So, Air Berlin is amazing.
The man checking me in for the flight was so pleasant. He actually thanked me for asking him how he
was doing. Apparently there had been
only one other person that day that had inquired to how his day was going and
that person was also American and on my flight.
I’m glad that my fellow American and I are giving our homeland a good
reputation.
In fairness, I didn’t really care how he was doing. I mean,
I did in the human decency kind of way, but I was just being extra friendly to
distract him because I thought my carry-on might be over the 12kg weight limit. Either it wasn’t or he didn’t care because
“Americans are sooooo friendly.”
The flight attendants weren’t particularly friendly. They were very German - abrupt and to the
point, actually, not mincing words or adding pleasantries. They were redeemed, however, by the amazing
chocolate heart they gave me upon exiting the plane. It felt like a gift or a
reward for making it successfully through the flight. A-mazing.
On the tarmac, while slowly unwrapping the delicate foil of
my reward, I saw the other American on board. He was wearing a NY Yankees
hat. I chatted with him on the
commuter bus, he was doing a mini version of my trip. His itinerary included 5 or so countries in
2.5 weeks. But he was capping off his trip with his family in Ireland. I declined sharing a cab in lieu of the 2.90
Euro bus, gave him my blog address and bid him adieu.
40 minutes on the bus and 10 minutes on the train and I was
successfully at my flat in Berlin.
My roommate was super nice.
When I got there my room was very tidy with maps, tourist information
and Haribo gummy bears on my bed. Plus,
he was smoking hot. I didn’t remember
him being that cute in his profile picture, but with a new beard, he was a
sight for sore eyes. Two days later, I
caught him in his boxers walking from the bathroom to his room. Hello. Yum.
Thanks for that, Christian. Keep
up with the yoga, its treating you well.
I took a couple hours to catch up online, check in with my
mom and find out what my friends in Berlin were up to. The funny thing is that I have 3 friends in
Berlin. I met 2 in Brussels last year
and they both work for Deutsche Bahn.
And, I met a 3rd friend while in Paris….and she also works
for Deutsche Bahn.
Fanny, Silvia and I had made plans for Wednesday night
drinks and dinner, so I contacted Inga to see if she wanted to go to the
outdoor theater to catch a British flic in the park. She had a meet-up.com event that she was
going to and had invited me along. So, I
went. It was a great group. First, it was all you can eat sushi for 12
Euros. Second, I met some really great
women that gave me excellent tips throughout the city. Jani suggested the Sandeman’s walking tour,
which was free and amazing. I ended up
doing 2 tours. Another girl, Catherine,
was a freelance journalist and gave me great ideas on how to become a freelance
writer, write pitches and find resources for submissions. Another, Nicole, gave me some excellent
restaurant and bar recommendations.
Plus, it gave Inga and I a lot of time to catch up and make arrangements
to meet up several more times that week.
By the way, I’ve adapted a new Euro style – rolled up skinny
jeans and keds…its pretty much my German go-to since I’m still not hip enough
for harem-esque Berliner rocker pants (think Gwen Stafani). My friend, Fanny, pulls it off amazingly. I look like an idiot, not a cool, German hipster.
The next morning, I had a plan. I got up at 10 and walked
over to the free Sandeman’s walking tour. It started at the Brandenburg
Gate. The clouds looked a bit ominous,
so I was glad I had an umbrella. My tour guide, Rob Shaw, was incredible. He was super enthusiastic about the
city. He came as a tourist and gave up
his journalism career and decided not to leave.
Instead, he spreads his love and at times cynicism to a willing, frugal
audience in exchange for an international following of admirers and tips, of
course.
One of my favorite stories was of the goddess that guards the Brandenburg Gate. He described her as the most talentless woman of all time, that she was complete shit at her job. Her name was Isis (I think) and she was supposed to protect the city of Berlin with peace. Well after several wars, the 50 year war, the 10 year war, the French revolution etc., it was clear she was not shielding the city with peace so they renamed her Victoria. Victoria would bring victory to the city amidst any battles. Well, we all know how WWII turned out, she was clearly not successful there either. So, she sits atop the Brandenburg Gate praying that she will not have to work another day in her life.
This sculpture is of Prometheus. It was a recovered piece of Nazi art. Rob pointed out, quite accurately actually
that he has noticed that most Nazi art is of naked beautiful men in
compromising positions. Nice chains,
bro, go figure.
 |
| they get taller as the floor drops out so you feel like your drowning or being swallowed. |
The most amazing thing about Berlin is that they celebrate
their city in such an amazing way. They
celebrate the good, the bad and the disgracefully ugly. They are proud to be a community that is
rebuilding itself and part of that duty is to acknowledge and respectfully
honor the past. They have built
memorials and shrines for many of the ugly events that occurred during Hitler’s
regime including, the town square massacre, the book burning, the Berlin Wall
etc.
