear friend Andrea. We climbed up (with the fonicular) up to Königstuhl, visited the Schloss and came down later to have some sushi on the Hauptstraße. It was a marvellous day and the most beautiful city ever. If I should add, no filter!

Wine heaven it is.

 

We had sushi at Sayuki, pay them a visit, it's so worth it!

 I was very very happy, as you all can see. I enjoyed this trip so much, I can't wait to be back in Heidelberg. No wonder this city was the epicenter of the romantic times, it is magical. 

TED Talk Tuesday

It's happening. Once a week I'll be sharing with you guys some of my favorite TED Talks. This one's about recycling and the truth and lies behind it. I found it so fascinating, because it changed my perspective on how we think about recycling. There are many aspects so be considered, and in order for us to be a sustainable society, we need get to the root of the problem.

Hope you have a good week!

Skin help?

Since I've been here in Germany I've been battling with my skin. Weird outbreaks have led me to a chocolate and butter prohibition, reducing the amount of oil I use while cooking and the consume of milk products, and passing out on greasy food. In spite of all the precautions I've taken, I've come to a point where I no longer know what to do. I'm struggling with the most violent form of acne I could've ever imagined.

[What the hell?]

I've tried all the cleansers, all the creams, the expensive ones and the cheaper ones and nothing has worked so far. The one thing that has been soothing at least has been LUSH's Ocean Salt scrub.

It's a little bit expensive than your usual face scrub but it does the job wonderfully and you really feel a difference since day one. I only use it in the night because it contains lemon, and lemon is known for causing stains in your skin when exposed to the sun.

While I was browsing through Douglas, I refound the Clarisonic Cleansing Brushes and I was almost decided to try it out, but I backed down because I want to be 100% sure of buying this since it's quite the investment. 

Have you used Clarisonic? Does it battle acne?

Do you know any other products that might help?

Lifegoals and projects

Every teenager has been asked the same question at least a thousand times: What do you want to do with your life? This is the question that keeps me awake at night, brainstorming possible plans and shaping an actually uncertain future. The fact is, I have too many things I want to do and too many projects and when the time comes I'm going to have to choose one of the several paths I've mentally drawn.

I came to Germany with the intent to study Environmental Engineering, which I was 100% sure of, but sometime in the past months after being more than obsessed with to-die-for real state I'm starting to consider Civil Engineering because it gives me a broader job opportunity than to study something too specific. So far, I'm quite excited about this change, which is no change at all because I'm planning to specialize later on an enviromental area.

Parallel to my studies I also want to pursue other fields of study like Literature, Architecture, Philosophy, Astrophysics (ok that one's more like a star-gazing hobby) and Politics. Now the question is, how the hell am I going to fit all of that in a lifetime?

To be honest, I have no idea, but I'm sure gonna have fun (and not so much fun) figuring it out.

xo

Andy