Alien in Berlin

More Anti-Atom

2011-03-27T08:05:00.000-07:00

Berlin goes Anti-Atom

2011-03-27T07:48:00.000-07:00

on the 26th of March around 250.000 people demonstrated against atom energy in Berlin, Munich, Cologne and Hamburg. In Berlin alone around 120.000 people are said to have been on the streets. A very mixed crowd of all ages and social classes. Good start! But is it enough to change things?

Sharing Berlin with people I care for

2009-07-29T07:28:00.000-07:00

During the last couple of month I have quite often faced the wonderful possibility of showing Berlin to strangers. Time limits were always different as well as the preferences of my friends. So I was challenged to give them an idea of Berlin worth loving in 12, 8 or 5 hours … Quite tough for this rather big and straggling city. Especially considering the fact that it doesn’t fascinate everybody automatically. Once I was really surprised to learn the opinion of a young girl who has spent most of her life in a village in the southern Germany. After having visited Berlin with her schoolmates she wrote me a mail describing the city as “a grey spot”. I was utterly incapable to understand how can a young person screen out the energy and excitement of this city. And most logically I didn’t want that the same happen to my friends.

I guess I did a pretty good job, but I’m not sure it was a complete success. I still keep asking myself if I should rather have brought them to the Kulturbrauerei instead of Sony Centre, to the East Side Gallery instead of the Check Point Charlie or to the “Trattoria Toscana” instead of the “Deponie”. There are no right answers I guess, though I still keep on checking the imaginary list in my head, putting in some new points, reconsidering the old ones and not being able to discard anything, so the list just grows bigger …

To my deep satisfaction all my guests have expressed their desire to come back to Berlin again. And what matters non the less, they helped me to rediscover the city, to see it in a slightly different light. Like one July night drinking cocktails on the Savigni Platz with someone, to whom due to the formal reasons of his short trips only the formal sights had been shown, I was surprised by the “I could never imagine Berlin can feel like Paris” remark. Why is it so, that when hearing a compliment for something you like you get as proud as if the compliment was paid to you personally?

Anyway, I would be grateful for any ideas concerning what’s worth “seeing for feeling”, feeling the very soul of Berlin.

Angst

2009-07-12T17:35:00.000-07:00

Berlin, wovon hast Du mehr Angst, von der Wahrheit oder von der Luege? / Berlin, what are you more afraid of: of the truth or of the lies?

sun & rain

2009-07-03T07:42:00.000-07:00

Berlin, what’s up? Why are you crying every evening? We like your sunny smile… keep wearing it! No reason for rains, and the fashion week will hopefully be over in two days :-)

Entertainment for hares.

2009-06-21T13:06:00.000-07:00

2 o’clock in the morning. Wonderfully calm night with no wind and no clouds in the sky. I ride my bike along the Teergarten with the Potsdamerplatz on my left dreaming of my soft pillow and the not finished book hiding underneath it. Suddenly a small creature jumps away from under the wheels of my bike followed by another one. I stop and watch a couple of hares rush away from the path into the Tiergarten. Curious beast! They walk out of the garden to sit on the path and watch the changing lights of the Potsdamerplatz and cars pass by! Even they need something besides gorging and fucking? Amazing!

Literatur Haus in Fasanenstrasse 23 – a fab place to be!

2009-05-24T16:37:00.000-07:00

White and red roses flourish in the garden of the Literatur Haus. People are sitting at the tables sipping wine, enjoying each other and the idyllic view. I feel tempted to join them for a while but pay the bill just in time not to be late for one of the wonderful events of the LH itself. Its charmingly profound program varies from exhibitions to movies and from poetic readings to lectures. It is something above the ordinary entertainment. Accordingly the public is over 40, which is a pity, because the events are everything but boring.

