Enter Berlin

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First and formost, a belated happy leap day to you all. For those of you who (like me) failed to achieve anything, so long as you fit in an extra day between now and the next one, eternal bad luck won't befall you.



Anyway, here is an update on my move to the land of the currywurst.

After an entierly uneventful train back to derby (a place I did not envisage returning to so quickly!) and an airport shuttle to the hotel, I arranged a wake up call and quickly fell asleep - but no sooner had my head hit the pillow than the rude blare of the phone jolted back into reality and I was off. A crisp morning awaited me and an exceptionally prompt flight landed me at Berlin Schonefeld 20 minutes early, and I arrived at my beautiful little appartment, right opposite the pretty, yet less lovely Hotel California. An afternoon of unpacking, and a cold beer, and the day was gone.

All that was left for me to do was to try a currywurst from my local provisioners....I wasn't really sure what to expect- it was very tastey and I did enjoy it, and chances are I will have it again! But I would say it is about as exciting as fish and chips - and at the end of the day, fast food is fast food!

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I went to sleep happy that I had booked Monday off, and as the morning rolled around I went window shopping on the blocks either side of my flat - perfectly suited for that actually; with rolex, cartier, hublot and prada, LV, gucci and lets not forget that German favourite - Steif. Following that I hit the geeks dream, the Saturn centre. 6 floors of electronics, from fridges to 3D TVs, PS3s to hairdryers, it has everything. Very fun.

Following that was a free (read: tips expected) walking tour of Berlin. A brief history of the city was given - turns out it was built on a swamp - and several hudred years were breezed over in a matter of minutes. We visited the Reichtstag (a place I will visit properly at a later date), the hotel where Michael Jackson famously held a baby off the balcony, the remenants of the Berlin Wall, several Cathedrals and Mighty Buildings - including the Humboldt university buildings, very impressive, and home to a small memorial to all the books that were burnt. One author who's books Hitler's head of media Joseph Goebbels sentenced to the flames was Heirich Heine, who notably (and prophetically) wrote "Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings."(1823). Another haunting place was the holocaust memorial, which was interesting - pretty abstract but decidedly multi-layered in its approach to commemorating those who died. Other stops included the Luftwaffe HQ, and lastly Checkpoint Charley, especially fake and a poor show for the tourists. I enjoyed it though because there was a very minor car crash (no-one was hurt, it was just interesting). The Lufftwaffe HQ was an interesting one - built by the Nazi's, it was not bombed because all sides wanted to keep it intact following the war, and indded the Soviets got to do just that, when it became another evil building - the Soviet Communist HQ. Following the fall of the Soviet empire, it again changed hands, following it's destiny to rest in the hands of those both hated and feared by the rest of society, it is now home to the German tax man.

The tour ended, and I decided that I couldn't give a €20 and ask him for change, so I gave €1,60 instead.

Then with a few other people from the tour I set off to find the nearest German pub. This looked a bit naff though, so then we went to an Irish pub next door instead. Much as I would have loved to while away the hours in that place with the entertaining company, I was determined not to be late for work on my first day so wanted to get an early night.

First impressions of Berlin then: much more laid back than London, but more diverse. The architechure is a lot of fun - it is as though every architecht has risen to the challenge of the buildings around them, and whilst some haven't worked out, the result is a mosaic of styles that capture the imagination - without any of the abject disasters held in the archtectural monstrosities we sometimes see in the UK! The people all seem very pleasent, all speak English (useful as my German is appaling), and beer is really cheap. The coming weekend will be far more enlightening I am sure, so I will have more to write about regarding the city then.

Chuse,

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