Love=Berlin

---

They are crossing the road and coming my way.. Shiiiiit,the german police may just be about to open a can of woop arse on me!

-something similar to what I was thinking when I saw the Gestapo..sorry, German police heading my way.Actually, I´m sure my thoughts were just full of expletives at the time,but I was too busy giggling silently to myself to notice.



Being mistaken more for a European than an Aussie, having a little ( I swear mum) of a run in with the gest...german police and being invited to pack up my things instantly and head to Prague with a couple of Dutch dudes.

Just a quite first few days in Berlin really.



Or maybe not.


-Berlin-
The city that has me within it´s grasp -one that I just can´t seem to break free of
Because, to put it simply-it is just that fucking cool




...Oh how the nostalgia already permeates my senses.


• Hong Kong to Berlin (via a blink and you´ll miss it transfer in Switzerland).

Reluctantly, I hopped onto what was going to be a 13 hour flight; not so because I could foresee the skanky foot that would plant itself on my armchair from behind whenever I attempted to sleep;being painted with red nailpolish somehow made it creepier- and not because of the strange guttural sounding noise coming from some small child throughout the night (think the exorcist meets... just some kid making a really annoying noise). No, the reluctance I felt was all due to me fighting the urge to not steal a little vietnamese toddler I had grown fond of whilst waiting for my flight. As I watched him running and playing around me (he was clearly taken with me as I with him) I couldn´t help but think ´hmm maybe I could start my rainbow family a little earlier than I had planned...´
But alas, off I went; thinking of colours, lots of colours.

It was on the plane that my Australian heritage was first questioned.
Sitting down next to a 20 something Macedonian girl, we found ourselves chatting away when she then started to question if I had lived in Australia all my life and whether my parents were born there; it was at this point I thought she was either a spy or she simply thought I was a fraud posing as an Aussie ( as you do). Questioning her on her curiosity, she then went on to tell me that when she first saw me she thought I was European (and I don´t think she was talking about my uk and Irish roots)...Not knowing whether to laugh or to be content in my dumbfounded silence, I stupidly forgot to ask her what part of europe that would be - but with the hugs, kisses and e-mail contacts exchanged, I have a feeling one day I might just find that out. I continued to be questioned about my ´Aussieness´ when I got to the hostel;my middle aged french roomie had ,by I don´t know what grounds, led to the ridiculous assumption that I was Scottish because I was wearing a leather trench coat and a beret (in hindsight, shouldn´t he have thought I was a fellow countryperson of his?);and even a fellow aussie girl seemed surprised I was Australian...Maybe I should have chucked some thongs and boardie shorts on ,and then thrown the term ´yeah, nah´around, to clear up any future misunderstandings...
But apparently to some, my ´aussie twang´ was a dead give away; sitting in a seedy bar in the early hours of the morning,with the owner entertaining us nearby whenever he lost a point at foozeball (an old, rugged looking bar owner, bellowing german profanities and slamming his fist into the wall is every bit hilarious and horrifying, as you would imagine it to be)my two new dutch male friends told me, I as an Aussie, don´t speak proper english- I preceded to tell them, whoever pronounces vodka as wodka, really shouldn´t be giving out english lessons.


I can´t fully articulate my thoughts on Berlin
It´s hard to put into words at the moment just how, this place, it´s people and it´s visitors has had an effect on me..

But good God, I know it´s love.
I´ve extended my four days to 8-9 days.
I´ll let some photos do the talking for now, until next time.

But on a short note; as I sat on my bunk bed listening to a French speaker and a Dutch speaker trying to converse in english (neither their mother language) about religion I realised just how lazy most of us english speakers are. Here were two people trying to meet halfway in a language other than their own, and there I was, a lazy english speaker who doesn´t even know a second language , in absolute awe.
Screw the ´universal language´ bullshit of the english word; having that excuse to fall back on; just makes most of us look so damn incompetent in an increasingly globalised world.

---

Photos

Standing against some wall...
In fact, I think it might be a bit famous...

Reconstruction of the Wall
Re-painting the wall, an ode to what was. The gate in front is to protect the work that continues to be restored on the ´gallery´.

Walking amongst the ´memorial to murdered Jews in the Holocaust´
It was emotional enough going to this..now comes Auschwitz...
I wanted to put a fist in the faces of those who were climbing over the big blocks like it was a playground, but lucky I´m a pacifist..

The ´east side gallery´
At 1.5 km,it´s the longest remaining part of the wall. It still stands today, not as a symbol of oppression, as it once was, but as a symbol that oppression can be overcome.

It´s the story behind the photo that counts
In a nutshell, I was prancing around on a bridge with my camera, when I noticed some intimidating looking police looking my way. After thinking I was just being paranoid, they finally walked over to me asking whether I was taking pics of them or not because it was illegal and apparently you can´t just takes shots of them standing there, they have to be doing ´something´..HA!
After innocently telling them that I was doing no such thing, we left each other on good terms..I then snuck away onto a little concrete bed down the river a bit and stealthily took my shot- no cop tells me what to do! Hey, while in berlin, do as the berliners do..And I call them Gestapo, because their ´presence´ was a bit over the top, which I found out later wasn´t so unusual.

Old guy fixing bikes..
After asking if it was ok to take his photo, he beckoned me over to talk to his bird...

´German talking´ Bird
..he got me to say a few words in german so the bird would talk back. He eventually did talk back. I don´t know what he said, he probably called me the german equivalent of ´a dickhead´

Punk on a bike
Punks, bikes = Berlin

Nothing is safe from graffiti in Berlin
...not even boats

suck that up homophobes..teehee
Hitler would be turning over in his grave seeing this pic on the wall

...this lady told me it was a restaurant..
I sat down next to her on a park bench.We spoke for about 10 minutes.She spoke Dutch, I spoke English. We ´talked´ with the language of hands about family and dancing. I was going to ask for a profile pic but she left because she had a sore butt, she signalled that to me with her hands too.

3 hour convo with 40 year old crazy american.. Yes crazy,but good value
I came across Mila, along the river bank. She saw me taking photos, and insisted on taking mine for me (hence the new profile pic)..she invited me to sit down by the river with her. What followed was a 3 hour talk about her years living in Berlin, the rascism that she receives, that she witnesses, the neo nazis that are still prevalent in the city today,her rough treatment by the gestapo -type police and so much more. She was a slightly crazy, loud american, but provided me with a glimpse into a side of Berlin the tour books won´t give you.

Comments

[Clinton]

Great words and pictures Rens. I'd forgotten how much I love the Dutch W's!

[Renzington]

Re: Clinton
Thanks Groves :) Yes the W´s are quite funny, I got the boys to keep repeating ´wodka´ for my own ´shits and giggles´.