Today I went there for the pleasure of watching “A Foreign Affair”, the 1948 wonderful classic by Billy Wilder with peerless Marlene Diethrich, Jean Arthur and John Lund. Filmed in the ruins of Berlin this brilliantly funny story is all about life, love and risk. When I then went down the Q-damm I could not believe it is the same street I have just seen on the screen: bright lights, happy idlers and the strong scent of jasmine where shouting that the spring is there!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mDSWCfIy4Y

http://www.literaturhaus-berlin.de/

Berliner Luft

2009-05-18T12:21:00.000-07:00

Today I could fill Berlin’s air in a bottle to use instead of perfume the rest of the year.
It's top note including fresh grass, long awaited sun rays and oxygen makes feels me with happyness; the heart of the fragrance consists of the dizzy floral composition with strong jasmine accent; the scent is accomplished with the bottom note of the freshly backed bread, adventurous Vespas and warm wood. Fabulous!

SIGHTSEEING

2009-04-06T14:51:00.000-07:00

A wonderful scene seen this morning has made my day. Sun shines in the blue sky. First brave leaves have started painting green the trees on quiet Berlin street. An old man is riding even an older bicycle. A birds’ cage is tied to the back of his bike. In the cage there is a huge green parrot, almost as big as the cage itself. Clutching at the perch the parrot bobs on all pits and bumps. Nevertheless birds’ curiosity wins over the panic and discomfort. The parrot turns his head to the left and to the right trying no to miss any moment of the Berlin spring life.

2009-04-03T18:40:00.000-07:00

Berlin is the perfect city to ride by bicycle at three am. And fuck the traffic lights…

A BUS

2009-01-29T17:10:00.000-08:00

Late in the evening. We are standing on a bus stop with a girl friend of mine waiting for a bus. A bus comes by and we start waving hands to show we don’t need this one. It stops anyway, the bus driver opens the front door, smiles at us and says “May be the next time?” I love Berliner bus drivers!!!

Snow in the city of graphities

2009-01-26T11:41:00.000-08:00

These pictures were captured some time ago but since it is still winter, I thought they were quite relevant. Allora, snow in Berlin!

Hallo Tante Ju! Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin

2009-01-15T14:47:00.000-08:00

Just like most of the girls I am not really interested in technical equipment until the moment it stops functioning. Since museums are normally places that store exactly this kind of stuff I thought it was a good reason to make an effort and to go to this one. So I went there and you know what? I will go there again and again!

First of all, they’ve managed to collect lots of beautiful things like old cars, trains, yachts, aircrafts… Sure there are plenty of small copies of frigates and some other things that you can hardly store in one building, but there are also some real boats, yachts, lots of planes, locomotives… And it is great to see the flying legend of the German aviation – a real Tante Ju!

Secondly what normally bores me to death in the museums are the “don’ts”. Don’t talk aloud, don’t make pictures, don’t touch anything… the only thing you are allowed to do is to watch. And this is not the case in the 'Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin'. Yes, you are allowed to express your emotions! Yes you can take pictures with and without flash! Yes you can touch and even interact with lots of things! Like for example, there is a real steamboat that you can get on to walk on the deck imagining yourself the old salt. Or there are drawers you can open to discover old pictures of pilots, their books and medals. Or walk along a wall with many pairs of glasses in it. Watch through them, see stereo pictures of the aristocrats gazing at the flying biplanes and feel like a child looking at the grown-ups through a crack in a fence. There is also a hall with many educational and entertaining games for kids.

Take you time as the museum is huge and has enough things to keep you busy for the whole day.

Luetzow bar

2009-01-13T13:23:00.000-08:00

Oh, I really love this place! Did I already mention they also have an additional menu they change every month? My favorite in January is the Flip with Cognac and Crème de Cacao: sweet like chocolate, tender like a kiss, festive like the new year…

La vita in Berlin e bella!!!

