Back to Berlin

Hello my lovely followers!

Since I was hardly content to bum around my apartment and lesson plan this weekend, I hopped a train to Berlin to visit a good friend of mine, Claire (who also went to the Alma Mater) and is now in Berlin for the month, studying at the Berlin School of English to get CELTA certified before she joins me in the East Side (insert gang sign here).  

Okay, she's actually moving to Leipzig, not to Chemnitz, but close enough.

The point is, Claire is living in Berlin.  

And not just anywhere in Berlin, but the heart of Berlin.  She's just a hop, skip, and jump from all the major sights in the city (Checkpoint Charlie, the Hauptbahnhof, the Tiergarten, the Reichstag).  I'm not totally jealous or anything.

My view of Berlin for breakfast!

You would be sighing with jealousy too.

Anyway, I took the short 3 hour train ride down to Berlin on Friday night after I packed up and took care of things in Chemnitz.  (I got my German bank card - I feel like a real person now!)  

Claire picked me up from the train station, showed me her apartment, and then we went out to dinner to Dada Falafel, which has the reputation of being the best falafel place in all of Berlin.  It's a lot of hype, but when they freshly make falafel in front of you, you know it's good. 

Then we may or may not have polished off a bottle of wine at the apartment, while swapping stories and meeting Claire's housemates, who are also at the Berlin School of English.

Saturday morning, we wandered around until we found this cute cafe, called Kaffee Ambulanz (aka Coffee Ambulance, which is very apt for those sleepy mornings!). It's super cute and decorated with old hospital signs and cool artwork.  Plus, it's two stories.

I got the most delicious pain au chocolat I've ever had in my entire life there - it was flaky and buttery and delicious and fantastic and made you believe that the world was a good place.  And the chai latte wasn't too shabby either.

Hey Claire!

After our breakfast, we sauntered around town a bit and I helped Claire with grocery shopping.

It's the Spree River! Not only is it scenic, it's also super
fun to say.

Meanwhile, inside the grocery store, we found this gem:

'Muuuurica.

(Also I have no idea what kind of sauce this
is and I'm slightly frightened by it.)

We then went home and after very little persuasion, got one of Claire's housemates, Jess, to drop her homework and wander around with us.  We set out for the Tiergarten....

It's the Reichstag! (German parliament)

It's an absolutely gorgeous building and the gardens
are also lovely.

We also spotted a hot air balloon for the popular
newspaper "Die Welt".

We kept walking and to our delight, we stumbled upon what we thought was a tiny little street festival. We got ourselves some crepes and some Hugo.  (Hugo is the coolest new drink in Germany and now that you know you'll be a real hipster and I expect that you, dear reader, bring the Hugo to America before I return.)

Until we turned the corner.

The little festival was actually a huge one.  It was in fact, a market to celebrate the Unification of Germany, which happened on Thursday.

In front of the Brandenburg Gate, they had set up a huge stage, where Sat 1., one of the major television channels was filming a concert of the best of Schlager music.  This is so typically German to film an all-day music marathon and then replay it over and over again - this one will air on October 15th!

Here's the thing about Schlager music.  I know what it is, when I hear it, but I really can't explain it, so just read the link above. Mostly it's just terrible pop-y music from the 80s and it's always played at Oktoberfest, mostly because it has the upbeat rhythms that make it really easy to dance to when you've got a Maß in your hand and you're standing on a table.  

They're also ridiculously catchy.

Prime Example: "Schatzi Schenk Mir Ein Foto"

(Which roughly translates to "Sweetie Send Me a Photo" 

(Maybe it's the first song about 

sexting?) Regardless, it's now

stuck in your head and it will be there 

for the rest of the day. You're welcome.)

So we basked in the tacky glory of some Schlager Musik and just wandered around the market.

 

After we ate a hearty dinner at a German restaurant, we went bar hopping.  

Although the service at the "Berliner Republik" was awful (even by German standards, which says a lot), I think this bar is worth mentioning because it has a beer stock market (Bier Börse).  The prices of the beers fluctuate based on their popularity throughout the night and the prices change roughly every 10 minutes.  You can track your favorite "beer-vestments" on large tv screens which mimic the real stock market in Berlin.   

So for any Math and Econ majors out there, this is the place for you.

This street is also littered with all kinds of bars from the
 Italian wine bar to the upscale
after-theater group bar, simply named Brecht.

Old friends... (Claire)

And new ones! (This is Jess)

Also a self-aggrandizing selfie of Your Humble Blogger

For those of you curious, we ended the night at an Irish pub where many songs were sung-along-to, including Oasis'' "Wonderwall"which is played at literally every bar I've been to.  I can't escape it.

 This morning, Claire took me on another tour of Berlin and I saw the Berlin School of English.  But I neglected to take a picture of it, which I guess makes me a bad blogger.

On the way back to the apartment, we saw them rolling out the red carpet for someone in front of the the concert hall.

WHO? WHY?

It will always be a mystery to me.

There's always something happening in Berlin.

I honestly have to say, that the first time I was in Berlin, I was actually very unimpressed by the city as a whole, although I enjoyed certain highlights.  This time was different, since I didn't follow the normal tourist path.  I had a great weekend in Berlin, just being a normal person in Berlin, instead of doing the checklist of touristy things.  I can't wait to go back again.

But alas, I have to lesson plan and lead a discussion with my 12th graders about The Giver.  I'm appealing to the spirits of Professors Past for strength and guidance.

I would like to close by including a video of a song that's really popular in Germany (but apparently it's also reached America) and it really makes me question everyone's sanity but it's also utterly amusing in its complete stupidity.

For your edification and amusement: Ylvis' "The Fox"

Bis später with Lots of Love,

Your Humble Blogger