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| There was a huge massacre here after a freedom protest. Its marked with several murals... |
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| and a poster explaining what happened and why. |
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| Original Berlin Wall section |
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| Touristy Berlin Wall pieces at Checkpoint Charlie |
In addition to there being painted wall pieces throughout
town and a 1 mile stretch of the Berlin Wall still in tact, they created a
cobblestone marker through the street where the Berlin Wall used to stand.
 |
| Straddling the wall...East vs. West |
This square contains a concert hall and 2 identical cathedrals only 200 meters apart from each other, one built for the French, one for the Germans. The square also contains an homage to the book burning that occurred here nearly 70 years ago.
 |
| The concert hall |
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| It was sunny over the German Cathedral skies... |
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| and very ominous skies over the French Cathedral |
Our final leg of the tour was through the Lust Gardens,
which were underwhelming given their name and through to this amazing park and
palace. There is no royal family in
Berlin, but they had a palace (not pictured) near the Berlin Cathedral.
 |
| Lust Gardens...not so lusty or lush or gardeny |
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| Berlin Cathedral...not as old as it looks. It was built in the 20th century |
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| Another Nazi statue. Naked guy on a horse with a sword... |
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| Trobi cars skinned in animal print...yes please! |
After the tour, it was time to meet Fanny, Silvia and Inga
for dinner in Fredrichshain. We all met
up a pub by the Schlesisches Tor U-bahn stop where I endulged in a local
favorite, weisswineschorle. It’s
basically a white wine spritzer. While
there, I used the creepiest bathroom in Berlin.
If you are not a customer, they actually charge the public .50 euros to
use it. Can you imaging paying to use
this??
 |
| My iPod camera really did not capture the creepiness of this bathroom |
At the recommendation of my tour guide, Rob, we went to
Edelweiss for currywurst and live music.
Edelweiss is a cool restaurant located just inside Görlitzer Park. Görlitzer Park is the sketchiest park in Berlin. At dusk, its filled with aggress drug dealers
and homeless people. Its pretty much accepted that that’s where they retreat and
locals (nor us) go through that park after dark, not even on a bike, unless they have a
specific need to be filled from inside.
We walked around the outside to go home.
The food and company was steller. However, by 10PM everyone,
including me, was tired and we actually left before the music started. #partypoopers
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| Original Berlin Cider |
 |
| Cheese plate |
 |
| Currywurst and potatoes |
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| Cucumber Salad |
 |
| Some weird pasta dish that was delicious |
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| Fanny, me, Inga and Silvia at Edelweiss |
However, on the train ride home, Silvia and I got a second
wind and stopped into a bar that was outfitted as a giant living room for another
round of drinks.
 |
| Don't worry, I get my iPhone next week. No more crappy iPod pictures... |
Inspired by Catherine, from my first night in Berlin, I
decided to write and pitch an article to some online magazines. I went to this
famous Internet Café called Cafe St. Oberholz where they welcome writers, programmers and
other artsy types with free wifi and reasonably priced food and drink.
Their bathrooms were kind of cool as
well. The bar soap was creepy, but
cool. Just an uncircumcised penis looking bar sticking out of the
wall that begged you to rub your hands on its slimy handle. Economical, I guess, but gross in so many ways. (Of course I used it. The full shaft, not just the tip.)
Got a note from the American on the bus. We made arrangements to meet up for
dinner. Ha! I had date with an American
in Berlin!
Well, kind of. I only had an 90 minutes before I was supposed to meet up with Silvia. We went out for Beer and pretzels at Praters Biergarten. We had a good time, he was super fun, so I invited him along with Silvia and I. I told him he could have a 2-4-1 date with an American and a German that looked like sisters. Of course he agreed.
The next morning, I got up early. I had decided to stay an extra couple of days
in Berlin, because I loved it so I had to move to a hostel. I checked in to Pangea Peoples Hostel near
Alexanderplatz. It is the cleanest
hostel I have ever seen. Seriously, it
was immaculate. The food was good, the
staff was helpful and it was cheap - only 20 euros a night. There were lockers in the room and they
provided linens. The bathrooms were
shared but totally clean and had enough stalls for the number of people on each
floor.
I stored my bags and headed out for the Sandeman’s
Alternative walking tour. More to come...
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