Tag Archives: Tiergarten

Berlin, Personal Journal

Summary of Week 8: May 15th – May 21st

This week was very frustrating. The power supply for my computer died and I was without a computer for the better part of the week. It was a national holiday on Monday, which added to my frustration. However I actually started to meet people in the city, and there were several events that were absolutely incredible, including seeing the DSOB “symphonic flash mob” at the Mall of Berlin and seeing my teenage idol and native Berliner, Nina Hagen, at Bertolt Brecht’s theater, Der Berliner Ensemble.

6am
Whit Monday (national holiday)
Berlin
Power supply finally dies on laptop just as I am starting to work on my final papers for school.
And a choir of angels sings FUCK MY LIIIIIIIIIIIIIFE!!!!!

No more……

So I’m in a wooded area of the Tiergarten, separated from Elliott. I come across this weird older guy with grey hair swinging from a branch and staring at me. As I walk past, he starts hissing at me. All I could think is that the Big Bad Wolf has gotten really creepy these days.

Before coming on this trip, I developed an unrelated obsession with Verdi’s “Va, Pensiero”. I had it on perpetual loop once we got here, and then.later learned that it had been adopted as a sort of anthem in East Germany about how they yearned to be reunites with their homeland. Today we were near the Mall of Berlin and they were having a “symphonic mob”… and the second they started playing I recognized it. I almost cried. Literally one of the most unreal and beautiful moments of my entire life. (Sorry it’s shaky, I can’t fix it until my computer is working again)

DSOB Symphonic Mob – Verdi’s ‘Va, pensiero’

Tomorrow I have the unenviable task of trying to locate a replacement AC cable for my Dell laptop. Which is proprietary. In German. I don’t know how to ask for what I need, so I told my husband I should just walk in, slap the old one down on the counter and say “ich brauche ein neue Kraftstein!” which roughly means “I need a new Energy Stone!” Because I am a wizard, apparently.

Article: Fairytales much older than previously thought, say researchers

So, I’ve been to Neukölln now
It’s nothing like the Bowie song.
But it is a place that after miles of walking may have given me a new Energy Stone for my computer.
Also, walked all over the cemetery looking for Ulrike Meinhof’s grave, but couldn’t find it. Sad.

So, Elliott and I have finally started to meet a few people. None of whom are German. I met a really sweet guy… from VANCOUVER BC. I guess I traveled all this way to meet someone who shopped at my Costco? Today, I met a journalist from Tel Aviv who is working as a tour guide here. He said the best thing anyone has ever said to me in my life. First he told me a hilarious story about how he was trying to go into a synagogue, which are all guarded by German police (all Jewish institutions and businesses in Germany are guarded under federal law by German police free of charge 24/7. Because… reasons.) The police stopped him to make sure he was allowed to go in (attendance is limited on certain holidays for safety). He tried speaking Hebrew to the cop so he would know he belonged there, but the guy wanted ID. So he pulled out his journalist badge, which he said has a picture of him superimposed on a HUGE star of David. He said the cop kind of blushed and let him in. I was rolling. He LITERALLY got to play the race card! HAHA! This lead to a discussion about racism, and I said I felt like there is almost no hope for humanity. He said, “The fact that you notice these things and they make you sad means that there is hope. These things are the anomalies, they are not the norm anymore.”

I am not often speechless, but that was definitely one of the most impactful things anyone has ever said to me.

Went to “Europe’s largest second hand store”. It’s 4 storeys high and has a DDR section with clothes from East Germany. I found a really cute summer dress because HEAT. How in the hell am I going to get all this shit home?

Second Hand Rose

I just saw Nina Hagen. In Berlin. At Bertolt Brechts beautiful theater. Singing Brecht’s songs. With middle-aged Germans. Who loved her. I even understood a lot of the between song patter. (I did NOT get the jokes, though. Apparently she was hilarious.) It was amazing! This is even the outfit she wore.

Berlin, Personal Journal, Pop Culture

Personal Journal: Müsli

Die Stiftung Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Die Stiftung Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger

Ugh. I still cannot sleep. I keep waking up around 1am and then just sort of troll around the apartment with nothing to do until dawn. No internet, no phone, no tv, no books. I don’t even have any games on my phone. I found the Nibenlungenlied audio book on my computer, so at least I can get started on that. So I am sitting here at 5am, eating müsli with apples and vanilla soy milk, orange slices, peanut butter „toast“ (we don’t have a toaster, so I have to fry it in a frying pan) and peppermint tea, listening to the adventures of Siegfried.

Hoping today to go to the Tiergarten if the weather is nice. I don’t know what the train schedule is like on Sundays, but there is no way I can walk that far with these blisters.

Der Spülengeist is officially named Vladimir.

Ugh. I officially have a nasty case of „ballerina feet“. Blisters everywhere, bruised toenails, you name it. I even developed a blister under one of my nails. Don’t ask how I discovered this. Let’s just say I need to minimize the walking today. My legs are holding up admirably so far. Knock wood. It’s another beautiful sunny day, and I do want to capitalize on that before the notorious Berlin gloom returns.

Went to the Brandenberg Gate and the Tiergarten today. My feet are officially screwed, just a mass of blisters and raw spots. We took the U-Bahn to Alexanderplatz, and then tried to take the train to the Hauptbahnhof, but couldn’t find it. Had to go to the information booth, which was this weird fish bowl with a portal window the woman had to open to talk to me. While we were on the train, 2 guys got on with trumpets and started playing „When the Saints go Marching In“ and singing in thick accents while panhandling. This town might be weirder than LA. Saw the Holocaust Memorial. The monument itself is amazing, but the tourists were dreadful and treated it like a playground. There was a security guard there whose only job seemed to be to bark „HALLO! GET DOWN!“ at people climbing on the stone slabs. We decided that we want to sample him saying that and turn it into a dance track.

I have the Nina Hagen song „New York New York“ stuck in my head but instead of saying „we are going to another disco, disco after disco“ I keep thinking „we are going to another denkmal, denkmal after denkmal“ So many memorials, statues, and monuments for one city. I have decided the reason I love this city is because she is basically me. She’s old as hell and she’s seen some shit in her day. And then there was that whole goth phase…

Berlin, History, Photos, Urban Nature

Gallery: Tiergarten