Nazi Rally Grounds in Nuremburg

Germany Travel Front Page

Working for about.com as the Germany Travel Expert has me seeking out new places in Germany and dredging up all sorts of posts and pictures from my travels. Sometimes this makes for a great new post for the site and sometimes they may have already been written about, but I still want so share.

In light of my lax new postings on this blog (due to the growth) and exploring the Germany Travel archives - how about a hybrid? On our first year exploring this country (and unintentionally falling in love) we tromped all over Germany. On one of these cross-country trips we found ourselves in Nuremburg and Ian's love of all things WWII history guided us to...

Funkhaus Nalepastrasse Tour

This city is full of nondescript, even decrepit-looking buildings that hide a world of Berlin history. So we weren't put off when we arrived in the middle of nowhere (technically Oberschoeneweide) to what looked like a never ending waterfront of abandoned factories.

We had been invited by a friend to take a tour of Rundfunk der DDR and really had no idea of what to expect. But as we're usually ready for anything, a tour of an East Berlin radio we would do.

Berlin's Allied Museum

We hadn't planned on visiting the Allied Museum. It is located by the American embassy all the way down in Dahlem and we had never even been that far south except on the U3 Ublau.

But then a friend visited at Christmas, was surprised by his wife at the airport, and promptly lost his passport. It was a bit of a roller coaster.

Impromptu visit of the American Embassy at Christmas time!

A Wonderful Way to Live

We have had such a serendipitous perfect Berlin weekend. They are easy to come by in a city that has something happening at every hour on every corner. You start out on a vague adventure that gets flushed out to a full scale ambush on fun. To just briefly sum up what the weekend has entailed

I became addicted to Yelp in foodie Seattle and have let my use slide while in Berlin. An event this Friday may have changed all that as Ian, our friend Kyla, & I were invited to a collective of cafe, bubble tea, and cooking club in Prenzleauerberg - Babbel T. We were champagne'd, taught how to make spring rolls, fed crepes made from a organic vegetable, and collected awesome swag.

 

Next we wandered to Bar 23 where we got second hand smoke, then stood outside a bar talking to a hilarious bunch of couchsurfers, and finally to my new favorite bar in the hood, Frollein Langner. The signs of hipsterdom were unmistakeable - ironic facial hair, seating in a bath tub - but we couldn't resist. I absolutely loved it. And will be back. A lot.

The next day brought us a lazy "Sex in the City" (oh yes - Ian has grown to enjoy it) delicious fruit salad, and a bike ride out to feed our friend's cats. Since we had to leave the house anyway, we figured we would stop by the Huhnerhaus. It's official - we are roasted chicken addicts. We continued to their place in Treptower, taking a leisurely loop around Spreepark. This abandoned amusement park has been broken into & photographed with glee by many, but we were basically able to roll around the entire thing and even check out the cafe that now has seats made of the swan boats. (There are great shots of the park in the movie Hanna.) I need to come back for the official tour, but my interest is temporarily sated.


That night, we ventured to a Sporkful meet-up where the saturation of English speakers was almost alarming. And people were friendly! We were a little put off. We wandered back towards our place, stumbling upon a funky 5-piece band playing to the street, a share shed of for people to leave things (like candle eyeballs) and take things, a communist street festival, Asian noodle shop for 3.50, and .40 cent beers. Good god I love Berlin. Awesome is less than a stone's throw away. Ian & I celebrated with said friend Kyla over a spirited game of uno. With pictures. (I love it when we discover Shmidty hiding under the couch & promptly incorporate him in our picture making.)

Despite the awesomenest of awesome weekends, there is a heaviness that weighs upon us today. No matter that we don't have any sad personal stories about 9/11 (luckily),  or that we currently live abroad and have not been forced into daily media reminders about the anniversary, we feel the solemness. That kind of tragedy, it's something you feel in your bones.

There is a storm tonight in Berlin. It tantalizes and terrifies.Thunder like this doesn't happen in Seattle.



Thinking about the turns life can make, how certainties can become an illusion in an instant, I just feel thankful to have today. To have my family & friends and this life to keep looking froward to. I think about the level of personal loss & realize all my pettiness and worry has no place in the larger scheme of things. I am free to be silly. I can be irreverent. I'm here. And I am thankful.


Spree Park pics from:
http://berlin.unlike.net/locations/451-Spreepark
http://www.travelettes.net/berlins-urban-legend-spreepark/

What Moving 6 times in a Year has Taught Me

Yes - we have really moved 6 times within Berlin this year (8 if you count our 2 temporary stays on friend's couches - one planned, one not) . Why? I think the prominent point is that we're crazy.

The Good of the Germans

I just did one of the stupidest things I have ever done. The cost was low, but the stupidity was high.

