Archive for November, 2008
Der Flohmarkt
Sunday, November 30th, 2008
My fingers have warmed up enough to type, so here’s a new post about what I’ve been doing this morning. There’s something jubilant in the air on Sunday mornings here. Children are bouncing along, bundled up in their brightly colored snow-suits, or snoozing in cozy baby carriages as their parents push them along. Dogs are out in force as well, mostly not on leashes, but somehow large and small all seem to get along and obey basic pedestrian traffic rules. There’s a leisurely feeling in the air, as the people come out to meander with friends, have a coffee or cake in the cafe, or start their Christmas shopping.
We were headed to the flea market (hence the title of the post,) hoping for some new-apartment necessities. We don’t have much of anything in the way of kitchen wares, with the notable exception of the few forks and cheese grater we found at a junk shop last week, so our mission was clear. This particular flea market is held every Sunday and inhabits a vacant strip of earth, long and narrow, along the side of a park. It is vacant because it used to be part of the Death Strip, and there’s even a plaque buried in the ground there that remembers that the wall once went that way. The area is pretty much half-way between where we are staying now, and where our new apartment is located.
We entered through a space with crude wooden benches that had been set up as an eatery. People munched on crepes or warmed their hands on hot drinks and looked on with mild amusement as some singer crooned out a poorly-pronounced rendition of an American folk song. Dogs looked longingly at waffles and french fries held just out of reach. On ahead, booths and stands stretched offering untold wonders: tacky old lamps, antique furniture, jewelry and clothes, record collections, scores of funky dishes, fur coats, odd photographs of anonymous people who lived a hundred years ago, bronze statues, old typewriters and sewing machines… 
Some shops sold home-grown apples or organic walnuts, and there was the occasional spot where the smell of roasting chestnuts or fresh pine or lavender filled the air. We had a great time admiring taxidermy animal heads and pewter candelabras, testing out spices from someone’s spice stall, trying on fur hats from Russia and vintage goggles from WWII, and considering how certain strange old paintings or mirrors in ornate gilded frames might be incorporated into our little home-to-be. The place went on and on, but we didn’t end up taking much home, mostly because we were hoping to find some pots or pans and came up short in that arena. We did, however, get a fine collection of quirky plates and bowls that somehow made their way there from various parts of Europe.
On the way back, with frozen fingers and toes, I paused so I could bring you this last image:
My revised website is now up!
Tuesday, November 25th, 2008
New and improved! I’m still adding things to the Watson project section, bit by bit, so watch for new things as they come along.
Update: As of Nov. 28th, it’s not loading at all. In fact, I can’t find any of my files at all. Not sure what’s going on…
ok, things seem to be back up again! Tschüss!
-J
In the park
Tuesday, November 25th, 2008
The fall leaves have all but gone from the trees now, but before I forget them and move on to more wintry things, I thought I’d post some pictures from Prenzlauer Park, which is just a hop away from here. I was on my way back from looking at an apartment in the neighborhood, which turned out to be less than ideal in that it was in an area full of buildings under construction, and the windows looked out over a cemetery. (Quiet neighbors, one hopes.) At any rate, the park was a beckoning expanse of unexplored territory, and I ventured forth. Here are some photos from the day…
The park was full of people, and all of those people seemed to have some sort of dog. A long-legged spotted beast caught a frisbee with ease. A German Shepherd gnawed on a short stick held by his owner, refusing to let go of it for any reason, and thus eliminating the need for a leash. A bulldog waddled behind a pedestrian, looking as grumpy as possible. Just when I thought I’d seen it all, I came to the top of a long staircase and was greeted by a small terrier, galloping up the stone handrail at full speed. Panting, he accepted a treat from one of his owners, then without a beat, turned and galloped down again. I watched him perform this energetic feat about five times. Clearly the animal was too happy to care that he was doing the doggie-Stairmaster.