2009-01-13T12:48:00.000-08:00

Trattoria "La vita è bella" in Belziger Straße 20 is a fantastic place! There is only one indispensable condition: you come in a good mood and ready to chat. To be honest, there is one more condition: do not expect a long menu. The boss and proprietor of the place or one of the waiters will move towards you the blackboard on which you will see the menu of the day: fish, homemade pasta, salads... Everything so fresh you will not believe they do not grow or fish it themselves. Be aware that the later you come the fewer dishes you will see on the menu: as fresh things are not that fresh on the next day, they do not store them. If you would like your fish served with another side dish as offered on the menu just talk to the waiter, he will happily offer you a couple of alternatives.
Good food is not enough now days. Most of us also do need entertainment. Try to chat with the Nunziante de Filippo, the owner of the place. He is there almost 365 days a year and he really seems to enjoy moving the blackboard here and there. If he likes you, he is gonna talk to you for a while turning your meal in Berlin into an evening in Napoli. Just watch him speaking German while his hands simultaneously speak Italian, - admirable performance!
Buon appetite e una serata simpatica!

Happy new year?

2009-01-13T12:43:00.000-08:00

I hope to become a better blogger this year, to blog more often, more interesting and to have kinder judgements. Amen...

X-mas disaster

2008-12-17T04:04:00.000-08:00

Is Christmas time there to fill our souls with peace and love? Or rather to make us buy things nobody needs and exhibit the anti-aesthetic taste? Anyway I bet I'll only find peace after it'll be over and people remove vulgar decorations from their windows and balconies...

Marlen

2008-10-15T16:13:00.000-07:00

Prenzlauer Berg, Eberswalder Str.
Berliners love their Marlen...

Take me for a ride

2008-10-06T14:43:00.000-07:00

There are plenty of double-deckers in Berlin. For instance the line I am using everyday has only double-deckers. While standing on the bus stop I watch the approaching buses with great interest and shall I see that the front sits above are free, I rush upstairs as quickly as I can and occupy them. Most of the people do so. And if you have once traveled on a front sit of a double-decker you’ve already got what I mean. The sightseeing experience with almost a panoramic view is worth the fuss, not to mention the luxurious space your legs get as fabulous bonus for climbing up the stairs.

Though there is one thing I don’t understand. When it rains, the upper deck windshield of the bus becomes so misted that sitting on the front sits you can only enjoy the view of the nontransparent “wall” right in front of your. Wiping it with hand only helps for a couple of minutes. At the same time you can comfortably sit in the middle of the bus and perfectly watch out of the side windows. Then why do Berliners keep fighting for the front sits anyway? Is it a matter of prestige?

Where they hide Argentinian steaks

2008-10-06T14:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I got a strange idea of going to a steak house. Feeling too lazy for an Internet research we just went to the one I’ve seen many times from the bus window on my way to Q-damm. It just happened to be Rosado… a very strange place indeed. I was not really delighted by the interior design if one may call this way the extreme country kitsch. Neither was I am impressed by, well, not exactly clean plastic menus serving as placemats. On the other hand the wooden ceiling and the wild red geranium on the other side of the window were building quite a nice contrast to the rainy weather outside, so we decided to stay. The waiter has quickly taken our order. In other respects he wasn’t really obsessed with the idea of service.

When we came in a song by Zuccero was playing. We didn’t pay too much attention to it as it was repeated for the second time but after hearing the same song for the fifth time without interruptions I grew quite annoyed. After being asked if it is done with purpose, the waiter suddenly happened to forget German language in which he was perfectly speaking before. From the separate words he managed to spit out, we could understand that they only have one song in the restaurant and that we’d better not pay too much attention to music. As we were reflecting upon if we were able to follow the wise advice, surprisingly the music changed and we got the chance to enjoy other Zuccero songs.

As for the food, it has arrived reasonably quickly. The beginning was not very promising: the salad was tasteless and hearty sauced with some cheep ready prepared sauce. I didn’t try Chilli con Carne soup but on the cry it was so spicy that the taste didn’t actually matter. If you are still reading this you would probably be surprised to learn, that after all the grilled fish and the grilled meet were utterly and absolutely perfect. At least we were surprised and ate them with gusto. Conclusion? Provide yourself with ear plugs, don’t really look around, order a big steak without side dishes and enjoy your meal!

