Travega: Berlin: Poor, but Sexy

I can't say that Berlin was on my list of places to see this semester. But, no girl in their right mind could pass up such an opportunity, so when my friends said they had planned a trip this past weekend and wanted me to come I bought my train ticket and prepared for my first adventure outside of the Czech Republic this spring. The weekend would end up being packed tight with endless walking, sightseeing and laughter.

I left Thursday night to take a bus to Berlin. It must have been last week's activities but I was passed out and was happy to wake up only when the German officials boarded the bus and asked to see my passport. Now, I am not the best at navigating around a big city-maybe its because I haven't been forced to, but this time I brought my secret weapon. What's better than being great at navigating a city? Having a friend who can navigate a city! That way in my sleepy stammer I can follow her around like a puppy dog, taking pictures and embracing senses while she worries about the map. We arrived at the hostel around midnight and despite a brick hard mattress and a pillow lumpier than a camel I slept like a baby in this new city.

The next morning we woke up early to the sounds of the city! We hit the most popular destinations; the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin Gate, Potsdam Platz, Jewish Monument and Reichstag! We walked half the city and although I am no expert there are definitely some big differences between the Czech culture and the German culture. In Berlin, there are young people everywhere!! This city was built for the young it seems, the nightlife is incomparable and the edgy alternative feel of the city is perfect for these artistic, intellectual minds. The most notable differences are when you ride the U (berlin metro system). There is so much diversity here. I saw drag queens, punks, hipsters you name it! They drink, they are loud and they'll catch your gaze and match it! No doubt, it is the years of oppression that has taught some Czechs to be wary of these alternative styles. Be as unnoticeable as possible was undoubtedly the goal during their history. However, I believe Berlin does not have nearly the architectural diversity that Prague does. The damage of WWII in Germany is the soul culprit in that.

On Friday we enjoyed the East Berlin Gallery which is the longest stretch of the existing wall. It is now a representative of peace and freedom. We shopped around goofy boutiques and unique coffee shops around Falckensteinstrasse. (www.chaosinform.com) here I found a cool ring which I'll talk about later! At noon we went back to the hostel to meet for an Alternative Berlin Tour, intriguing-right? Our tour guide was the cutest boy you've ever seen and we have so much in common! We're both Scottish (he moved recently from Aberdeen to Berlin), we both wear skinny jeans and we both have an obsession of graffiti art! This was truly the best way we could have spent the day-we saw all parts of Berlin and were given a deep history of the culture during and after WWII.

One of my favorite graffiti artist (I will find his name later) does a technique called Pastia where the drawing is done off-site and then glued somewhere on a wall (when the police aren't looking of course). His trademark is drawings of Little Lucy who was a cartoon character popular in Czech Republic. Little Lucy takes amazing adventures with her cat, Kitti. In Berlin street art, Little Lucy is seen murdering her cat in several different ways! See these funny examples below.

The greatest part of the trip is when we arrived at Tacheles. This used to be an old squatter house until the late 90's when someone reformed it into an art school. But, the business since has gone bankrupt and the bank is foreclosing the structure. There are several art studios throughout the house that feature the artist's work to the public but many artists have been kicked out by the bank. The greatest part of the house is the walls that tell its story-it is filled with messages, graffiti and art that it's dwellers and visitors have left. I have never seen anything like it. I do hope that it will be open for a long time, its a truly alternative place that screams culture! The building really should be turned into a historical site, here is some more information http://super.tacheles.de/cms/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunsthaus_Tacheles.

Did you know the reason why Berliners love to play ping pong? It's because during WWII the Soviet Secret Police would hide microphones in every cranny they could get a bud-this included bars-trying to catch people dishonoring the government. Berliners started playing ping pong while they chatted in order to drown out the sound!

We ended the tour around the cool area of Simon-Dach-Strasse. A train station that was bombed during WWII and never rebuilt is now used as a graffiti canvas. To match it's venue a skate park was built as well as a climbing wall converted from an old water tower. This is the place the be at night where concerts, clubs and beer gardens fill the air with noise. The area used to be only accessible through a bathroom stall at a nearby cafe. People went to the bathroom and never came out. Our guide explained this to us by referencing Chronicles of Narnia, ha!

My favorite part about the tour is when our guide explained to us what locals commonly say about Berlin. As some of you might not know (because I sure didn't) Berlin has been bankrupt multiple times throughout the last decade. They say "Berlin: Poor, but Sexy!" I love it!! We later laughed that perhaps that described us too. Travelling college students, living off a cracker or crackers (if we are lucky) for lunch, street food for dinner and beer for desert (or for brunch or linner)!

We ended the day by walking around a popular market and then meeting up for dinner, I tried my first German beer and had some of them famous Bavarian sausages!