My week: January 4 ed.

Well, happy new year! I have heard the saying that what one does on New Year's Day sets the tone for the whole year. Last year, I brushed aside some malaise from the champagne and met a friend to go hiking on the Philosophenweg for a relaxing day. It was a decent forecast; I did enjoy some hiking and 2014 wasn't too stressful, even as I was finishing my degree.

This year, I was mostly lazy on New Year's Day, reading and chilling out most of the day. I then had a burst of activity, cleaning the sidewalks in front of the house and cleaning inside, followed by a nice walk. I'm not sure exactly what that means for the rest of the year, but I was happy with the day.

-Otherwise, I haven't done much this week, outside of work. My VHS German class ended and the university club German class is still on holiday break. I did visit the gym a few times after work and got some health insurance paperwork in order for the end of the year. I'm very grateful to have health insurance, but it's the expat kind where I have to submit half of it myself and if I don't submit everything as soon as I get it, I create a TON of work for myself later. D'oh. Maybe I should write about my system for organizing it some time and give the advice to not be like me and ever procrastinate.

-On Saturday, C and I went to try brunch at Cafe Krummel and it was closed, with no note in sight. Grr! So many German businesses do this: take time off, and I've run across quite a few that don't even bother to put up a note that they'll be closed.

(Restaurant Review update: Urban) Instead, we ate at Urban (my earlier reviews are here and here). I haven't been there recently so I was surprised to see that they retooled their menu. They've added a section for vegan, vegetarian, and gluten free foods. Cool, huh? The only non-cool thing is that they raised their prices a bit, but they're still reasonably priced and delicious. I ate the Hirsepfanne Marokko dish and enjoyed the millet-based dish that includes eggplants, peppers, onions, sprouts, and garnished with soy yogurt.