Tourism! Day 2

Parisier Platz - Where the mimes go to redefine their lives...

And where the Tin Man has lived ever since the royalties from Wizard of Oz ran out...

 Yes, it's true! You can rent a East German Trabi for only 40Euros an hour! Rent one today!

Oberbaum Bruecke...

 Kid you not, the jugglers wait on the sidewalk and then run out and juggle during the green lights...

One of the restored paintings at the East Side Gallery, a collection of street art on a portion of the Berlin Wall...

Walking back on the other side of Oberbaum Bridge...

Riverside club in Kreuzberg (we're in the club, this is a restaurant patio on the other side)...

New York

Forgot to post this picture before I left and just found it on my computer. Kids enjoying musicians in Central Park:

Bahn Musicians

Since I've been spending the last few days sightseeing, I have passed more time on the U-Bahn (subway) than usual. In one day I experienced a boy with a trumpet playing "Tequila!", a group of three with a trumpet, tambourine, and speakers playing "hit the road Jack", and a man playing on his harmonica. They switch Bahn cars at every station and then play a quick song in between stops for tips.

What's so funny about this are the public reactions. The second someone pulls out their instrument and starts playing, the tourists immediately begin going "oh look!" and "how nice!" and pointing. The Berliners let out a collective sigh and roll their eyes, as in "not agaaaaaaaain...." By the third time, I could understand why Berliners who travel often might have that response.

Interestingly, despite the tourists' delight and the Berliners' dismay, when the musicians are done playing and walk around for tips, it's usually the Berliners who pull out a coin or two for their cup...

Cookies

Continuing my test of Berlin's nightlife, I went to Cookies last week with Anna and Celia. I had already learned that arriving before 1am in the morning was taboo and will make you look ridiculous, but Anna and I were bored and headed over to the club at 11pm. Sure enough, we were the only two there...

We got to the entrance, and I kid you not, we were carded. CARDED. The partying age in Germany is 18, so that means the bouncer thought that we (mid-twenties) could possibly be younger than 18. I have never been carded in Europe, ever. Even when I was sixteen. I literally thought he was kidding until he was like, no, I really need your ID.

So we got there at 11pm and spent some time getting to know our bartender really well, since the place was totally empty and he had nothing to do. Around 1am Celia and her other friends showed up, as did the entire party scene and we danced ourselves silly until 4:00 in the morning.

During this 1am to 4am period, Anna and I went to the bar to get drinks. A guy turned around and started talking to Anna, so I started talking to his friend. For clarity, let's call him Jens. Jens was a German living in Sweden and we started talking about dating in other cultures. Jens was talking about his Swedish girlfriend and the cultural differences, when he asked if I had a boyfriend. I said, "no, I don't but Anna does." Jens looked at Anna and his friend talking, then looked at me, looked at them again, and then said - completely straight faced - , "My friend doesn't have a girlfriend either. Do you want to switch?" Flabbergasted, I said, "What?!" And he goes, "Do you want to switch? My friend is single, too." Completely seriously. I couldn't help laughing. The offer made complete sense - it had become apparent in this time that his friend wasn't getting anywhere with Anna. My statement confirmed that she was not interested in him, but he was obviously on the prowl and Jens was trying to hook a brotha' up. Despite this, his straightforwardness was so out of the ordinary for me that I was momentarily stunned. I ultimately said no, but I loved the fact that he had asked so directly.

Only in Berlin.


Oh and yeah, it was a tuesday. I went home, slept for three hours and then woke up and went to class.

Cookies
Friedrichstraße 158
10117 Berlin
http://www.cookies.ch/
Only open Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturday. Don't make the mistake of showing up on Friday!!
They also have Cream (get it, Cookies N Cream?!), which is a schmancy vegetarian restaurant. I'm hoping to go there also, but no set plans yet.

Tourism!

Please note the gas masks...

Communist Clothing

I am the new owner of a load of red laundry. Damn you communist red t-shirt spy and your sneaky ways of hiding amid other clothes!!

A conversation in the life of my brother

As we chat online, the following two sentences occurred at the same time:

 

"i should just be a lawyer and get into a huge firm and not have a life but roll around in nice cars and designer clothes

i'm watching sumo wrestling on some random japanese channel"

Ostberlin

So I always wondered about East Berlin before the wall came down, and immediately there after. I wonder sometimes about Cuba, too. There are stories and movies, but that's never the same as going yourself. Luckily for me, my new-found friends have a love for the party scene in East Berlin and I might not be able to travel in time, but I can do the next best thing!

We had intended initially to go to Watergate, one of the "hippest" clubs in Berlin according to published knowledge (I've recently discovered that there's a difference between published knowledge and underground knowledge in Berlin, but more on that in a later post). They wouldn't let us in because - get this - one of the men was too nicely dressed. Not underdressed. He was overdressed. And you want to know what part was overdressed? His plain, boring, white shirt. Because it was a button-up. Only in Berlin.

Anyway, we head further east to About Blank. East Berlin still looks like East Berlin, and it's as good as time traveling. We paid an 8 Euro cover because they had a special DJ performing, but it's typically free to get in. I kid you not, the front of the club:

The inside is pretty much the same. Sparse to no decorations or lighting, there is only one bathroom which is in questionable conditions, and the furniture may very well be left over from 1989. The music was also awesomely 1980s, with some jazz saxophone and electric piano mixed into the house beats. At the same time, the eclectic collection of people belied the feeling of being in 1980s Berlin. There were two rooms with bars and dancing inside, and the backyard had been haphazardly converted into a lounge area, sound stage and fast food stand (which served only waffles and french fries). The area was lit only with LED light strips in shades of blue and green, further adding to the aura of an underground club from a different time period. We danced and talked until 4:30am, at which point the rising sun suggested it was time to go home. The entire night had felt like a strange time trip, particularly apparent at one point when a girl walked by with parachute pants on. The contrast between people dressed like her, and people dressed in modern clubbing clothes, along with the hipsters, the underground clubbers, and the Schikimikis* was amazing.

While we were dancing, one of the Germans leaned over and yelled, "I feel like I'm in a club in East Berlin immediately 'nach der Wende'*". I couldn't have said it better myself.

About Blank
http://aboutparty.net/
http://www.myspace.com/aboutparty



*Schikimiki was originally slang for people who are famous for being party people. Like, Paris Hilton would be a "Schikimiki". However, this term has since been loosened to include people who go to clubs and bars dressed like people who are famous for being party people. Not impersonators, but in fancy clothes with fancy brand names and fancy hair, etc.
*"nach der Wende" means after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Literally translates to "after the turn"

Das Berliner Leben

Question: How do you deal with food poisoning in Berlin?
Answer: Go to a club and don't come home until 5:30 am.

Question: How do you deal with coming home from a club at 5:30 am in Berlin?
Answer: Wake up a few hours later and go to an outdoor swimming pool.

Bar joke...

Three Americans, a German, and an Australian walk into a bar...

Just kidding, there's no joke. I went to a bar with two Americans, a German, and an Australian and I kept waiting all night for us to create a punchline. Never happened, *sigh*.