The Berlin Adventure started on the train-ride in. I had an assigned seat, and I made it onto the correct carriage but was looking for my seat when I asked this woman (below) to help me locate it.
She laughs a little ands tells me I have, in fact, found my seat, and that I have apparently booked a seat in a ¨kinder¨(children) compartment. That was my seat, next to her. I actually booked the window seat, but I saw no benefit in asking her to move. Moments later, another woman with her 10 month old child enters and takes the last two seats across from me.
I am sure this turn of events is karmic retribution for my lifelong and absolute incredulousness at babies crying on planes, and my half-serious desire for just one airline to limit passengers to a minimum age of 9 years old.
Sooo we settled in for our journey, which despite lifting my leg every 7 minutes so the 5 year old could crawl around on the floor, and despite picking up crayons, binkies, and plastic toys that continually rolled off the table, and needing to choose focal points so as not to disturb the intermittent breastfeeding sessions, we had a grand old time.
The two women would chuckle every now and then saying they were trying to take all of this in from my perspective.
We discovered we are all teachers of primary, high school, and technical trades, so there was lots to chat about.
And the kids and I were totally in sync when it came to snack times.
I even dozed off to the soft rumble of the train; except when the compartment door was opened and all I could hear was screaming and crying and chilldren laughing — like I was onboard a moveable crèche. Apparently I booked a “kinder” compartment inside the “kinder” carriage.
I need to brush up on German train bookings.
That night, however, was a 180 degree turn. My friend Nick and his band were performing that night at SO36, the oldest punk club in the Berlin.
Though I met Nick in Sydney years ago, I did not know his band, Brutal Besoffen, was a punk band, until I was knee deep in it.
At one point, I found myself on the perimeter of the mosh pit, which kept expanding. Fortunately, there was a safe space on the sidelines where you could get a tattoo.
Nick surfing the crowd.
And hanging out with one of the promoters, Katha, who is learning Japanese in addition to English. Now I’m curious about the Japanese punk scene. Must be epic.
UNESCO added Berlin’s techno culture to its World Heritage List this year. Meanwhile . . . I did not set foot in any techno or house music venue the weekend I spent in Berlin.
But I did get to hear some good beats at about 2am coming from the underground metro train as it stopped at one of the stations. Note the bouncing people in the last carriage.
And I can claim my longest night out this trip with very nice Mohawk, pierced, and tattoo laden folk well into the rising of the morning sun on Saturday.
We took it down a notch with a rooftop bar the next night. Imagine taking the entire the top level of a parking garage and turning it into a massive outdoor bar-lounge with 360 degree views of the city. Klunkerkranich check it out.
And a rollicking dinner with Vaida and her Lithuanian friends
I got to spend the day reuniting with an old Sydney friend, Mike, who gave the best best accidental guided tour of his beloved hometown you could get.
Too much history to recap, but Berlin is the understatement of reinvention.
I had to stop here at The Bebelplatz, and pause for a moment. I wish others could.
This is the site of the Nazi Book Burning of over 20,000 titles on 10 May 1933.
I see no difference in this crime and the ones taking place across the Atlantic where titles are being banned by local school boards in the name of protecting children. The only difference is the Nazis said they were protecting all their people.
“Where they burn books…they will ultimately burn people as well.”
~ Heinrich Heine 1823
But let me give a shout out to modern Berlin for changing the name of one of its streets to Audre Lourde: American writer, professor, philosopher, intersectional feminist, poet and civil rights activist. She was a self-described “Black, lesbian, feminist, socialist, mother, warrior, poet” who dedicated her life and talents to confronting all forms of injustice, as she believed there could be “no hierarchy of oppressions”. (attributions below)
Manteuffel Straße is now Audre Lourde Straße
Berlin is filled with museums, but Teufelsberg Museum is a bit different: it was the highlight of my daylight hours.
Hitler started building a science and engineering centre on this spot in 1937, but by 1940 had abonded the idea and site. The Americans came in the 1940s and built it up as a radio communications and survelliiance site for listening to the East during the Cold War. The Americans abandoned it in the early 1990s.
Instead of demolishing the site, the German government has allowed artists to cover every usable surface with art for the past 30 years.
It’s a 3km walk from the nearest train station, through the woods and up a hill.
Shout out to Vaida; if she hadn’t nudged me about this, I wouldńt have found it.
But the reward once you arrive looks like this:
And a few more worthwhile in these images below.
And this is why I also had Hamburg to my Germany exploration. It was like adding tonic to gin. Behind Berlin, it’s Germany’s second largest city and is oriented around the water which people flock to all day and night.
Sipping a glass of German Riesling on the Hamburg waterfront.
And the best Wiener Schnitzel I have ever had.
And the best Turkish meal I have ever had (pictures not included).
Hamburg is just cool. It is not trying to be Berlin, and by having had only one day and half there, it showed itself as a place with much, much more to offer.
And a final shout out to Finnair. They serve blueberry juice! Who knew? I can’t help but think how many blueberries must be sacrificed to make a cup of this. I don’t think I could set aside that many in my house.
One more German city to visit. Next up: Munich!
Audre Lourde Wikipedia citations:
McDonald, Dionn. “Audre Lorde. Big Lives: Profiles of LGBT African Americans”. OutHistory. Archived from the original on July 25, 2019. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
“Audre Lorde 1934-1992”. Poetry Foundation. Archived from the original on November 27, 2019. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
Nixon, Angelique V. (February 24, 2014). “The Magic and Fury of Audre Lorde: Feminist Praxis and Pedagogy”. The Feminist Wire. Archived from the original on October 29, 2017. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
