SAE Invasion

Over the weekend we had more visitors to see us while we were in Berlin. This time it was a couple of brothers of mine from good ol' SAE Fraternity. We were expecting them both on Saturday from their respective cities of study, Dublin and Prague, but Hogie got the dates mixed up and showed up a day early on Friday! No worries, because the weather was great and we enjoyed one anther's company outside on the sidewalks of different cafes and bars... which would turn out to be a recurring theme throughout the weekend. After a night of fun and a random house party, we had to get up early (a little too early for all of our tastes) and pick up our second visitor from the airport.

If Friday wasn't the most beautiful day we had yet, Saturday blew it out of the water. We took them on a little tour of Berlin, stopping at beer gardens and parks along the way. Lucky for us, our friend Jeff was having a huge shin-dig at his apartment that night. The party was raging and there was barely room to enjoy your beer, but the company was great and everyone had a blast. On our way home we got to see the sun rise (once again) and rode the S-bahn back with a Scottish friend we had made there.


As you can imagine we got off to a late start on Sunday. But once again we were blessed to have the lucky weather. We spent a majority of the day lounging in the parks, walking Berlin, and using public pay toilets... a great day in my opinion. In the evening we met back up with our friends from the party and headed out to a little bar down the street. Little to our knowledge, two of them hadn't slept and ended up falling asleep at the bar! And you can imagine who had to deal with getting them out... no, not Superman, just Ebe and I.

Monday was another beautiful day, but unfortunately for me I had to go teach some of the dumbest kids I have... but none the less, we met up with both of them after their adventure with Knut and the rest of the animals at the Berlin Zoo, as we lounged in front of the Berliner Dom in the Lustgarten enjoying a nice cold beer. That evening we enjoyed more tasty local food, which impressed both them by it's deliciousness and value. We ended up having a nice relaxing night at home with a few other friends, enjoying some beers, watching and impersonating South Park, and reminiscing about the fraternity days. We said goodbye to both of them on Tuesday.

We were really glad they had the opportunity to visit us while we were here. We couldn't have asked for better weather, and I hope with them leaving us, they don't take it with! Until next time bat fans! Same bat channel, same bat time!

A little bad news & a bit of good news

Bad news first- ready?
The parents have left. Very sad to see them go as we had such an amazing visit. The places we saw, the incredible food we ate, the car we drove, the games we played. It was all amazing. Just as at the end of any great vacation though, it is a little nice to return to routine & thoroughly relax. P's: give Bella an extra hug from us & tell her she looks skanky- she likes that.

Good News: I am having some pictures published in the Walk Travel Guide for Berlin (http://www.walktravelguides.com/Home.html). I saw this note on flickr & submitted 8 photos which were accepted. Exciting! Apparently I will receive a portion of the profits (which I am sure will make me rich & famous- ha!) so check out the book & maybe buy it to support your favorite Berlin expats. (It is available through amazon for $19.95. I also get a 5% discount for friends & family- so ask!)

In the meantime- please write us & let us know what s going on in your lives because we love mail (who doesn't like seeing "new message" in their inbox?) Happy Spring and may the Northwest be as rainy as it has been here- we would hate it if y'all were missing out!

The Visitors

...and they are here! Both the parents arrived safely and are now sleeping on the couch. They did pretty good making it to the Reichstag, Sony Center, Brandenburger Tor, Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, the Hotel where baby Jackson was dangled out the window, and a bit of Unter den Liden. More places to be seen, more things to be done, but that is enough for today.

Hamburg Hooligans

We had a lot of fun while Travis was here, but I think the definite highlight has to be our whirlwind trip to Hamburg. Thanks to an awesome deal which the Deutsche Bahn offers, Travis, Ebe, John, Jeff, and myself were all able to go to Hamburg for only 7Euros a piece! The three of us met John and Jeff at the Ostbahnhof, where our trip was to begin... little did we know that Jeff had a little surprise for us: whiskey in a murse. Yes, that's right, a murse: a male purse. He insisted that it was manly, seeing it was the keeper of a fine bottle of Jim Beam, but we saw through the illusion and recognized it for what it was: a purse.

On our roughly five hour trip to Hamburg, we played cards and talked a lot about South Park. Unfortunately Ebe and I weren't up to date on our South Park viewing, but we found it quite entertaining none the less... needless to say, we've been making up for it the last week by watching South Park pretty much non-stop.

When we finally got to Hamburg it was already dark and quite chilly. Travis and I made the mistake of not dressing the warmest, but it wasn't a problem later in the evening after we put on our beer jackets. We walked out of the Hauptbahnhof and preceded on our way to the infamous Reeperbahn: our goal for our trip to Hamburg. The Reeperbahn is infamous for many reasons, mainly it being one of the biggest red-light districts in all of Europe...

The night started off great with a wonderful meal at a little local watering hole. We all ordered a beer and then ordered their special of the day: duck. But there was a problem. They were all out! We were bummed, so we figured we'd finish our beer and then find some grub at another spot. Half-way through our beers, the waiter/owner brought out a huge platter of anti-pasta with utensils and plates for all of us. We thought it weird that he would bring out huge plates just for this appetizer, but a few minutes later he brought out another platter heaped full of Rotkohl and duck legs! It was super tasty and we ended up drinking a few more rounds of beers, along with taking a few shots with the owner... and what did we have to pay for such a wonderful meal? Sixty Euros for five of us! It was going to be a great night.

The rest of the night was amazing as we wandered along the Reeperbahn going into any bars or clubs that looked like they might be fun. Amongst some of the highlights was a bar playing fifties surf music and the infamous Herbertstrasse, a street where only men over the age of 18 are allowed to enter... I think you can imagine what kind of "businesses" are along its sidewalks.

