East Eats West

Schindelhauer German built bikes

When a bicycle’s name is Ludwig and is built by Schindelhauer one doesn’t need to ask where it comes from. Vielen Dank Germany!  I have to be honest, my bike (Ludwig), was love at first sight. It is the ultimate urban riding experience (sorry BMW, no, not your cars)! The handcrafted aluminum frame is just about the best-looking frame I have seen ever since I started riding bicycles. It is sleek, well proportioned and has an ingenious mechanism keeping the rear wheel in place. However, the icing of the cake is the belt-drive. Say goodbye to greasy chains and stained pants. The carbon-belt is clean, noiseless and very sturdy (ask any Harley Davidson rider). My bike has eleven gears and two conventional brakes. However, from disc brakes to fixies, anything is possible. 

www.schindelhauerbikes.com

 

The coffee roasting revolution

Picture: Coffee on the go in Lake Taupo, New Zealand.

 Sometimes, when visiting clients, I am temporarily using a small table in an open-plan office. There is a little obligation connected to it: I have to clean the coffee machine. The machine is in heavy-duty use as there are hard-working architects and photographers sharing the office with me. This task inspired me to experiment with different coffee roasts. There is a little coffee revolution going on in Switzerland as more and more micro coffee roasters are popping up. There are even roasters in and around Zurich, Switzerland’s biggest city. Currently my favorite coffee brand is Kaffeepur, near Stauffacher, with its seriously dedicated and enthusiastic owner (https://www.kaffeepur.ch/).  He sells everything from Single Origins to Grand Crus and carefully blended coffee for not so sophisticated machines as ours (Assemblage No. 5).

Learn how to prepare the a perfect espresso here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGHvBG1sY1Y

 

The lasting value of design furniture

Picture: The Italian Flexform Groundpiece couch. 

 Six years ago, when I was about to move into a newly renovated apartment, I was contemplating what furniture to get: cheap or go for designer ones ? A wise man with exquisite taste gave me a simple advice: buy quality designer furnitures, as you will have it for many years, never mind the high costs. Very recently I had to think about his advice again when I stood in my new, bigger and brighter apartment, glancing around. The movers just brought in my Flexform couch and bed, my B&B and Eames chairs, my Thut cupboard and my Poliform cupboards. In the bright daylight of my new apartment the furniture looked as good as when I bought them. My wise friend was spot on: investing in quality furniture does pay off as you will have it for a lifetime! And should you ever decide to part, you can easily sell them online (Like the website operated by the Swiss furniture store Interio: http://de.interio.ch/index.php?csid=cf2c3012826bcbef7715998505fb1a3b).