Urban Roofer

my bucket list

The Observer recently published a list of the 30 best rooftop bars in Europe. This is my new to-do list for visiting the Old Continent.

I wish I had known about these spots on my recent journeys to Madrid and London. I did get to see the London skyline from the The Eye, and the view from the roof of my hotel in Madrid was quite nice. Neither was quite like relaxing at a bar with a great view, though. Oh well. Now I have a reason to go back. Shucks.

urban roofing: barcelona

I recently returned from my fourth trip to Barcelona. It's an amazing city, with some amazing buildings designed by this brilliant but bat-shit-crazy guy named Gaudi.

I could bore you to tears about the what a great city it is, and the spectacular Gaudi buildings that remind you of a wonderful dream you had once, or twisted nightmare that haunts you to this day, (you're never sure which,) but that's not the point. I'm here today to tell you about Gaudi's greatest gift to Barcelona: urban roofing nirvana.

On this trip I paid my first visit to the top of Sagrada Familia, a cathedral completely unlike any other building in the world, that's also still under construction. It's Gaudi's most amazing work, and it's also quite the urban roofing experience. Sagrada Familia offers - by far - the best rooftop vantage point to take in all that is Barcelona.

You get a great view of everything, including the much more modern Torre Agbar, which I love, despite its sin of not having a rooftop.

Sagrada Familia itself is fascinating, of course, and the active construction going on makes it all the more interesting to be up there. It's quite an experience. It's almost... religious.

(More photos of this amazing house-of-worship-in-progress here.)

Some tips for visiting Sagrada Familia:

• See all of it. The outside alone is amazing, but if that's all you see, you have no idea how much wonderfulness you're missing inside. Pay the admission; it's worth every Euro-cent.
• Once you're inside, go up. Trust me - even if you're not into the tops of buildings the way I am - it's worth it. The elevator operator will hit you up for another €2, but the €8 you parted with at the front gate will be completely wasted if you don't make it to the top. (Just ignore the fact that they obviously priced it that way so your visit would net them an even €10. Suck it up and give them credit for being crafty like that.)
• There's usually a long line for the first elevator. What's not immediately clear (because they don't seem to have grasped the concept of "signage" at this place) is that there's another elevator on the other side that rarely has a line at all. Only chumps wait an hour for the elevator near the entrance. (Although if the line is only 20 minutes or less, do both elevators, because each takes you up a different side of the building.)
• Be prepared to walk down seemingly endless narrow winding stairs on the way down. Sometimes they don't tell you until you're already on the elevator that you can't take it back down; the only way down is the stairs. It's a fun walk down, though, with plenty of neat stops and sights along the way. (You used to be able to take the stairs up, too, but not anymore.)
• Don't miss the museum in the basement. I only found it when looking for the bathroom, and even then only because one bathroom was out of order, (that damn signage issue again,) but it's a huge and fascinating museum about the building. Look for the drawings that show what it will look like when finished. I can't wait to see them build the ten-story fire torch in front and the ten-story cross on top that shoots laser beams from the points. I am NOT kidding. I told you Gaudi was kinda bat-shit...

Now on to another amazing Gaudi roofing experience: La Pedrera.

There's a mighty decent view from this roof, but I'd say the experience here is more about the rooftop itself than the view. It's something right out of Dr. Seuss, except it's not an attraction at a theme park. This is Gaudi's idea of a regular ol' rooftop for a totally average apartment building. I love this guy! I'm designing a roof deck for my new house right now. I really wish I had the space and resources to make it half as wonderful as this organic rooftop dreamscape.

Although what he created with concrete is beautiful, I think it could really use some plants. My roof deck will definitely have greenery. At least I've got that goin' for me. Yeah. Suck on that, Gaudi.

the ultimate urban luxury

Of all the improvements I want to make to my new house, the sexiest may be one that most people will never see nor notice.

Two words: heated sidewalk.

As you can see, the Joneses have one. (Actually they're Jewish, so perhaps it's the Steins.) It's also clever, a time-saver, and good for the neighborhood. How great would that be to never have to shovel the walk again? ...just flip a switch. Actually it might even reduce my liability since my neighbors won't slip and fall... Hmm, I wonder if I can get a discount on my home-owner's insurance.

