I met a fellow from London the other day, who was telling me about how
his friend described Berlin to be "Poor and sexy". I'd have to agree. It
is cheap (poor) and totally sexy (stylish, creative, forward, saucy,
fresh, unique).
In Berlin you can meet Robots. This Robot was very stern, awesome and oh so intimidating. He didn't speak a word, for he had enough attitude and gestures to let you know, "I am a Robot made of
plastic bottles. Don't even THINK about
taking my picture without paying 2
Euros".
Then he shook my hand, which was kind of uncomfortable and awkward to shake.
LET ME IN
My friend Peter and I drank Rotkäppchen sparkling wineby the river because we COULD.
Public drinking is not illegal here. We politely drank some nice bubbly, and waved at the tourist boats that cruised by.
In true fashion, I shot the cork into the river.
British Consulate
Now, for some strange reason the British Consulate always has this area
blocked off from traffic, but I didn't notice anything blocked off for
the Russian Consulate. Someone explain this to me!
Russian Consulate
Inside an U-Bahn station
The
culture here has kind of restored my faith in myself. I haven't always felt right in North America. From my perspective, there seems to be very little
room for b.s. here, there is not a lot of patience for it. This is HUGE to me.
I was raised with things just making sense, having things work well, keeping things in good order. There are some things here that I feel separate from too - but that's probably because I have been raised in Canada, but I dig the differences.
I really liked how friendly America was while I
lived there, and I got used to that neighborly feeling that exists there.
Canada seemed so uptight, unfriendly and miserable when I returned from Florida.
Here, the German culture isn't overly friendly, but not unfriendly either. It's just neutral.
They just take a bit of warming up, and once they have you're good buddies. Seems logical to me, and that's how I've often felt growing up.
The efficiency is outstanding. Things make sense. The times I've been in a car, traffic rolls by quickly. Taking your time doesn't happen. As a avid horn user, I love hearing them used here. Get out of the way, keep moving forward, there is fuel being burnt up, life is passing us by, let's get on with it! The train, bus, and subway transit system is pretty brilliant - although I'm still getting my head around it.
I usually have about 9 tabs open on my browser, using a translator regularly. Every day I am confused, by the streets, the language, the transit system, the food, but by the end of each day I feel great and pooped. More importantly, even with a travel adapter you cannot plug a North American flat-iron into the sockets here. Don't be blowing a fuse up in Kaspar's place, yo!!
GLASHAUS
BADESHIFF
Sheiße
There are dogs running off-leash everywhere. The cutest dogs I've ever seen at that. They probably should be on leash, and some are, but for the most part these dogs are smart and know how to follow their owner. They also poop everywhere, and their owners probably should pick that up too, but there's too much going on in Berlin to care! The police are not interested in policing how you handle your dog.
The Eiffel Tower, err I mean The Fernsehturm
Located in Alexanderplatz, which is this insane area where there are trams, the S-bahn, U-bahn, buskers, Amnesty international students, tourists, big box stores, and at least 5000 people.
Turkish food, yum!
Baklava and some almond blob of joy
Turkish coffee - probably the best coffee I've ever had
Dan Tobias pointing out where his Grandmother once lived as a child
Moritzplatz U-Bahn Station. Nothing significant here, except for SYMMETRY PEOPLE!
Kaffee und Karotte Kuchen
Outdoor storybook-esque forest cafe
We're on a boat, with umbrellas!
Berlin Wall
Oberbaumbrüke
The oldest part of Berlin
I lost my breath, this site was so gorgeous!
The general area where David Bowie & Iggy Pop once lived
WANT!
9 feet tall
Molly Ringwald
Lady Gaga turned Nina Hagen
Natalie Wood, no?
German kitsch is my favourite kind of kitsch :)
More Rotkäppchen, candied fruit, pineapple puree, vegan ice cream, "Freddy Kreuger's Revenge", frog purses and a night at the Kit Kat Club. For those who do not know, it's a good place to get... umm... your boots licked ;-)