We had a blast until around 5:30 in the morning, when we had to leave the Reeperbahn and head back to the Hauptbahnhof. The walk back was amazing with the sun rising over Hamburg's harbor. We took a look at our watches and realized we needed to put a little kick in our step our else we might miss our 6:30 train, so we decided to skip there. Yes, that's right, we skipped and good thing we did, as we damn near missed our train. It was a long ride back to Berlin, but the five us were glad we had made the journey.

Tired ebe

Good thing we didn't have to do anything later in the day... oh wait, we had the Hertha Berlin game to attend!

Hertha Game at Olympic Stadium

 

More pics of our Night out in Hamburg

and a Day in Hamburg  

Post about the 2 Berlin Football teams Battling it Out in 

Hertha v. Union

We're back baby!

Well, a little under a month and we're back with a vengeance! Let's just say being half-way around the world without internet is a bit of a bitch when you want to try and stay in touch with everyone back home. If you plan on coming to Germany and want to get the internet in your apartment, try signing up for it a month in advance, as it seems to take forever to get it hooked up here. But now that it is finally hooked up, it's flowing like wine.... much faster than the internet at our old place.

In our little absence from the world wide web, we've had many adventures, in which we'll have to go into further detail in a later post. We saw the arrival and departure of two friends from home (Travis and the Cooledge), which led to many crazy stories and trips through Berlin and even all the way to Hamburg, and we will soon be welcoming Ebe's mom and dad to our little apartment here in Friedrichshain as well! We're looking forward to their arrival, and we hope you are looking forward to more exciting posts from your two favorite Berliners: Ebe and Ian!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!

There is much to talk about: new apartment, coke mirrors, new friends, American football in Berlin, friends from home coming here, and much more BUT it all must wait because the internet guys have still not hooked up our internet! Driving us crazy, but like any good story it can wait.

Misinterpreted

So we like art- but what is up with the interpretive music?

Last night we went to a modern art opening in an old squat house. Berlin apparently has tons of these where artists would squat in a vacant building and create a colony which the German government would then protect (pretty cool eh?) This one was particularly gorgeous with a 2 story entry way and mosaic arches. Good start.

Our friend Krysia had invited us to the opening after she had gotten a tip from another hipster friend so we really did not know exactly what to expect. What we found upon entering said archway was a white cloth laid out that with a block of ice melting under a spotlight. Can't say I understand the total narrative of this piece, but I'm no critic, power to the people wooohoo!

Climbing the stairs we see 5 paintings of women laid out in a cross with a piece of wood and an apple in the heart. As we discuss what it could all mean BAM BAM BAM, the drum it gets started. The artists themselves put on quite a show playing a variety of instruments from the drums to banging on a piece of metal to a harmonica to a chain. One guy is also toting a projector around shooting the beam of light around while tossing toilet paper around the stage and a women in a Kimono is opening her mouth awkwardly to emit loud groans. The main artist whose work we are looking at has wild gray hair radiating from his head and takes turns doing everything including shouting lines from a book. The artwork themselves were pretty interesting, with a fish bone motif making a frequent appearance and a variety of mediums used like the backs of cupboards, shopping bags, and blinds. I loved the idea of recycling all of this useless scraps and making them entirely different. However, Krysia was right when she said later the crazy music lessened their appeal. Maybe it's best not to see the artist?




Other rooms offered other artists perspectives including my favorite room from Charlotte Schleiffert's full length women with animal parts. One women's torso transformed to look at first if she was sitting on a chair, but her body actually morphed into 4 goat legs. Another horizontal piece has a person be rescued while pink and orange smoke waifed upwards past sketched chandeliers. A variety of other art was shown, which maybe Ian will get into, but probably not!

Afterwords we got a drink at a bar we had passed on the way in, the Milchbar (Milkbar). We were attracted by the fish & underwater scenes painted all over the walls including a scene where a polar bear is eating a seal, but Ian was first struck by something else. Remembering the name of the bar, all he saw were women and a it slowly dawned on him that he might have unwittingly entered a lesbian bar! Unfortunatly (becasue that would have been a much better story), it wasn't and we had to entertain ourselves. So all in all, all is well and a lot of randomness is going on.

Welcome All!

As the week of our move continues, we have been informed that Master Travis will most likely be visiting us in the next month or so. Hurrah!! On top of that we have plans to visit Sir Lasky in Dublin and he plans to visit us in Berlin. In addition to all this good news we have received word that the Ball-Mendenhalls will be joining us for 10 glorious days in April. Excellant. Everyone to Berlin, come along now.

Valentine's Day Mistake

When Ian woke me up to say "Happy Valentines" before leaving for his class at 7:30 all I could mumble was a puzzled, "It's not Valentines." Apparently he didn't hear me.

"Happy Valentines Day!" said his voice from the intercom as he waited to be buzzed up coming home from class. I told him again that it wasn't, and hit the buzzer. A moment later he walks in the door with a rose, some champagne, chocolate milk (it's my favorite treat), mushrooms, and a confused grin.

In the scope of mistakes, not bad at all and pretty funny. He told all the kids at school it was Valentines Day and just got a bunch of blank stares. Mystery solved!

Henceforth, the 13th of February will be known as Ian's Valentines where he confuses what day is, brings a couple gifts and professionally confuses the children.

...and we're home!

Whew! After some frantic scrambling we have agreed upon a studio in Freidrichshain. Red & white decor, nice kitchen, proper shower for Ian, washing machine, real bed, TV...it's great. What a relief to have a home for the next 6 months.

New Address:
Ian Porter & Erin Ball
c/o Philipp Creuzberg
Mueggelstr. 31
10247 Berlin, Germany

send cash and bonds...and refried beans. Ok not really- just the cash and bonds!