I was rushing down the stairs to the U-Bahn as I saw the dreaded wave coming up to me- my train was here! Struggling through the crowd with my bags I pushed through and got one bag half in the compartment as the doors slid solidly closed. I had the straps, but the goods were firmly trapped inside. Two guys tried to force it open from the inside as I frantically hit pulled the lever. But with a huff, the U-Bahn started to pull away and I threw up my hands & watched helplessly as half my groceries glided away.

As I waited for the next train, I felt enormously stupid. The next train was coming in 4 minutes- what was my rush? Pacing, I tried to remember what was in the bag. Ground beef, chocolate ice cream, and cherry tomatoes. At least it wasn't the beer.....

I jumped on the next train and sweated it out the wait to the next stop. As we rolled through the station, I saw the two guys who had tried to help with my Kaiser bag, holding it up to the passing train. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

I thanked them ineptly in German, and received a short lecture about not doing it again. "Never!" I promised.

Soaking in sweat and laughing like a madwoman, I made it home with all the groceries. As I re-counted the story to Ian, I couldn't believe that I could believe my luck. As much shit as we talk about the Germans, and the one extremely notable instance of us getting scammed, Germans are decent, honest, straight-forward people. While this may result in the blunt assertion, that "Yes, that dress does make you look fat", it also means there isn't as much worrying about hidden fees or getting ripped off. Most of the time- you can trust that things are as they seem. In a city as big and cosmopolitan and turbulent as Berlin, I have never felt ill-at-ease or in danger.

A Prost to the guys that stopped to help, and to all you other wonderful Germans.

Airport Goodbyes

Oh man I love the airport. Always a bit of tension, but you know you are on your way to somewhere new. I guess that's easy for me to say as I am usually the one leaving.

My mum & dad are visiting my Aunt & Uncle in Northern California and it was so good to see them all. Video chat can often seem so intimate, regular voice chat is the route we usually take. Kinda makes days like today when I do try to look more presentable for our chat more special.

Plus- my mum reminded me to look at some shots she had posted from my nephew's visit.

Look at that handsome family! My dad, Gavin, & Kyle

Pardon the Interruption, BUT....

I'm in the midst of reviewing/uploading Copenhagen BUT I wanted to break from that to update on the apartment scammer situation:

We went to the police station on Friday and identified the thief. We had heard he had been caught, along with an accomplice (the supposed girlfriend/wife). But we hadn't heard much else.

We brought Greg along and justified it by saying it was an experience he wouldn't normally have (sorry Greg). The security was actually friendly and we were greeted by a very nice & quite attractive policewoman - double surprise. She gleefully told us more about Herr "Peter Berger".

• Though he told us he was Austrian & spoke with a slight Austrian accent, he is actually German
• He is not a petty criminal, but a "Grosse Criminal". He was on Germany's Most Wanted
• He has been thieving for at least 8 years all over Germany. He was caught in Cologne.
• Of course, Peter Berger is not his real name. He has over 20 aliases.
• Along with aliases, he has multiple girlfriends who were helping him set-up scams

So - basically he is a miserable sleezeball. While I hope he'd be in jail forever, the police woman helpful told us he will go away for "at least 5-6 years". Are you kidding? You said he was a major criminal for at least 8. But here in Germany people often only get 20 years for killing someone. Odd place to show sympathy Germs.

Also, the money is still in limbo. The police will be pursuing a criminal case, and it is up to us to find a lawyer and pursue a civil case to possibly gain back the money. We are going to ask around & see what our options are, but all in all, we're pleased. He's been caught! And while we definitely could have protected ourselves much, much better, this was a real life bad guy. We're sorry to come into contact with him, but happy that justice was actually served. How cool is that? Our lost faith in humanity has- at least partially- been restored.

We cannot despair of humanity, since we ourselves are human beings.
Albert Einstein

Success!

The most Frustrating Waiting Room in Berlin

You too can be greatly annoyed in Berlin in just 3 easy steps!

1. Arrive in Berlin in need of long-term visa
2. Carefully study rules, regulations, and documents required and assemble your file
3. Go to the Ausländerbehörde (Foreigners Authority) where they will not give you appointment, keep you waiting for hours, have an almost indecipherable accent, ask for documents they hadn't mentioned up to this point, and then merrily (this is a joke as nothing is "merry" here) send you back home to come try again another day.

Eastside Gallery & Fernsehturm

Oh, the Ausländerbehörde. How I hate you.

"Sie ist vom Pech verfolgt " or "Bad Luck Follow her Around"

Lucky Ian makes ebe angry!

It's always hard to complain to friends & family back home about how difficult it it living your dream as an expat. But it is difficult sometimes! Obtaining visas, apartment searches, scams can seriously suck. Lately, we have been dealing altogether too much with the icky stuff.

Everyone knows Ian is the lucky one. Usually I think since I've hitched my cart to his wagon I will be safe in his afterglow. But with all of our recent troubles it is unclear if he has lost his shine, or possibly my bad luck is just rubbing off.

