Germany - BerlinIt's a good day when brekkie is in London, morning tea in France (somewhere on the Eurostar), brunch in Brussels and dinner Berlin. And it's not even a Kontiki tour. Things began eventfully with some mental pateint being arrested behind us while we waited for a bus, but he seemed pretty relaxed about it all. Customs and train travel are a relaxed breeze compared to the nightmare of stupid airports, stupid airport Customs, and stupid stupids working there. 
But any problems were balanced by knowing that leaving the UK meant I was closer to the first decent cup of coffee for some time - aside from Monmouth and Flat White anyway.
While brunching in Brussels, was very very tempted by the lambics, but resisted, in retrospect I don't know why as everyone else was drinking at 10am. Boarded the Thalys and headed to Cologne, the place with the Cathedral that everyone knows (hello Leonard!). It's next to the train station and hard to miss. Very hard to miss.The Cologne to Berlin, sure the whole trip took significantly longer than a plane, but with Easyjets usual delay policy, it probably doesn't work out much different. And it's more comfortable, and I'll try not to rant too much about airports. I was reading Stephen Fry's Hippopotamus, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Kinda twisted version of Evelyn Waugh and Fry's own deprecating style of humour. Excellent stuff.
Taxi to the hostel (the circus) which is a really nice place, stuck in the middle of what turned out to be a good cafe/pub district. Somehow we coped with that. Had a tour the next morning of Berlin's sights. The initial impression, which didn't change, was of the schizo architecture. Aside from the leftover from communism (which being from Wellington, didn't seem too bad), there isn't an overarching style. This has left a city lacking architectual character, instead they seem to focus on green spaces. which are many and large, with wide open footpaths and cyclepaths. So it feels really open, differing from other major cities I've been to.
What has happened in the last 20 years is signficant rebuilding (in same cases recreation) of classic buildings destroyed in the war, in an attempt to bring back character. I dunno if it's worked, but they look pretty. Which is, after all, what I'm all about.
We stopped off at a memorial to the Jews killed in WW2 by Peter Eisenman. Although somber in its resemblance to tombstones, the place is also quite fun with the variations in height lending a playful vibe. The kids running around shooting each added something to it all. Meandering around the Reichstag, impressive building with the brandenburg gate next door, we boarded the bus thing and headed to the remnants of the wall. My Lord Thy Rog!!
Located in the remnents of the SS building there was an interesting display concerning the Jews. I found it all a bit tedious by the end, with at least 1/3 of the display concerning personal tales of anguish/pain/death/heroism which became quite monotonous.
Next day we headed to museums via the Dom, which is rather impressive with stunning decorations. I even managed to go up to the bell tower, until vertigo hit. I hate heights, but got a fair way up - only the last section stopped me which was on rickety (my choice of word) tight steps when that tingly feet and sweating broke out. At some point I might post photos.
I wanted to see the German National museum, as I'd read a fair amount of history from 1850 onwards, but knew very little pre-1850. This museum is massive. An absolutely incredibly detailed exploration of Germanic history, lots of original manuscripts, early church artifacts, roman remains, etc. Interesting examination of Martin Luther and the divide he created, including copies of his 'pamphlets'. Nice collection of Old Masters scattered around too. Definitely a standard visit, although I skipped most of the post-1850 stuff. The one complaint I had was an absence of music references, figure they are somewhere else - which I'll get to next time. Had an ice coffee while people watching, including spotting people who looked just like Rudi. Spooky.
Heading home we unfortunately we came out at the wrong underground exit (right station tho), and came out opposite a specialist vinyl shop. I found a lot I wanted, and didnt buy anything!
At Ss suggestion we went on a pub crawl. After a visit to the hospital to reset my twisted wrist. We were in a cafe/pub mecca. I drank beer, enjoyed beer, and drank more beer. German beer is very very nice! Threw some Weissbier at S which she enjoyed, so it didnt appear like I was drinking on my own. Not that it really bothered me. In retrospect, my alcholism saved our lives. If we had been doing typical tourist thing we would have been coming out of the underground about the time a taxi ploughed into a cyclist, two pedestrians, and a lamppost. But since id said I needed to write the best-man speech and drink (not in that order), we were safe. Just like Jesus, leading his chosen to safety. Bruce's diaspora if you will.
Next day saw a visit to the New Gallery. Not what we were expecting, not a collection of pictures, rather two exhibitions. One by some guy which didnt grab me, appearing as brightly fluorescent sheets. Downstairs was a different story. A retrospective of Japanese/American photo-artist Hiroshi Sugiomoto.(Website) Absolutely spellbinding. His use of perspective to bring to life diaoramas to life, both macabre and flora/fauna, reduced the artifical 3D to 2D, ironically enlivening the scene. A series of movie theatres throughout the world came to life by shooting one shot for the length of the movie. Really liked this guy, and intend to track down some images.
I've always liked the Bauhaus movement, and it's impact on early Deco, so took the opportunity to see the museum. Seems there was a lot more to the Bauhaus movement that Id come across. Its not a big museum, but definitely worth a look. I enjoyed the slow meandering around this one, lots of art, pictures, design and a look at the influences of the movement. Excellent stuff. Klee, Kandinsky et al., happy B.
Food: Mmm I like this place. Wonderfully diverse food selection, good coffee, good beer, good food, including superb gnocchi and russian dumplings (gnocchi is often badly cooked, and dumplings are hard to make tasty!). We found an excellent French cafe just up from the hostel, so brekkie was sorted.
People: Its so relaxed. Very Wellington cafe vibe, but possibly even more relaxed. Huge pavements mean lots of seats outside, excellent service, and everyone was friendly. The Berliners could certainly teach the Brits a few things...
CD Purchases: none. But I eventually weakened and bought some vinyl (Tom Waits - Rain Dogs, and James Dean Bradfield - The Great Western), the owner offered a cheaper version of the Tom but it wasnt on 180gm vinyl - seemed a no-brainer. The owner laughed when I looked confused and asked why Id want the cheaper one. I didnt really want to lug vinyl back with me, but it was cheap...and its sexy...and oh bugger off. i like vinyl.
At some point I'll dump some pictures up, but I need to recover my harddrive before I can do that.
