berlin = rad

sunday morning i awoke an hour before my alarm went off. i was seriously in need of sleep, a friend's birthday party was the night before, but i was too excited to stay in bed any longer. john, another fulbrighter, and i caught a plane out of tallinn at 1130am and were stepping onto german tarmac just a few hours later. one great thing about living in europe... hopping flights to other countries is not only quick but cheap. one bad thing... now that i'm starting to pick up estonian and feel comfortable in everyday situations, the shock of being surrounded by a language i can't come close to understanding, again, was unnerving. but we made our way through customs with ease and found a small coffee shop where we were to meet anna.















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you remember anna. she lived in tallinn last "semester," but has since moved to berlin to work with the fourth biennial for contemporary art. i'm so jealous of her right now. moving on... anna met us at the airport and helped us navigate the trains back to her apartment. so glad that she did, the 45 minute trip wasn't so complex that it would have been impossible for us... it was just so nice to see a familiar face amidst the foreign landscape. her apartment is located in the middle of this funky, artsy, hip neighborhood which is within walking distance of berlin's major attractions. after dropping off our stuff, we set off for a late lunch. (that's the view from her apartment...)
















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why berlin is so rad, #1 reason: we had our choice of international foods. we started off with middle eastern. a few orders of falafel, some doner, grape leaf wraps, and fennel/fig dessert later we were stuffed to the brim but rejuvenated. the next day for lunch we had thai. the rice noodle duck soup i ordered was so delicious i had to force myself to not suck it up with a straw. the jasmine tea was divine and a kiwi, orange, banana, mango smoothie was almost too wonderful. monday night it was sushi. mmmmmmmmm. some miso soup. some inside out california and tuna rolls. yum. and i hate to mention this. it makes me sound like an absurd american tourist, which i can't deny that i am.... but i'll tell you anyway. starbucks. i know, half of you can't believe i just said that. but come on, i haven't had a caramel frappuccino in SIX months. give me a break. to make up for that sin, we also hit a small funky cafe for breakfast which had the tastiest, freshly made, orange-carrot juice. yum yum.

the real reason we went to berlin however, was not for the food but for a concert. again, kind of lame. sue me. john's sister works with maxim radio and happens to be friendly with a band called the blood hound gang. so we were on a list to get into the show for free and backstage for an after party. not my first choice in music but live concerts can be so much better than the processed music you hear on the radio so i was willing to check 'em out. the concert was on sunday night so we weren't feeling especially gung ho after the flight and party the night before. but we rallied, got some caffeine in us, and went to the show.

thank you anna! that's something we must have said ten times that night. without her near fluency in german, we would have been lost. getting into the concert was alright, our names were on the list for that. the opening band wasn't so great, but when are they? the show was pretty good though. the crowd was so stoked, most people seemed to know all the words, everyone was dancing around and the band was right on. we definitely had a really fun time. after the show, we tried to find someone who could give us clearance to go back stage. we were sent from one person to another and back again, but anna was polite and persistent enough that finally they allowed her, and only her, to go backstage to talk to the bassist. that was enough, we were in. tom, our new best friend, came out with our wrist bands and we headed back stage.




meeting a "rock star" wasn't as climactic as i had anticipated. maybe it's because i'm not their number one fan. maybe i would have felt differently if i was suddenly shaking hands with, let's say... michael stipe. but who knows. "Evil" Jared Hasselhoff seems like a nice guy, definitely workin' the "rock star" shtick but nice. i'm sure there are a few people out there right now that would give something important to them in order to meet this band but oh well. we can't really choose random encounters right? the after party was pretty chill, about sixty people in a back room of the concert hall hanging out, talking, dancing, and taking advantage of the free booze.

monday morning we weren't in top form, but we got out of bed anyway in order to explore the city. anna had work so john and i were on our own with a map. after a very tasty breakfast we headed into the heart of the city without any real intentions. when we wound up near the tv tower it seemed like a good idea to go up, so we did. certainly the best way to get a feel for any city is an amazing view from high above. so hard to believe that each neighborhood, street, house, and window meant enough people to fill it. whoa. we decided to get our $10 worth by having some tea in the revolving cafe. by the time we were ready to meet anna for lunch, we had seen the entire city.

after lunch, mmm thai, we had a few hours to see all that we could of berlin before anna got off of work. the first stop was the museumsinsel (museum island) where we took in some amazing architecture. the berlin cathedral blew me away and the altes museum is simply massive. i'll definitely have to actually enter all of these buildings when i return (hopefully) in the spring. our next stop was the brandenburg gate. on the way we encountered one amazing landmark after the other. almost too much to absorb at once but we took our time and a lot of photographs.

the gate itself is quite impressive. in the center of the square a photo shoot was taking place. the model was sporting an american flag turned shirt. i was interested to know what their intentions were... negative or positive political commentary... but that's not as important as the fact that they have the freedom to make a statement, any statement they so choose. alright, enough of that.


















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just around the corner was the reichstag . this building is incredibly imposing. again, when i return i have to see the inside of that building! that sentiment was definitely the theme of the trip. a little frustrating but so much better than not finding anything to be excited about. from there we headed straight for a remaining section of the berlin wall. daylight was fading fast and we were meeting anna for dinner in two hours so we had no time to spare.

map in hand, i knew we were close... but looking up to suddenly see a section of the wall intact stopped me instantly. berlin is a city that i have always been aware of. through history books. to see such an important landmark in person for the first time... i was in awe. and again just half a block away when we came upon checkpoint charlie. there are no words to describe it.

that evening we met anna for sushi and went back to the middle eastern restaurant for dessert. i'm definitely missing several different types of international cuisine that for whatever reason are either not available or ridiculously expensive in tallinn. after we'd stuffed ourselves we headed back to anna's apartment to just chill out. john and i were catching an 8am flight the next morning and we were all completely exhausted.

seeing anna was definitely a major highlight of the trip. leaving college, philly, and many great friends behind to come to estonia was really difficult. i was so fortunate to find anna and elina shortly after arriving. their friendship means a lot to me and unfortunately they both left estonia a few months ago... elina to return to her studies in finland and anna to take an awesome job in berlin. though i have andrew and john as two great friends as well as a handful of wonderful acquaintances.... you just can't substitute great girlfriends.

knowing that we needed to get up at 5am the next morning, we got ready for bed a bit early. but just like any good slumber party, anna and i were up for hours talking and laughing, whispering and planning. such a great time.

who knew so much could be accomplished in 48 hours?