At the far end of the park was a fountain, boarded up for the winter. It’s a strange sight that I remember from my visit to Russia in 2004; wooden boxes or crates covering what might be nice sculptures, beside a fountain full of old leaves and pools of festering water. To help me visualize what it was supposed to look like, there were laminated photographs of the sculptures taped to the boxes. A plaque explained that the fountain is dedicated to fairy tales, and each figure represents some character from German lore. I figure I should just come back when the season is a little more inviting.
A walk in Friedrichshain
Tuesday, November 18th, 2008
I’m a bit behind in the blogging, but last week I went to Friedrichshain, a nearby neighborhood on the East side of the city in order to find a birthday present. It was a perfectly sunny day, which doesn’t happen often so it’s worth getting excited about. I took the streetcar to this sqare. As you can see, Berlin is very bike-friendly; there are bike lanes on every major street. Usually they are comprised of a section of the sidewalk, subtly noted by a different color and texture of paving stone. As a pedestrian it’s easy to ignore, and I’ve leaped out of the way of more than one irritated biker.
Freidrichshain, like Prenzlauerberg, is full of small independently run stores and restaurants. You’d be hard pressed to find a chain of any sort, especially in the small back streets. (I can’t speak for the rest of Berlin, however. I hear that the West side became a bit more corporate over the years of separation, so there you can find the occasional obligatory Starbucks. Further investigation is necessary!)
I was walking down a street especially thickly coated with graffiti and found this quirky mural in amongst it all. On the upper right it says “Clean streets – dirty walls.”
Die Mauer
Tuesday, November 11th, 2008
A few days ago (November 9th, to be exact) was the anniversary of the day the wall was first breached in Berlin 19 years ago. Apparently after that there was no stopping it, and the wall was dismantled bit by bit. You would hardly suspect that the wall ever crossed Berlin if you were to look at the city now, but there were a few old pieces on display downtown in commemoration of the historic event. 
(As an aside, when I see pieces of the wall I wonder if the proliferation of Graffiti is Berlin is related to the history of the city. If graffiti came to represent protest and rebellion, and the West side of the wall was coated with it, perhaps this is part of why nobody here feels inclined to remove it from the buildings? But I am just making up crackpot theories here.)
Since we’ve spent almost all of our time here so far in the East, we decided to take the opportunity to break on through to the other side. The main crossing between East and West back in the days of the wall was the Brandenburger Tor. Built by the Prussins, it faces a long avenue through an enormous park. 
It was a rainy evening when we visited, but the gate looked majestic all the same. It’s amazing that they really did split a city entirely in half. It reminds me of children drawing a line across the playroom because they can’t manage to share. History seems to show that people can keep building walls and barriers, but eventually they transform into tourist attractions. Inevitably, someone will look back and wonder at what it really achieved.
Potsdamer Platz
Friday, November 7th, 2008
I meant to post these photos earlier, because I first went to this place on Halloween, but I accidentally deleted them from my camera. Last night we went back to take some new ones…
Berlin has three main “downtown” areas. These are photos from Potsdamer Platz, perhaps the most dramatic part of town architecturally speaking. It might be difficult to figure out what’s going on in some of the pictures, but that’s actually not too far off from the real experience of the space. It’s confusing as to whether you’re inside, outside, or somewhere in-between and all the lights and reflections make it otherworldly. The space also has very strange acoustics. There seems to be an ambient murmur that makes it difficult to hear the sounds of people or traffic in the distance.
Beside the entrance to the plaza is a building which looked more like an art project, taking ornate interior decorating to the outside of the building by encasing it in glass. The lights changed colors, too…
We found out that this isn’t the best place in the world for finding a nice spot for dinner. The tourist appeal makes it expensive, and franchises (like the gigantic Dunkin Donuts) have encroached upon it. But there is a huge theater there, complete with IMAX, which shows films in their original language instead of dubbing (as most theaters here do.) The theater is just to the left of the photo below. I cropped it out because I figured you could look at ads for the latest Bond movie at home.