Rosado. Lietzenburger Straße 2, 10789 Berlin

Postfuhramt, Exhibition Centre for Photography

2008-09-28T15:57:00.000-07:00

Postfuhramt building was constructed in the 1875–1881 by Wilhelm Tuckermann according to the plans of Carl Schwatlo. In its long history it was used not only as a head post office. Post and telegraph school, receiving centre for packages, apartments provided by the employer and even machines operating for the pipe mail system used to be situated in this building. The Postfuhramt was seriously damaged during the Second World War and partially restored in the years 1973-1989. From the year 1997 it has been used as the exhibition centre. And that’s what it is now – the Exhibition Centre for Photography.

I went there anticipating the thrill I would feel experiencing the “In Principio” – series of pictures by Sebastião Salgado, the photographer I adore. Unexpectedly this time his work didn’t touch my heart. Was it because the project was sponsored by the Illy coffee that the hard work wasn’t shown as hard as it could have? Anyway the exhibition of the works of Leonard Freed occupying most of the rooms has totally made it up. Pictures of this patient photo hunter, politically and humanly engaged person and a true artist have fascinated me.

And now to the point of this post: the interior of the Postfuhramt is not what you expect to see keeping in mind its pretty clean facade. The peeling walls provocatively exposing layers of the paint they where wearing for last decades, crumbling stucco, and worn-out doors create a scary and enchanting atmosphere turning time into something almost material. At a second glance the biggest exhibition room proved to be a former sport hall with one of the hoops still fixed to the wall. I guess you have to be quite a pervert to see the beauty of this collapsing block of history but I swear I loved it! Definitely worth a visit.

P.S.

Placed on the floor plates with the names force all shortsighted people to make a low bow in front of every photograph. I think it has a deep philosophic sense.

Postfuhramt Oranienburger Straße/ Tucholskystraße 10117 Berlin
http://www.co-berlin.info/co-neu/web/CO_Berlin/start.php

Girl on a wall

2008-09-28T14:13:00.000-07:00

Another example of wall decorations. This time in the Reinhardstrasse.

Around Hackescher Markt

2008-09-28T00:54:00.000-07:00

Modern frescos in one of the courtyards next to the Hachescher Markt, Mitte.

- Look at this blond girl!

- I am fixed on the terrorists.

Order & Discipline

2008-09-22T16:17:00.000-07:00

“Ordnung muss sein” was almost the first phrase I’ve learned in German. And I somehow believed in the myth about pedantic, disciplined, solid Germans, which helps manufacturers to better sell German cars, German washing machines and German shoes. Then I moved to a new flat.

After one month of living in it I learned from the owner that I had to read the electric meter before I started using electricity. I should have informed the supplying company about the result. Neither did I know the reading, nor did I inform the company. As I’ve called the company they didn’t want to know anything but the initial reading. As I’ve asked the flat owner what I should do, this German guy said: “Just tell them something. Who cares?”
I start feeling at home!!!

A place to happily ruin the liver

2008-09-21T15:00:00.001-07:00

I have to admit there are a couple of places in Berlin to which I go more often than to the others. Not all of them do serve alcohol, but this one does. Welcome to the Lützow-Bar - the real drinker’s paradise! It’s open 7 days a week form 16.00 p.m. to 4.00 a.m. Between 16.00 and 21.00 p.m. they have a happy hour, which means that every alcoholic cocktail costs half of its price plus 1 Euro. For everyone who considers an evening to be a successful one only in case he/she had to fight to the bar counter through a crowd of “cool” people, Thursday will be the only right day to visit the place. Some friends of mine believe it’s somehow connected to the next door club Trompete being opened on Thursdays, which doesn’t explain the fuss to me, as the Trompete is also opened on Fridays and Saturdays. Anyway six other days of the week you can walk into Lützow-Bar, take a chair and relax. Actually they write on their web-site that the bar chairs are covered with the ostrich leather which, being distracted by some other things, I’ve never noticed… To cut a long story that’s enough for the general information.

