Prenzlauer Berg, etc.
The site of the famous Berliner Luftbrücke (or airbridge) during the siege of West Berlin is only about two miles from my apartment. It also happens to be where the concert venue (the aptly named) Columbiahalle is located, which is where I saw Iron & Wine and Calexico live on Thursday night. They were unbelievably good. I ended up in the second row right underneath the incredibly talented trumpet/xylophone/accordion/weird blowy piano thingy player. Everyone was dancing and jiving and I really felt for a couple of hours that I was in the deserts of Arizona and listening to some high quality juke box music with a Latino flair. Those guys really know how to play music well, one really sensed it was their life's passion yet they were totally unpretentious about it. Plus I was really impressed with the audience here and how much everyone was into them. At the end they mentioned how much they love playing in Berlin and kein Wunder, because they were such a wunderbare audience.The weather in Berlin has finally blossomed into warm, light gorgeousness. I love how it doesn't get dark until 9pm here. Instead of doing my reading for David Levin's film class and my theory of photography class at Humboldt, I took Dexy and rode all the way from Kreuzberg to Prenzlauerberg on Saturday. It couldn't have been a more perfect day: the sun was shining, there was a faint scent of spring in the breeze, I felt the wind stream through my hair, I had my sunglasses on and was cycling through Berlin! What could be more surreal?? It was a lovely ride until the chaos that is Alexanderplatz, where I got thoroughly lost and covered with dust from the numerous Baustellen there (construction site)--well, Alexanderplatz is simply one giant Baustelle and it can't be helped. In any case it was a relief to arrive at Kollwitz platz where not only everyone was out in the sunshine in the cafes drinking their Milchkaffees but there was also an incredible farmer's market. Good thing actually that I didn't have any cash on me, or else I would've blown a lot of money on useless-yet-fun food items like organic tricolor spaghetti or the weird white asparagus (asparagi?) with which all Germany seems to be obsessed at the moment.
I locked Dexy up and went for a little walk around the area and peeked in countless boutiques and funky 2nd hand stores. While traipsing down Lychener Strasse I popped in for a much-needed haircut and despite my rule about not trusting non Asians with my hair, I was pleasantly surprised by the result. It was sort of like that part in Roman Holiday, only I a) did not get it cut that short, and b) am not Audrey Hepburn, unfortunately.
Today (Sunday) after church I Bahn'd it to Warschauer Strasse to meet up with Dan and Sandra and later Amy. After a ridiculously humongous brunch we hit up the Boxhagener Platz flea market where I bought this incredible old fashioned Agfa camera for 4 euros, leather case and all. I'm excited also to develop my pictures from my Fisheye Lomo camera. Tomorrow the grind begins again, but the grind in Berlin is really not stressful at all. In fact, it feels like an extended Berliner Holiday. Just wait til I get my ass kicked by having to write 25 pages completely auf deutsch for my final papers though. But yesterday as I was zipping along those cutesy streets in my sturdy bike, it dawned on me that I truly fell in love with Berlin. Maybe that's a function of the weather, or my carefree idyllic lifestyle...but there's something to be said about the fact that I now feel totally happy and safe and excited by this place.
In some ways I feel like one of the blind men in the fable with the elephant--not just in terms of the physical fact that I haven't been to or seen many parts of Berlin, but obviously on a cultural level there are many many things I don't know about the politics or culture or scene of the city. That would take a lifetime though, but I'd be happy with a few years here at least.
That is a picture of the heinous Fernsehturm at Alexanderplatz. Yucky Alexanderplatz.
posted by joyce @ 12:37 AM
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