Peekaboo. Yes, I am back.
Anybody out there? Quick re-cap: I left Berlin shores and went south to pitch my tent in Munich, not the capital of cool but of the free state of Bavaria (for a post on in-country nationalism of truly corkonian proportions, please stay tuned). But as no Berlin blog is complete without 30 Berlin themed posts and I was raised to tidy up after myself, I decided to bestow my personal and strictly random Berlin highlights to you – one for each month I spent in the city. Forget about the Brandenburg Gate or the Berghain – this is the real Berlin experience one should make:
1. The World’s Cutest dog, who I met on the Berlin U-Bahn.
World's Cutest Dog on Berlin's U-Bahn
2. Berlin U-Bahn in general. It exposes you to all the different faces that Berlin is able to show. Crazy ladies flashing their boobs and drinking from other people’s coke cans, guys reciting shakespeare to their image in the windows, puking Berlin ramblers, scores of Roma buskers, Motz and Straßenfeger sellers mix and mingle there. Try out Schienenersatzverkehr for added value (like seeing Berliners turn into an irate mob within minutes).
3. Colonoscopy Shopping. A surgery advertising their rectal services in a display cabinet smack on main shopping boulevard Ku’damm – complete with a very vivid, colourful “inside” video and all the instruments involved on display. Hm, tempting. Where are the fierce data protectors and their blurring devices when you need them?
Impulse Buyer Heaven in Berlin: Colonoscopies on display
4. Schöneberger Weltlaterne on a Friday night. There’s West Berlin for you in its purest form, including guys in colorful shirts and bow tie, old Hildegard Knef chansons and the odd drag queen dropping in.
5. Gasthof Kaputter Heinrich in Berlin Moabit. I have been meaning to write a separate blog post about this treasure box of Berlin charm (cholesterol-heavy food to ruin your aorta in only one go, Fassbrause, local Skat tournaments, an inhouse savings club and local patrons giving out to you over not having put your chair back properly under the table when leaving). Berlin Mitte couldn’t be further away from this place.
this and more pics on Moabit: vilmoskoerte.wordpress.com
6. Zappa the house cat in Berlin bar classic “Zwiebelfisch“. His easy-going presence made me feel at home from day one and I honestly missed him during the summer, when he leaves the Zwiebelfisch to roam the streets of Charlottenburg.
7. Watching the World Cup Match Germany vs. Argentina together with an almost delirious, sweaty, euphoric crowd at roasting Golgatha beer garden, Kreuzberg. Paul the octopus had done it again, and I for the first time I was living in a country that actually didn’t suck at football.
8. The view of the raumstation co-working building when I started to work during fine weather. I just love the look of red brick against blue skies.
raumstation on a beautiful day
9. Trying to rent a DVD at Video World - the amount of red tape they put you through until they hand you over those damn movies is epic. Once you have the card, you can easily reproduce the whole experience by choosing another Video World branch 10 walking minutes away from your “home branch” to get another DVD…
10. Potsdam. Although 30 minutes’ drive away, this was my favourite place in Berlin. Strolling through the streets of the Dutch quarter on a sunny weekend afternoon and dropping by Lekker Snoepjes for a treat was pure and utter bliss.
Dutch Quarter in Potsdam
11. Deli Floor in KaDeWe. Conventional choice? Maybe. But those 7000 sqm of pure decadence are enough to leave even me breathless, so I can only imagine what it does to people who actually care about food. They even have caster sugar in 6 different colours. No joke.
12. Dussmans Kulturkaufhaus in Friedrichstraße and its humongous book department on several floors make me wish that the time of printed books shall never, ever be over.
So hereby I finally close my Berlin chapter. Any comments on my choice? Let me hear them. Otherwise, stay tuned for more on Munich and – finally – writing there.
4 Comments
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Yes, that is the CUTEST dog EVER. I want one, but then, I want Zappa the house cat as well.
Many years ago, at the Barbican Underground station, there used to be the Barbican Kitties, these 2 placid cats, who lived there, and they would lounge near the ticket barriers, watching us mental commuters with such calm faces. I haven’t been back there in years, as I doubt the kitties are still around, they would have to be quite elderly by now and it would just make me sad to see the station empty, without placid Barbican kitties
P.S I laughed aloud at your football comment. Yes, it must be great to go see a football match where your country team actually wins. As opposed to leaving the pub feelig suicidal because you know, we f*cked up again…lol
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Hmm, both dog and Zappa seem to be used to being the centre of attention, so them together might not be the best of ideas …
Barbican kitties sound lovely, though. They just seem so much smarter when it comes to taking life easy.
Am a big fan of cats, but if I would ever have a dog it would be definitely a Jack Russell or a Corgi. Love big dogs in small sizes.
On football – yes, the story of English football is quite full of ups and downs, but then again, Austrian football is in obscurity (and rightly so, I guess) since the 1920s. One of the last times Austria made it to the world cup (1990) all there came out of it was a legendary stand-up comedy program. That’s how bad it is … ah well. I enjoyed the fun last summer, anyway.
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I think that dog is indisputably the World’s Cutest Dog. Oh…my…GAWD. I almost can’t handle it. It looks like it would feel like cashmere to the touch…
And everything else makes me really, really want to visit Berlin again. It’s been 12 years, and I know there’s so much new that’s been built, and I was probably too on the tourist trail to notice the colonoscopy equipment in the store windows
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I know, he was so adorable – and literally posing for the pic. That wee lad totally knew he is a stunner.
Oh yes, you definitely should pay a visit to Berlin, especially if it is 12 years. I could imagine you will experience a new city. You have missed the colonoscopy display?! How could that happen? Guess then you really have to go, no way around it. Contact me for the details when you go.