With New York finally legalizing Gay marriage & Berlin's Christopher Day Parade this Fri/Sat- we were feeling like happy rainbows. We missed our Seattlites & Seattle's always wonderful Pride Parade, but we were pretty sure Berlin could bring it. And it could. With leather chaps.
We lay down in the grass under the Siegessäule, symbol of Victory & Berlin, synonymous with the city's most popular gay mag. It was to be the end site of the parade. Some enterprising parade goers sold beers from a crate for a ridiculous sum.
After much delay, the parade got started. Very unGerman to have late anything, but that has been our experience with parades in Berlin. No matter- we were ready to party. Huge semis rolled by with gay & straight alike dancing on the vehicles, beside the vehicles, with a little trail of followers also dancing.
Young & old, black & white, it was wonderful to amidst such a diverse group.
These guys were not here for the parade. Bunch of drunk Deutschbags started a stupid fight right in front of us. (Deutschbags are a thing- pass it on)
My foot paid the price from a piece of flying glass when they dropped their beer. My feet have not had a good start to summer.
The parade stalled out tough only about 20 min in. Hmph. And of course the CDU (Christian Democratic Union) was the one in front of us with the worst music. Boooooo! They also kept tossing cards that were like ninja throwing stars. Ouch you jerks!
The next float was...how do I put this delicately- skanky. I love that they were average looking dudes putting it all out there. The ladies behind them could of learned a thing or two.
Siegessaule continued to be resplendent throughout the day.
The break did allow us to observe in depth this domination scene. Roman gladiators were pulled in the chariot by leathered slaves and a dominatrix had her gimp on a cart. Awesome.
We danced for a bit after stumbling upon a friend & they put on La Roux! I am close to obsessed with her at this point.
Costumes galore and some serious drag queen Glamazons.
Oh, the Bears! I love the guy in leather that apparently got too hot. And the King. And I have no idea what is going on with that guy pulling up his pants at the end.
The wrath of the parade was great. But so is the German need for clean.
In it's wake, the parade left pride at how far we've come, yet how far there is to go. And lots and lots of garbage. If it seems like there are an awful lot of festivals in Berlin- there is. Especially in Summer. It's glorious.
We lay down in the grass under the Siegessäule, symbol of Victory & Berlin, synonymous with the city's most popular gay mag. It was to be the end site of the parade. Some enterprising parade goers sold beers from a crate for a ridiculous sum.
After much delay, the parade got started. Very unGerman to have late anything, but that has been our experience with parades in Berlin. No matter- we were ready to party. Huge semis rolled by with gay & straight alike dancing on the vehicles, beside the vehicles, with a little trail of followers also dancing.
These guys were not here for the parade. Bunch of drunk Deutschbags started a stupid fight right in front of us. (Deutschbags are a thing- pass it on)
My foot paid the price from a piece of flying glass when they dropped their beer. My feet have not had a good start to summer.
The parade stalled out tough only about 20 min in. Hmph. And of course the CDU (Christian Democratic Union) was the one in front of us with the worst music. Boooooo! They also kept tossing cards that were like ninja throwing stars. Ouch you jerks!
The next float was...how do I put this delicately- skanky. I love that they were average looking dudes putting it all out there. The ladies behind them could of learned a thing or two.
Siegessaule continued to be resplendent throughout the day.
The break did allow us to observe in depth this domination scene. Roman gladiators were pulled in the chariot by leathered slaves and a dominatrix had her gimp on a cart. Awesome.
We danced for a bit after stumbling upon a friend & they put on La Roux! I am close to obsessed with her at this point.
Costumes galore and some serious drag queen Glamazons.
Oh, the Bears! I love the guy in leather that apparently got too hot. And the King. And I have no idea what is going on with that guy pulling up his pants at the end.
The wrath of the parade was great. But so is the German need for clean.
In it's wake, the parade left pride at how far we've come, yet how far there is to go. And lots and lots of garbage. If it seems like there are an awful lot of festivals in Berlin- there is. Especially in Summer. It's glorious.
2 comments:
And what a lovely parade it was. Thank you Mother Nature for not raining on our parade this year.
If you wish to see people with more energy, then position yourself at the start of the parade, not the end. I try to be about halfway through to get the best of both worlds, lots of energy and just enough alcohol without it being too much.
What you saw at the end was lots of tired people too drunk/stoned/whatever to care much.
It really is a highlight of the Berlin festival season.
We actually saw the beginning, middle, and end of the parade. We positioned ourselves strategically on the corner for some great getting started shots, took a quick break to find some much needed toilets, then partied on with the rest of the parade. I disagree that the end of the parade is full of people who are wasted or uncaring. We had a great time with great people all the way through.
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