Monday, November 29, 2010

Look East

Like an annoying sales assistant that just won't leave you alone - the wicked wind from the East is back again this week in Berlin. It's calling card? Biting through all the layers of clothing that you care to put on until your skin feels like it is burning - and then not leaving you in peace until you have returned home and spent 20 minutes under a hot shower.

Most weather experts who subscribe to this blog will probably say that my assessment of Berlin's weather freak-out is scientifically wrong and that "we are actually currently experiencing a low-pressure system over all of western Europe which is being caused by the Gulf Stream and other cloud winds operating between 10,000 and 15,000 feet". But, I have findings that back up my statements you see. Today, I was hanging out at Osthafen on the Spree (skimming rocks on the river) and I couldn't help but notice that the wind was particularly cold when I turned to face an easterly direction. I think that's proof enough.

I am prepared to admit that just about all of Germany is suffering from very cold temperatures at the moment. In fact, EVEN Germany's larger than life ex-goalkeeper Oliver Kahn was grounded in Munich today due to snow and ice at the airport. As a result he wasn't able to take the balls out of the bowl at the 2011 Women's World Cup final draw which took place in Frankfurt tonight. Everyone was very disappointed.

But anyway, back to the topic at hand. I think all of you who have been here in winter know now that Berlin feels 10 degrees colder than anywhere else in Germany .... and I am blaming the winds from the East!

Monday, November 22, 2010

The Bademeister

The great thing about Berlin are the unusual, historical sights that you see when you least expect it. Like when I headed for a swim today at Ernst-Thälmann Park in the east of the city.

This mega-sculpture on Greifswalder Straße depicts one of the former bosses of the German Communist Party, Ernst Thälmann. It is about 15 metres high and made of copper. You don't get sculptures like that anymore. Up close it's a pretty tough-looking piece of work to be honest - especially when half covered in graffiti. But it fits the area quite well, because ETP isn't exactly the most charming of Berlin's public parks. And Thälmann's story isn't such a happy one either: after leading his party from 1925 until 1933, he was arrested by the Gestapo and - after 11 years in isolation - was shot dead on orders from Adolf Hitler in 1944.

Rumour has it that after the "fall of the wall" the sculpture was due to be ripped down. But, as so often happens in Berlin, somehow it hung on and it is now in a bit of a state of limbo - half-loved, half-despised. I, for one, hope that it stays.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Sensory Overload

Sorry for the missed entry last week everyone - I've received a lot of concerned fan mail here at the office. It's reassuring to hear that many of you are such devoted fans and wanted to get in touch, it's concerning that some of the sillier ones amongst you attempted to letter bomb our headquarters to show your disappointment.

Anyway after being out of town, I thought my return to the capital had to be celebrated by something classically Berlin. So, clearly, it was time to go and see some live screamtech electro from Canada. I headed with my cultural reporter Alicia H. to Crystal Castles at Columbiahalle on Monday night. The gig was a beauty. The soundsystem there really does do the job - I still am struggling to hear my colleagues at work - and the band's lead singer Alice Glass also makes a conscious effort to destroy ear drums.

I walked out of there pretty disorientated to be honest. On the way home we stumbled across this bit of modern art, Kreuzberg-style. It is a tree-stump (still fresh) with a rock on it named "Pherus". Perhaps the little fella was part of the old Berlin Wall? Perhaps he was a pet rock who had escaped his owner, looking for a better life? We will just simply never know.

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

Pub Crawl

This could be the most embarrassing thing I have ever done in Berlin. And that really IS saying something.

After years of living here and joking about the dorkiness of pub crawls, conducted by masses of drunk Englishmen in football shirts, I realised last week that I'd never actually been on one.

So, I took the plunge and took part in an "Anti Pub Crawl" last Friday night. The idea of an anti pub crawl (as far as I could tell) is to visit a whole bunch of places that pub crawls don't normally go to. The locations were all pretty different I have to say: "Yesterday" on Schönhauser Allee, "King Kong Club" on Brunnenstraße and definitely the most amusing spot, the gothic bar "Last Cathedral" - ending it all in the club "Frannz" was a bit lame though. But anyway: I'm not ashamed to say that I enjoyed myself all evening. And, that I even discovered a couple of bars that I'd never, ever seen before. Perhaps I'm not really that "cutting ätsch" after all.