Now that I’m back home in Healdsburg, California I’ve got a real case of the Berlin Blues. Like most of the cities I visited on my trip, Berlin is a place I’d like to go back to someday. The funny thing about Berlin is that -- unlike Paris and Florence -- it’s not considered a pretty city. Some individual buildings in the city are beautiful, but as a whole Berlin is not a beautiful, built-up place, considering that 90% of it was flattened during World War II. On the bright side, Berlin is much less dense than the average European city, which gave us a much-needed break from the usual crowded streets. To me, Berlin is more about people, culture, and overall atmosphere than looks. And if Berlin fails to be architecturally impressive, what is impressive is its history. |
We were lucky to stay with Johanna’s cousin Julian, who showed us around his favorite spots in the neighborhoods of Neukölln and Kreuzberg, gave us some tips on what to do and how to get around, and even gave us breakfast and coffee. After what felt like such a long time on the road, I was thankful to feel at home again.
It was nice to see some familiar faces at our last stop. We met up with Johanna’s friends Joana, Leona, and David for lunch on our first full day in Berlin. We explored Friedrichshain, the famous hipster heart of an overall hipster city, previously part of East Berlin. Later that night all five of us went out, but sadly we found out the hard way about the nightlife in Berlin. The city’s clubs are notorious for rejecting people on an arbitrary basis for the sole purpose of maintaining a reputation of exclusivity and prestige. A bouncer’s pay is in no way affected by the number of people he lets into the club, so he has no incentive to let anyone in. Some don’t get in simply because the bouncer doesn’t like their jacket or the look on their face, and others are even discriminated against on a racial basis. According to Johanna, this is a problem all over Germany and even in her town. There are worse things in the world, but to me this is pretty messed up, especially for a city that prides itself on its open-mindedness and self-expression.
Although we started the next day late, Johanna and I were able to do quite a bit of sightseeing. We had a picnic at Tempelhofer Feld, an old airport that today has been converted to an experimental open space. Berliners of all ages gather there to relax with friends on the sprawling lawns, to ride bikes on the old runways, and to jog around this vast space in the middle of the city.
We checked off the usual tourist rundown at the city center that evening: We saw the Reichstag, where the Bundestag meets; the Brandenburg Gate, where the entrance to Berlin once was; and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, where the Jewish victims of the Holocaust are commemorated. Johanna, Joana, Leona, and David educated me a bit on German government at dinner later that night. The legislative branch of the Federal Republic of Germany is bicameral (like that of the United States): it’s made up of the Bundestag and the Bundesrat. Unlike the U.S., Germany has a multi-party system, with the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, the Christian Social Union in Bavaria, and the Social Democratic Party of Germany at the top.
On our last full day, the five of us had brunch together and then wandered around the Sunday flea market at Mauerpark. We didn’t find many things we wanted to buy, but we did enjoy street performances and the artsy atmosphere. Later we took a bus to East Side Gallery and walked along the remaining part of the Berlin Wall.
Julian treated us to dinner at Ristorante Masaniello. We enjoyed the unusually nice weather on the outdoor patio, and I ate one of the best pizzas I can recall having -- even better than the pizzas I had eaten in Italy. We knew we would have to wake up early the next morning to catch our train to Frankfurt, from where I would fly home, but we saw Victoria at the movie theater anyway. The film was unlike any movie I've seen. It was extremely realistic (unlike most American movies) because there were no scene cuts, and the actors improvised at times. And the music (by Nils Frahm, Johanna's cousin) is fantastic.
Johanna and I were both exhausted after five weeks of being on the road, but it was still hard to say goodbye and go home. I just can't wait to plan out our next adventure. ★
It was nice to see some familiar faces at our last stop. We met up with Johanna’s friends Joana, Leona, and David for lunch on our first full day in Berlin. We explored Friedrichshain, the famous hipster heart of an overall hipster city, previously part of East Berlin. Later that night all five of us went out, but sadly we found out the hard way about the nightlife in Berlin. The city’s clubs are notorious for rejecting people on an arbitrary basis for the sole purpose of maintaining a reputation of exclusivity and prestige. A bouncer’s pay is in no way affected by the number of people he lets into the club, so he has no incentive to let anyone in. Some don’t get in simply because the bouncer doesn’t like their jacket or the look on their face, and others are even discriminated against on a racial basis. According to Johanna, this is a problem all over Germany and even in her town. There are worse things in the world, but to me this is pretty messed up, especially for a city that prides itself on its open-mindedness and self-expression.
Although we started the next day late, Johanna and I were able to do quite a bit of sightseeing. We had a picnic at Tempelhofer Feld, an old airport that today has been converted to an experimental open space. Berliners of all ages gather there to relax with friends on the sprawling lawns, to ride bikes on the old runways, and to jog around this vast space in the middle of the city.
We checked off the usual tourist rundown at the city center that evening: We saw the Reichstag, where the Bundestag meets; the Brandenburg Gate, where the entrance to Berlin once was; and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, where the Jewish victims of the Holocaust are commemorated. Johanna, Joana, Leona, and David educated me a bit on German government at dinner later that night. The legislative branch of the Federal Republic of Germany is bicameral (like that of the United States): it’s made up of the Bundestag and the Bundesrat. Unlike the U.S., Germany has a multi-party system, with the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, the Christian Social Union in Bavaria, and the Social Democratic Party of Germany at the top.
On our last full day, the five of us had brunch together and then wandered around the Sunday flea market at Mauerpark. We didn’t find many things we wanted to buy, but we did enjoy street performances and the artsy atmosphere. Later we took a bus to East Side Gallery and walked along the remaining part of the Berlin Wall.
Julian treated us to dinner at Ristorante Masaniello. We enjoyed the unusually nice weather on the outdoor patio, and I ate one of the best pizzas I can recall having -- even better than the pizzas I had eaten in Italy. We knew we would have to wake up early the next morning to catch our train to Frankfurt, from where I would fly home, but we saw Victoria at the movie theater anyway. The film was unlike any movie I've seen. It was extremely realistic (unlike most American movies) because there were no scene cuts, and the actors improvised at times. And the music (by Nils Frahm, Johanna's cousin) is fantastic.
Johanna and I were both exhausted after five weeks of being on the road, but it was still hard to say goodbye and go home. I just can't wait to plan out our next adventure. ★