Berlin

So…last weekend was very lazy and I barely went outside so there’s nothing to report.  It was in effect a recovery that had been held off for a week from going to Berlin for my birthday the previous weekend…and got getting nearly enough sleep.  Basically partying + Ryan Air delays + hangovers + keeping odd hours = knackered.

We did manage to see a few cool things other than just the inside of bars while we were there though.  This pipe work, which wound it's way above ground all over Berlin, being a source of continual fascination for starters...

It was gorgeous weather on the first day so we headed out of town a bit to the Eastside Gallery, a mile long stretch of the Berlin which has been preserved and decorated, after the fall of the wall, by a number of international artists, remembering those who were subject to the wall and expressing messages about the symbolism of it and it’s eventual fall.  I took a lot of photos…

It was still eerie to stand in No Man’s Land in between sections of the other side of the wall that had been left standing and to remember that standing here while the wall was up would have resulted in imprisonment or death.  The guard towers at the beginning of the section are still standing, although rusted and it’s a poignant reminder of the tyranny and persecution that went on there and that these events were not in the distant past, or in some far off land.

The artistic approach Berliners take to their surroundings is really interesting, such an atmosphere of free expression.  There is loads of graffiti as a result, most boldly making the point.  The clothes being worn too were great, but it’s less embarrassing to take photos of walls than humans.

I celebrated my birthday in style at White Trash, Fast Food, a great restaurant/ bar/ venue/ club.  The sort of place that in London would cost a fortune to get in to, have unbelievable ques and then the drinks would be an arm and a leg.  In Berlin this translated to six euros each, taken by a charming drag queen on the door, after waiting precisely 2 minutes, then being able to get a table to eat at 11pm, being asked to wait by the bar while the lady found us a table (barely had time to order beers before she’d got one for us) then reasonably priced food, cheap drinks and cool bands to listen to before the DJs took over.  As a result it was 5am before we realised it might be time to call it a night.

Being chronically hungover the next day, plus the fact that it was pouring with rain, resulted in some half hearted sight seeing and lots of sitting.  Then cake and singing before heading off to Tacheles, an artists collective in an abandoned building, for a beer and a mooch about.  It’s a very cool place but the music was a bit too ‘techno, techno’ for my tastes.  It was a fabulous place to people watch though, teenage wannabes, ultra cool hipsters, business types on weekend off mode, tourists and OAPs all mixed in together all, seemingly, perfectly at home. 

Sunday, after a hearty breakfast in the Prenzlauer Berg area, with the coolest shops (all shut, damnit!) and little cafes we decided to avoid the rain and head to the Pergamon Museum, to look at the amazing sights there.  I’d been told that they had the Ishatar Gate of Babylon and other amazing relics but I had not expected to see floor to ceiling temples, gateways and statues.  It was truly breath taking.  I especially liked the lions that had originally run the length of the walkway to the city, which must have been pretty intimidating if you were entering for the first time.  I mean, we were gobsmacked at the scale of it and we live in a world of sky scrappers and men on the moon, the impact on your average pleb in 575BC must have been massive to put it lightly!

I also found a statue of the god Hadad, responsible for the weather and not doing such a great job in my opinion, what with having endured rain that not only fell down, but up due to a weird quirk of the howling winds that accompanied it.

All in all I love Berlin.  I love that the trains run all night, the trams are efficient, the bars don’t appear to shut and the people are relaxed, friendly and helpful.