April 20-May 1

We are in Berlin. It is an intense place because it sits at the center of world history but it is also a thriving creative city with a youthful energy. We stayed the first week in a sleek hotel near the Tiergarten (West Berlin) and the second in the Hackescher Markt area (East Berlin). Being near the garden was lovely and we took advantage with long walks, a little time in a row boat, breakfasts by the water.

We arranged a full day’s guided tour of Berlin. By the end of the day I felt like I’d completed a college level course covering 400 years of German history. Exhausting and worthwhile, it set the tone for the rest of our stay.

We spent time at Liebskind’s Jewish Museum and the memorial to the Murdered Jews. We walked stretches of the Berlin Wall. We took a street art tour. We took a safari in a Trabi – in communist East Berlin you would have waited 18 years to get this car made of plastic and aluminum. We walked the dome of the Reichstag.

We saw a lot of art. Joel’s First Pictures exhibit and and an exhibit of photographer Frank Stein at the Jewish Museum. We saw Ai Wei Wei’s Evidence exhibit at the Martin Gropius Museum. We saw the Ishtar Gate in the Pergamon Museum. We visited the Bauhaus Archive and the smaller museums with works by Picasso and Klee. We took a street art tour with works by Blu (East meets West), Alias, ROA, El Bocho (paste ups), Jimmy C (Anne Frank) and MTO (Here’s Johnny) and local renegade Mr 6.

And we searched out a few coffee spots like the Barn in Hackescher and God Shot in Prenzlauer Berg. At the Aussie run No Fire No Glory is also in Prenzlauer Berg. P-Berg is dubbed by some Berliners as Pregnant Hill and there are bugaboo everywhere. As we sat here with our flat whites and long blacks, we remarked on how similar it felt to Tribeca. Lauren told us of of a Tweetersation…”Is It safe where you live?” she was asked. Her reply: “Yes, unless you are afraid of toddlers.”

May 3
*Post script: the post didn’t load before we left Berlin so this is going up from Copenhagen. And to complicate matters, we had a backpack stolen so we are dealing with tech challenges which will be sorted shortly. All of us are fine; our safety was never in danger and we were not careless. The train station in Copenhagen is a place to pass through quickly, not stop for SIM cards or passes. A bag set down at your feet can be taken without your notice. They are sly and fast. Now we know.

Photos to Come
May 5: Photos are Here

Berlin is famous for its Curryworst

I preferred the kaffee bar.