How does it work? I did some Googling and found that there are two main types: electric and hydronic. Electric is pretty simple: there's just a very long heating element under the surface. Hydronic means a set of tubing circulates warm water under the surface. Here's a recent installation in progress next door to the house pictured above:

I can't tell for sure, although this looks like a hydronic system to me.

the new dogma re socks

My sock drawer represents the pinnacle of efficiency.

Some people might see this and assume I don't fold my socks out of laziness. In fact, there's a carefully reasoned philosophy behind what you see here.

Folding socks is a waste of time. You can apply the buddy system to your socks when you put them away, or when you're ready to wear them. There's really no difference, except for the time wasted folding them if you pair them up when you put them away. What's the point?

Some other considerations:

1. Socks hardly need to be kept wrinkle-free.
2. Even for someone who cares deeply about having a neat and tidy home, you have to pretty damn anal to care what the inside of your sock drawer looks like.
3. The cute little inside-out bundle that some people use to pair socks seems like it might stretch out the elastic prematurely.

Pop quiz: does my sock drawer philosophy make me more or less anal retentive? Discuss.

why i love my parents

A text message I just received from my mom:

See what happens when you upgrade your phone-averse parents to phones that are actually easy to use?

...you killed my childhood. prepare to die.

Goddammit.

I was all set to blog about how much I was looking forward to the musical adaptation of The Princess Bride, when I stumbled across the sad news that it's been shelved.

The Princess Bride was the movie I watched every single time I was home sick as a kid. ...that and Indiana Jones: Temple of Doom. God, I loved those movies.

C'mon, people... I don't give a rat's ass about who gets what share of what, I just wanted to re-live all my fond childhood memories of chicken pox, influenza, and bubonic plague. (Maybe not that last one so much... the plague sucked.) Oh well.

for the martini drinkers in the house

What chopsticks were really invented for:

Speaking of cocktail olives, if you haven't tried garlic-stuffed olives, you're really missing out.

just what the doctor ordered

Brrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Ah, much better.

not so fresh

I love that my local grocery store is less than two blocks from my apartment.

I'm less thrilled about the ironically moldy sign in the window.

urban roofing: berlin

I've been lucky enough to visit Berlin twice in the past year. It's a fascinating city. The old and the new... the history and the rebirth... the typically European and the totally unique... it's a truly amazing place.

On my first visit, I sought out the ultimate urban roofing experience. The obvious choice was the giant TV tower on the East side. Berlin's TV tower is a lot like the Space Needle, CN Tower, and the dozen or so similar towers in cities around the globe, complete with an observation deck.

Unfortunately, it was a disappointing experience. It's overpriced, the line is long, and I didn't find the views very impressive. It's almost too high up to really appreciate the sights. I went at night; the views might be better during the day.

On my second trip, I found a much better observation deck that's closer to the most interesting parts of the city.

It's a mere 25 stories (100 meters) up, but Berlin isn't a skyscraper kind of place, so it's by far one of the tallest buildings in the city. You're just high enough to get a good panoramic view of everything, yet close enough to feel Berlin, instead of observing it from a distance.

The place is called Panorama, and it's right at heart of the gleaming new Potsdamer Platz area:

The observation deck is completely wraparound, two levels, open-air, and right at the very top of the building, so it's a true rooftop experience. I give it the Urban Roofer Seal of Approval®.

In a typical demonstration of German engineering, the elevator to the top is the fastest in Europe.

Looking south, you can see a complex of ultra-modern buildings that are typical of the new Potsdamer Platz (some of the same ones as in the first picture above):

Turning east, we see a group of buildings under construction surrounding Leipziger Platz. The Berlin Wall used to run directly through the center of what is now this octagonal plaza. Only a small strip of marker stones memorializes where the city was previously split in twain.

To the north-east, you can see the Berliner Dom cathedral and the aforementioned TV tower (wrapped to look like a soccer ball for the recent World Cup):

Turning north, there's a great view of the Holocaust Memorial, with the new US Embassy under construction in the top-left of this photo:

...and slightly further north is the Reichstag:

If you're ever in Berlin, I highly recommend Panorama. It's only €3.50. It's also open until 8pm, so I imagine it's a good place to take sunset photos as well (I'm definitely going to check this out the next time I'm there.)

For more, larger photos, check out my Panorama photos on Flickr.