http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/kateemarie/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from kateemarie en-us Sat, 26 Dec 2009 01:29:07 +0000 Sat, 26 Dec 2009 01:29:07 +0000 not that I was pulling for Angela Merkel when 4 days after I landed in berlin they held the reelections but boy oh boy was I one starstruck gal when tonight she was but 5 feet from me.I found Angie as german as could be down to earth yet noble. awkwardly funny. ltltgemtlichgtgt which has NO literal translation in any other language known to the primate man. yoursquoll have to come http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/District-of-Berlin/Berlin/blog-461831.html ...i was always impressed with the italians and their desire and ability to organize protest demonstrate strike and um...party in the street. but how seriously can you take them with that singong sultry languagenow when one sees waving of cardboard placards blowing in the bitter berlin breeze...with punk musicin one ear electronic in the other how can one not take the germans seriously wi http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/District-of-Berlin/Berlin/blog-453173.html in my trial run ok safehaven in berlin in rsquo08 I blogged about how we should take a moment to get to know our neighbors since most of ldquousrdquo Americans have never lived through communityled espionage. today I harkhug thy neighbor.just because you can. because they donrsquot live on another side of some wall.traces of which I crisscross each day on my bike sometimes inten http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/District-of-Berlin/Berlin/blog-452054.html hellipand as we take for granted that the grains of sand pass in a familiar and effortless manner through the hourglass of time hellipso too do we take for granted that our luggage that all of our pieces of luggage pass in a familiar and effortless manner through the heavy black plastic weather flap onto the conveyor belt.wearily swaying in baggage claim this dream was not to be realized http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/District-of-Berlin/Berlin/blog-442322.html Being a tico or tica also means that you have a pretty great chance of being literate and having enough money to provide for yours and your familiesrsquo basic needs. Desperation was not apparent if certain shelters perhaps did suggest poverty. Desperation also kept this gringo from having any meaningful or unmeangingful interactions with the locals. The best conversation I had was with my whe http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/blog-375151.html Five days of serenity though and I started feeling the superficiality of my experience barely a local spoke to me kids playing in the street didnrsquot even flinch as I flashed a smile and my newfound hola. No one called out goodday on the beach no one wanted me to buy their necklaces an occasional pelican provided entertainment a radio thumped instead of a djembe a whole week without o http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/blog-375150.html I must have been processing my Latin American experience aloud more than what was welcomed by my fellow single travelers at the retreat. Lush green and rough bark vines streamered our dining patio looking over the Caribbean sea and sleepy surfer town below. Joe a wouldbe bruiser from north Jersey if it were not for his Shakespeare softness interrupted my storytelling with ldquooh let me gu http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/blog-375146.html Any experience anytime anyplace. Just show up. I went places and tried things I never have before. Berliners have a way of making you feel comfortable with dropping your American cool and just joining in the fun. You can become anyone. Just follow some basic rules of organization engineering and privacy and you're fine. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/District-of-Berlin/blog-304153.html Something is always in the air or on the wall.Berlin is vibe. healthy wealthy. and definitely proud. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/District-of-Berlin/blog-304146.html FirstsA few feats of German engineering and history unveiled. To me personally. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/District-of-Berlin/blog-304136.html Anything is possible in Berlin.Berlin is raw. Real. Berlin is everything Williamsburg wishes it was and tries to be or perhaps what it once was. Berlin would swallow Williamsburg whole. Especially East Berlin.Art is everywhere and doesnrsquot need to be called Art.Artists are everywhere and donrsquot need to be called Artists.These streets are oozing individuality creative expression abound http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/District-of-Berlin/blog-304130.html I must finally be getting over him....Considering I puckered up to no less than 6 eligible caramel and cream bachelors this morning...Yes sirree Irsquom movin' on.I mean Abu will always be my first. But not my one and only as I see a long caravan of camels in my future. And I was absolutely delighted to be in the middle of a camel cuddling orgy today. Their thick Berlin accents prevented any http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/District-of-Berlin/Berlin/blog-272291.html I have always trusted my neighbors.YouIn childhood they became my family.At college perhaps at 3am I had to knock on the ceiling or floor to quiet them down but it was all love otherwise.At 18th T the gay guys chatted gardens and cuisine with me.In Pavia they laughed with me over Mexicorsquos tendency to adopt new families.On East 2nd Street in Brooklyn we cozied up on couches to watch http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/District-of-Berlin/Berlin/blog-270930.html Standing left if this were the New York Public Library on 5th Avenue would be Patience. And to his left Fortitude. I didnrsquot get to know these two lions as intimately but I can only imagine what kind of nicknames they have been given over the years facing the Wannsee protecting the Villa Marlier. It was here on 20 January 1942 that ldquoThe Final Solutionrdquo was consecrated and s http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/District-of-Berlin/Berlin/blog-269716.html To counteract the decline of bowling leagues in America I assembled my closest friends here in Berlin to celebrate my 32nd birthday Jersey style. So on Easter Sunday in the midst of blustery snow we hit the lanes. As American consumerism has infiltrated Germany reportedly over just the past 10 years more and more shops and entertainment spots remain open on the resurrection. I'm sort of OK wit http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/District-of-Berlin/blog-259748.html When teasing about Germanyrsquos superiority I often remark how even German kids are just wellhellipmore precious somehow. Perhaps therersquos something about their mannerisms. I still have yet to put my finger on it exactly but after two weeks of living here I can offer at least 2 concrete examples of my German little dumpling adoration1 their shoes. playful leather pouchlike slip http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/District-of-Berlin/blog-256378.html on a jaunt through the Finger Lakes then off to Brattleboro followed by a stop at Boston. apparently we love the snow.then a visit to Abu on the way home of course. christmas was pleasant barely a sole around we've been occupying ourselves by skating skiing and scavenging for food.those of you familiar with the classic A Christmas Story will appreciate the fact that xmas dinner was of the http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/Finger-Lakes/blog-230804.html some highlights of our trip.most of the unadulterated fun including meeting various Baschrelated characters were left undocumented. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/blog-230798.html here are some pieces i thought were left out of the DK art culture and dining guide.k. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/blog-230794.html confusion as we spun around the small streets of IledeRe on bike on foot on auto. it is the land of Julien's family beach house. while it was my second trip to france it was my first trip to an island there though spookily familiar. there were other french islands i had surely visited...IledeRe is overrun with terrible modern housing developments pasty white structures hidden behind pasty http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/blog-230786.html