Berlin, baby.

Well, my journey to Berlin started out with the gift of a noseflute (sort of like a kazoo you play with your nose) from Mick, and we had a short jam session before I boarded the train.  My last 2 days in Bad Oeynhausen were lovley- Mick and I went to Bali Therme, the fancy mineral springs with attached sauna in town, and I ate Schnitzel for the first time. (Deep fried and breaded pork cutlet.) I said goodbye to Igor, the short, vodka soaked Russian clown who tried to kiss me every time he saw me, and Adam, the extraordinarly talented musician Polish musician in the show.  Adam would giggle while making chocolate pudding in the shared kitchen of the house they provide for the performers, then yell, "pudding!" and giggle his way into his room. Hysterical.

Berlin has been a whirlwind of street art, subway stops, bike rides and war remants, kebabs and pastries.  My first night I met Collin and Sebastian, the very sweet couple who let me into my friend Matteo's flat, where I have been staying while he has been out of town. Matteo and Collin are trapeze artists who have worked with Teatro Zinzanni, so over chinese food dinner Collin and I talked about our favorite gay bars in Seattle, like Pony!

I have been staying in West Berlin, in a neighborhood that was described to me as "sort of like Queen Anne." I think this is a fair assessment- it is quiet and tree lined, with nice grocery stores and a few local corner pubs, but nothing compared to the Wialliamsburg-esque chaos and flair of the young East Berlin neighborhoods.

I have seen the Reichstag and the Brandenburger Tor (the large gate modeled after part of the acropolis) walked around the zoo after drinking a beer in the cafe (they have polar bears! and a monkey house! and a panda!) God help me I ALMOST bought stuffed animals at the gift shop, but decided I could live without the green alligator.

I went of a guided bike tour of East Berlin, took photos of the wall, saw checkpoint charlie, and learned a great deal about the city. I recognized the bookstore from the final scene of the INCREDIBLE film The Lives of Others, and enjoyed chatting it up with my adorable Toronto born tour guide. Leading bike tours in Berlin is a pretty sweet job!

I went to a free piano concert at the Berlin Philharmonic, and checked out C/O, a fabulous photography museum which was featuring an exhibit by the photographer Peter Lindbergh. Went inside Neue Synagogue, took photos of an exhibit on Holocaust survivors living in Israel, and spent some time at the Jewish Holocaust memorial, as well as the memorial for gay and lesbians victims of the Holocaust. That one made me cry.

I ate Currywurst, which is basically a hot dog with ketchup that has curry seasoning and hot sauce in it, and learned that this famed street food came about during the time of the Berlin airlift, when curry was one of the few spices they dropped down to the city. Wow!

I went to a local bookstore with books in English, and although I didn't find anything I wanted, I was amused by the conversation between an Israeli student and the aging British tranny named Sophie who owns the shop. As I walked in the Israeli kid was exclaiming, "Welsh girls are so slutty!"

I stopped and heard Tarantella music being played as part of an Italian demonstration near the Embassy, logged many miles in different neighborhoods, and have enjoyed trying Liverwurst, cheap German wine, thick dark bread with gruyere, and pastries from the various corner bakeries around town.

My friend Ryan is meeting me this evening, and we will be heading to Poland in a few days. I would still like to check out some famed Berlin artists squats and get strange postcards, and visit the Jewish Museum, which I have heard is an incredibly powerful place.

Character of the week award goes to David, the early twenty something, portly Russian-born Israeli tourist on the bike tour, who showed up wearing tight running pants and a t-shirt which read, "suck on my chocolate salty balls." He had a fairly pronounced speech impediment, and his inhaler kept falling out of his pocket. I kid you not.

Things I love about Berlin: bikes, cheap beer, friendly Germans, history, art everywhere.  Pretty sweet place to become an ex-pat, if anyone is in the market.

Until next time, this is Red, signing off.