Woke up around 8 to sound of World War 3 in the kitchen, aka my roommate unloading the dishwasher. I don't even mind it -- I could have be living with a slob instead of the tidy Italian. The noise is more like a friendly alarm clock than an annoyance.
I had some coffee and studied German for a while and ate Speisequark (the Greek yogurt on crack) mixed with a perfectly ripe nectarine and some nutmeg. I found a good house DJ on Soundcloud, Der Hausjunkee. The sun was shining merrily outside and I don't work tomorrow because of Memorial Day. It was already shaping up well.
Around 1 Dingens messaged me and asked what I was up to. At that exact moment I was laying on my couch singing, a pastime that I am sure pleases my roommate to no end but is something I love to do when the mood strikes. Don't judge me. I can't sing in the car anymore, gotta get my fix somehow and on the U Bahn surrounded by emotionless Germans doesn't seem quite right.
Anyway, I mentioned that I was going for a walk later. Dingens asked if I'd like to meet him and go for a walk in Tiergarten, a sprawling park close to his apartment. I'd never been, and time with Dingens is always time well spent, so I rushed to get ready and out the door in time to meet him punctually, per German custom. Dingens is from West Germany, not Berlin, so he is painfully punctual.
True to form, he was waiting for me on the Sbahn platform. We meandered through the park, which was crowded with people enjoying the weather. It really is lovely, with tree-lined canals filled with rented rowboats. People were picnicking along the banks wherever they could find a sunny spot of grass. I made a joke about German nudity, and sure enough a short while later we came upon a sunny meadow filled with naked people sunning their buns. It reminded me of Castro in SF, back when nudity was legal.
Tiergarten |
Rental rowboats |
Statues everywhere |
We made our way past the President and Prime Minister's homes. Both were large, stately buildings that looked more like the White House than a home. I was surprised at how low the security was--only a small iron fence and a guard house with just one man at the gate protected the buildings.
Schloss Bellevue |
From there we made our way to the Siegessäule, Berlin's Victory Column. It's an imposing monument set in the middle of a multi-lane roundabout, a tall column crowned with a shining gold statue. Originally created to commemorate the Prussian victory in the Danish-Prussian War of 1864, the column was augmented with the statue after subsequent victories in the Austro- and Franco-Prussian wars. It also stood in a different part of the city, but the Nazis moved it to its current location closer to the Brandenburg Gate. It survived the war with minimal damage, but the smooth marble is pockmarked with bullet holes.
Siegessäule from above |
Siegessäule from the park |
Murals on the lower balcony |
Bullet holes, courtesy of trekearth.com |
The tiny, winding staircase seemed to go on forever but the view of the city from the top was magnificent and completely worth the climb. Once we got to the viewing deck, Dingens kept up a running commentary on which buildings were important. It struck me how un-European Berlin looks. Normally there is an "old" section of the city, filled with red-roofed buildings clustered by a river. Newer buildings surround that section, and industrial sections pop up in the fringes.
In contrast, Berlin is a hodgepodge of everything. It's a sprawling city, more like a smaller version of LA than Paris. Old buildings which survived the war are mixed in with ugly 70-era square architecture from rebuilding, and modern marvels are dotted here and there along with smokestacks from random factories and power plants. Expanses of green parks give some relief from the crazy mix of buildings. Dingens shared matter of factly that "44% of the city is made up of parks, which is one of highest ratios of any city in the world."
View from the top, on a cloudy day. TV Tower, Berliner Dom, and Brandenburger Tor are visible |
We headed back downstairs -- much easier than going the opposite way -- and headed towards the German Parliament building, the Reichstag. We stopped on a bridge and watched the never-ending line of tour boats float underneath us, waving to a few of them to show that Germans can be quite nice after all. They were all too happy to wave back, even snapping some pictures.
tour boat cruising by the Berliner Dom |
We went to the Brandenburger Tor next. Lines of carriages and very bored horses waited for tourists. Dingens shared that he's always wanted to take a carriage ride, but we both agreed that a snowy winter day would be ideal. The poop bags would be too smelly on a warm day like today. One of the horses started peeing as if on cue.
Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate) |
Bored ponies. I pet one of them and barely got a blink. |
We sat on a bench and people watched. We tried to guess nationalities from clothing styles and talked about random things while soaking up the sun and making fun of the tourists. I always ask a lot of questions and today was no different. He answered all of them thoughtfully like a good German, pausing for a moment before responding.
After the crowd started to thin around 6 we got a couple of cappuccinos at Alexander Platz, a small restaurant/shopping center/movie theater with some impressive architecture.
Not a bad location for a coffee |
When we could take it no more, Dingens and I headed back to the nearest S Bahn station. We said our goodbyes and I headed back home on the warm U Bahn that smelled slightly of human sweat. This is a bad omen, as it wasn't even really warm today. Note to self: buy a bike to avoid the cesspool of public transport BO funk that is certain to accompany summer.
Normally I am dead-set against doing touristy things, but with such amazing weather and company it was OK. I was actually really happy to see a different part of the city
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