2011-07-31

Ich bin ein Desktop Summit Berliner


Right after I finished my studies, I had the opportunity to live in Berlin for 16 months. I worked in the French embassy, as part of my civil national service, and I really enjoyed my time there.

That was more than 10 years ago, and I never had the chance to go back to this wonderful city. That's why I'm particularly happy with the location for the Desktop Summit this year. After all this time, I'm really looking forward to re-discovering the city, and getting the answers for the following questions :
  • Are parts of the Berlin Wall's death trip still visible, or have they all been conquered now by new buildings ?
  • Can you still see bullet impacts on the building of the Museum Island ?
  • Do people still make barbecues in the Tiergarten, right in front of Schloss Bellevue, the official residence of the President of Germany ?
  • Can you still find bars that are only open one day a week, located in a cave and only accessible through a building site ?
I should land in Berlin on the 4th August, and I'm staying until the 14th, so that should give me enough time for those inquiries and more. Of course, I'm also looking forward to the conference itself, and I'll be happy to see everyone there.

If I'm not too lazy, I'll set up an ad-hoc BoF about Banshee and our porting effort to GTK+ 3. Watch this space for updates !

Let's finish with a little bit of trivia : Kennedy said his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" in a speech in front of the Rathaus Schöneberg, which was the temporary city hall of West Berlin, because the "proper" city hall was on the other side of the Wall.

See you there !