Berlin

Berlin was, in a word, awesome. We had heard a veritable slew of a stew of hype about this international city and, in fact, I had visited once before - in December, 2004 - but then, the city resembled a Soviet Era freezer
(and by that, I mean not that it didn't work, but that it was very cold and very empty). But, as we came in summer this time, for a change, there was, in fact, a change and, to quote the Arby's ad gurus, "Change is good." At least this time.

Anyway, we arrived after the luxurious comfort of a night spent on an airport floor, with a flight that took an extra hour - not because of any delays but because Germany is on a different time zone than the Isles British (remember this - it comes up later). We headed straight for the ridiculously efficient and omnipresent public transportation to meet up with a German who had been living amongst us in secret for many years. I refer, of course, to our friend Sean. After we located this would-be sleeper agent, we located our host - none other than the aforementioned Richard - friend of Avi's Brown and Schwarz - who is living in Berlin at the moment with his roommate, Arne, who is, coincidentally, the only real German of the lot.

Richard then proceeded to entice us, quite convincingly I might add, to move to Berlin. Indeed, Richard played tour guide, even perfecting the much-underappreciated art of walking backwards whilst illuminating your charges on that which they see behind you, always throwing in appropriately arcane and often perverse facts to keep attention from wandering any further than one's very footsteps.

Highlights of our extended five-day walking tour included: the below-pictured East-Side Gallery, a pilgrimage to the two doner shops at which the delicious doner was allegedly created, his old neighborhood, his new neighborhood, a row of art galleries, his favorite doner shop in Berlin, several excellent cafes, a clothing store with jeans for 5 euros and Coke for free, and a derelict boat surrounded by a mighty gang of swans. Which are, for the record, much bigger and more intense than you probably imagine. Unless, of course, you usually picture swans as being titanic birdmonsters (coincidentally, Birdmonster is the name of Richard's brother's band) in league with Somali pirates, and armed to the teeth with the best weapons that money can buy because that is, FYI, how I usually picture them, though I get the feeling I might be alone on this one.

Wander, however, is not all we did with gentle Richard; nay, we also wandered... dammit, I guess we did do a lot of wandering. But anyway, we also wandered around the hulkingly colossal Jewish Museum for upwards of three hours, tracing the tumultuous history of Germany's Jewry from times immemorial to present day. Quite interesting... but be prepared to spend literally all day there - though, it is quite a bargain at 2.50 euros for students (and those of us who still carry around their old student IDs). Pictured here is the unattached Holocaust Memorial...

One other wander was one of the nightly variety and was, in fact, not so much of a wander as an organized stumble with Berlin's best pub crawl. Also led by Richard. Yes, we just so happened to be staying with the newest member of New Berlin's team and, as such, got a VIP pass into the tour. Quite hilariously, Sean, a connoisseur of excessive drinking in his "native" California, had already been on this exact same pub crawl TWO OTHER TIMES in his brief three days in Berlin before we arrived. But he still enjoyed it immensely, as did we all - right to the very end of the night which concluded with the photo booth snapshot you see re-photographed here.

And lest you think our wandering days were done - or that wandering, for that matter, is a pursuit onworthy of such gentlemanly and/or ladylike gentry such as our dashing selves - we also did some independent wanderings of Berlin's more touristy parts. Again, matching Sean's premature venturings almost step for step (not to mention running a circuit not unlike the one I had taken a few years before). We started off at the iconic TV Tower, passed by the world clock in Alexanderplatz, waxed Commie before the statures of Marx and Lenin, peered at the rubble that was once a hulking Soviet government building, stumbled upon the amazingly awesome sculpture of St. George slaying the dragon you see pictured out of context a few paragraphs above, explored the quad of Humboldt University (the site of the infamous Kristalnacht book burnings), strolled up Unter den Linden, peered at the Brandenburg Gate, admired the dome of the Reichstag, enjoyed the respite of the massive Tiergarten, and reflected at the Holocaust memorial. All in a day's work, my friends.

Speaking of culture, we also went to the Sony Center (itself a work of weird and modern art) to see Batman: The Dark Knight. Now that's some serious culture. Actually, I wasn't a huge fan - I mean, it was good and all, but nothing that amazing, not as I'd heard. Anyway, back to culture in a more traditional sense of the word... we also spent a solid hour or so at an outdoor museum surrounding Checkpoint Charlie, soaking up the history of a divided Berlin (made stomachable by munching on some delicious chocolate we'd picked up down the street). We also spent a solid few hours examining the incomparable hordes of the Pergamom Museum, thus named after the ENTIRE GREEK TEMPLE German archeologists removed from Turkey's coast, reassembling block by marble block inside of the building which now bears its name. And not only does the Pergamom house the... well, the Pergamom, but it also houses other astounding architectural (and plain old artifactal) treasures ranging from some of the most beautiful examples of Islamic woodcarvings to the jaw-dropping blue-glazed Ishtar Gate of of Babylon.

One other side of Berlin that I haven't mentioned yet is the city's culinary - and pecuniary - pleasures. You see, Berlin is an extremely cheap city in Western terms, which affords one the inestimable delights of not needing to worry too much about whether or not you can afford a drink with your meal - something which, on our budget, comes up all too often. Nay, Berlin was a veritable cornucopia of deliciousness, which included forays into the near east (Persian lunch menus for 4 euros at Saffron), the Appenine peninsula (whole pizzas for about 2 euros), the former Ottoman Empire (the ubiquitous doner, also around 2 euros - the doner stand pictured here, by the way, is one of the two that may be the originator of said delectable dish), and our particular favorite, the far East (an enormous and exquisite meal for two of Tom Kha Gai, Pad Thai, Red Curry, and Lassis at Asian Deli for a grand total of about 15 euros). But we didn't just "splurge" on these dining out experiences - nay, we also cooked up quite a storm, sampling Arne's German cooking as well as whipping up a batch of real California fish tacos...

But alas, our time in Berlin had to come to an end as we had to head south. While that is a story for another blog, one last note that fits into this particular saga is our mode of transportation, which was to get a ride via Mitfahrgelegenheit, a German ride sharing service. We arranged a ride with Stefan, a Berliner heading south to visit his girlfriend, and enjoyed a) the comfort of his practically brand new car, b) the speed of a direct shot, c) the experience, insights, and company of a real, live German (not like that poser Sean), d) the knowledge that we were being environmentally friendly, and e) the reduced price of 30 euros/person as opposed to 43 on bus or over 100 by train. All in all, a great way to get down to Munich, which is, as I've said before, a story for another day...