I like the cocktails being sorted just the way they are supposed to, namely on the basis of the main ingredient: Whisky, Rum, Vodka… The menu is so long that I don’t think my health will allow me to try all the drinks, especially if I repeat the tastiest ones. Oh, and they’re tasty indeed. As if it was not enough they also have an additional special card every month. The barkeepers seem never to be tired; almost in seconds they create a couple of diverse cocktails at once, followed by the couples of others, followed by… I guess you got it. Special feature of the bar is a narrow strip of light along the whole counter. First the barkeepers put the glasses on this strip and only then they start filling them up with little bit of this and little bit of that. A cocktail being born in the light coming from beneath – what a great spectacle to watch!
As for the music at this place I would be glad to have most of it in my collection. But if your kind of music has a “tuz-tuz-tuz-tuz-tuz” rhythm, forget everything you’ve just read and go to the Weekend.

Bar am Lützowplatz
Lützowplatz 7
D-10785 Berlin
Internet: http://www.baramluetzowplatz.com/
If you speak German then on this site you can enjoy a special story for every day of the year.

It's my dustbin!

2008-09-18T16:00:00.000-07:00

Germany is quite a playground for those who like the feeling of being slightly responsible for the ecological situation on our planet. For example, it gives everybody the opportunity to sort the litter. The range of garbage containers amazes: paper, packaging, green glass, white glass, brown glass, biological refuse, rest garbage… Most of them are also to be found in the courtyard between the two entrances into the apartment block I live in. This morning I was carrying out the trash and decided to start with the biological refuse the container for which, I believed, was placed some 30 steps away from the door while the others are just some 20 steps away from it. Suddenly the superintendent who was cleaning the courtyard jumped into my way shouting annoyed, “Not into my garbage can! Not into my garbage can!” “I thought it was the only bio container”, I responded baffled. “It’s my garbage can!” went on the superintendent.

Poor, greedy, insane guy feeling such an affection towards a public dustbin… does he indeed rule our house?

Food: Altes Europa

2008-09-16T14:07:00.000-07:00

Tonight I went to a place called "Altes Europa". It was thank to a colleague of mine that I got to know this location. He loves it so much that he calls it "my second living room", but there is one thing about it, he meant, I had to keep in mind. According to him the food there is delicious, the atmosphere is great, prices are affordable but the waiters seem to be extremely rude. Well, he has forgotten to mention one thing: pretty cute paintings on the wall. Above the table we were sitting at, there was a funny monkey curiously watching colourful birds. Not a big surprise as I already know what an artistic city Berlin is. The table itself was old and trashy and it had a drawer. As we looked in we have found some stuff: a kid's drawing, some old theatre tickets and a note from someone saying that it was a "gift box" and that we could take something out of it if we leave something in return. We were not that keen on having old tickets but we have put there a cigarette and a hastily created fairytale about three kings who have fucked a frog. If you are bored, go there and check it out!
By the way, the waiters were really nice. Just an example: the only menu they have in this place is handwritten on a board at the entrance. Since I was too lazy to go there and read the whole stuff, I've just told the waiter about my likes and dislikes and sent her to study the menu. In a couple of minutes she came back and gave me a report. By gosh!!! Does the rule "people treat you the way you treat them" really work?

Altes Europa

Gipsstraße 11, 10119 Berlin

http://www.qype.com/place/15659-Cafe-Altes-Europa-Berlin

Graphity

2008-09-12T15:15:00.000-07:00

I'll not surprise you by telling that Berlin is a city of graphity. Moreover it's a city of visual arts. Every street is a museum, every alley a galery. It seems that either every second person here is an artist, or those who are work tooth and nail.

Mitte, a few steps away from the Hackescher Markt

Mitte, next to the Hackescher Markt

Kreuzberg, at Checkpoint Charlie

Kreuzberg, around Kotbusser Tor

Be cool, be Berlin...

2008-09-12T14:43:00.000-07:00

Visiting bars and discos is a popular pastime among Berliners. They stand talking, overpay their drinks and show-off. Even if a guy has been single for the last three years and in the past two hours he grew really sick of the fellows he came with, he is very unlikely to approach girls regardless of the glances they are throwing at him. After all the only reason for him to be there, is to look as cool as possible!