Rocking in the free Berlin

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Berlin was an amazing experience. One I will never forget. We ended up staying a week because it was so interesting and cheap! We owe a lot to Chad Robertson and his roommates for putting us up and guiding us through Berlin.

The first part of the week was cold. When you would step outside and breathe in you would lose your breath. Thats how cold it was. And it wasn't just because we were from Texas either. All the locals were complaining. It was something like the coldest couple of days in sixty years. So, when most sane people were staying inside we were out walking around all day. But, you actually get used to it...eventually.

As I mentioned the first night was really a culture shock. The rock band was very friendly and open. It was a great way to kick things off.

The next day we toured east Berlin. It is amazing how big the TV tower is in real life (I will post pictures soon...promise!) Also, the buildings built during GDR's reign look more like concrete slabs. Now, they have painted them colors (so that they stop looking like prisons) but it is still pretty ugly. That night we had another great cultural exposure. On the way back home we stopped at a local pub to warm up and have a beer. A man sitting at the bar over heard us tell the bartender that we were all from Texas. He immediately got up and said "Texas?!?" We all thought that he was just a drunk trying to make incoherent conversation. But after talking to him more we found out that he was a legitimit artist. In fact, he helped to establish the "East Side Gallery" (a part of the wall still intact that features many artist graffiti art). His work has also been on the cover of Newsweek. So, we ended up going to his gallery that night (early in the morning) where he gave us a detailed tour of all of his work. He was a really interesting (crazy in a way) but then again I guess all artist are (sorry Lindsay 😊 It will be easier to explain him more with pictures (which I will try to post soon...promise!)

Another friend we met that night was Ulla, the bartender. She is an amazing women who experienced all the negative effects of the cold war. She is about the age of my parents. The wall went up when she was 10 years old. She grew up loving the US and JFK (she loooves JFK). She was on the waiting list for a car (there was one type to choose from, the Trabant) for 10 years when the wall fell. Which she was excited about because they were telling her it would still be another 3-5 years before she would actually receive it. Amazing story. She would almost get emotional when talking about it. As a gift to her, Chad burnt a cd with Texas country music on it. We gave it to her the next day. It was a lot of fun. We taught her how to two step (dont get jealous Sarah). She loved it. Then, she asked to play on of her favorite cd's. We said, "of course." Little did we know that it was going to be Lee Greenwald's "Star Spangled Banner" cd. It is full of all the songs you are taught as an American school kid. Now I understood why she loved my name "Lee." She also just had a beautiful grandson. Her daughter named him Joey (not to be confused with Joseph...as in joseph stalin). The reason being...she loves the tv show Friends. Once again I realized the impact our entertainment industry has on the world. Ulla is truly a friend. It was hard to say goodbye bc we had become such good friends. She even gave us a little going away present. Chad is lucky to have a "mom away from home."

Besides the museums and monuements, another cool experience was going to a "squatter bar." This was intense. There are old warehouses throughout Berlin that have been taking over by the "alternative" crowd. They are decorated with interesting graffiti and art. It is not a business but more of a co-op. You can have a beer listen to live music and shop around for local artists work. It was really cool, but I felt really out of place. An interesting experience, for sure.

Lets see...we also became friends with the pizza guy next door to Chad's place (we ate there a whole lot 😊 It was good cheap pizza. Only 2 euros ($2.60) a pizza. He was turkish. There are soo many Turks in Berlin. Around every corner you can buy Doner kebab. Its actually very good.

The last day was very long and similar to a Saturday back home in a way. We woke up and ate a big breakfast (fuel for the day). Then we got on the train with two .5 liter beers each (tradition...I had to, kinda like tailgaiting 😊 We were on our way to Olympic Statium. It was so cool to see the fans so pumped up. Also, it was just cool to be in the famous stadium (where Jesse Owens rocked Hitlers "supreme race") All of Chads roommates were from Hannover so we sat in the Hannover section eventhough I had just bought a Berlin scarf. So, I decided to put it in my pocket for the game. Anyways, the game was exciting but ended in a disappointing 1-1 tie.

After that we had a party full of dancing and conversations. We are now in Warsaw. Poland is awesome and quiet an experience. I will post another entry when I have more time.

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