Yesterday, a sign from above came to tell me- nope, you guys don't have bad luck (whew!). It's just you, ebe (damn it).

It has been a lovely spring and Monday was the nicest day so far at about 83 degrees F. We had a great day where we finally found some breathing room with a free book, great lunch, and we found an apartment
(we will write about that when we actually, for real, move into the place. Can't blame us for being nervous).

Hummus Plate: grilled meats, veg, & serious fries

Ian + free book

We decided to go swimming in nearby Weissensee. People lounging around the park, a fountain in the middle of the lake, boat rentals, happy dogs....Summer! All this positivity was dashed as I put my first foot in the lake. Something stabbed my foot. Startled, I sat down -plunk!- in the water as the many curious onlookers wondered what the hell was wrong with me. Ian was also looking at me.

Weissensee

"My foot!" I gasped. "Something stabbed it." Bringing it up for the inspection- yep, blood was gushing out fo a straight puncture into the bottom of my foot. Blood dripped into the suddenly disgusting-seeming lake water. As my foot throbbed, I asked Ian for guidance. German swimmers no longer cared that I had made a little scene and now just wanted me to move so they could get in. I hobbled over to the bank and sat with one damaged foot clenched to my stomach and the other dangling in the water. Ian looked at me helplessly, frozen by the awkwardness of the situation. "I don't know." he said. Stuck with a still bleeding foot and a struck-dumb husband I tried to play down the scene. "Just go swim." Thankful to be released, he frolicked into the cooling waters and I watched him swim around as my foot bled and ached.

When he had enough fun in the water world, Ian helped me limp to the blanket as people casually stared.

(I also saw later my ass had been scraped up when I abruptly sat down on the steps so another thing to feel awkward about).
Ian admitted that the swim had been great and I evily wished him Swimmer's ear. We eventually made the long walk back to the bus and all the way home. I opted for no medical care besides neosporin & a band-aid so we will be watching my jaw for signs of stiffness (just joking mum- I'm fine). Today we have to move our bags over to the new place which will be fun with my broke foot.

BUT I did make a positive assessment of our situation. Ian has not lost his luck, it's just me.

Caught the Culprits!

In a turn of events I would have never expected (sorry for my lack of faith German police, I  have been well trained by your American brethren), they caught the female half of the duo who conned us on the apartment!

I still can't believe it. A prost to you sir! And to you, and you, and you! Little is known about what actually went down, and the man is still on the loose, but I can tell you it made our night thinking about her in a jail cell somewhere in Berlin last night. I know it's not becoming, but I hope it's awful. I hope she is terrified for her future and questioning how she even ended up here in the first place. Because that is exactly how we felt.

Who knows if they will catch him, if they will spend time in jail, or if even a little of our money will come back to us, but for now we feel like

JUSTICE. 

UPDATE: They caught the guy in Munich! We just heard & can't be happier. Feels like victory...even though we had little to do with it.Hopefully the good news will continue to flow in day by day. Thanks for all of your support!

Getting Scammed in Germany

Now that the worst of it is over and our life is somewhat back on it's axis, we can tell the story of a couple who wanted to sublet an apartment and instead got scammed.

Look at these happy faces! Sad to be leaving a great place in Friedrichshain, but ready to set a more permanent foot down in Neukölln. (Ouch- it is physically painful to watch this now)



Unfortunately, once they went to move into said apartment, there was somebody already there. 3 other somebodies to be exact.  All with matching contracts, receipt of payment, and keys.


What exactly happened:
We have been desperately searching for a place for some time now. Knowing we had to move out in May and that we had a vacation set for late April, we started early. And something that has never happened happened- We had trouble finding a place.  Writing 10-15 places a day, only a response or two would trickle back. Increasingly desperate we raised our limit, expanded our parameters, and lowered our pretty basic standards. We found exactly 2 places that might have become our favorite places...if we had not been third on the list.

On Sunday of the week we had to move, we got a call about visiting an apartment. We visited it & decided it fit our needs & the guy was pleasant- we'd take it! The next day we were back with first month's rent, deposit, and a pen. He gave us his account number, his & his wife's name, keys, a copy of the signed contract, and a receipt of our payment.

The next day we arrived with bags galore and opened to door....to several bags in the hallway. Thinking we came too early Ian asked if they were still there. A guy we had never seen before rounded the corner,

"Wir wurden verarsht."
"We've been made fools of".

The wind was kicked out of us. Apparently he had given the exact same spiel to 4 other people (one more couple arrived even later). We tried to grasp what had just happened, and figured out we needed to make our way to the police station. Torn between crying and total disbelief, Ian & I got our bags and participated in the saddest parade I have ever seen. The 5 of us carried our meager belongings in an assortment of suitcases, backpacks, bicycles, and garbage bags. Two Poles, two German, two Americans, and a Frenchmen were taken. Different ages, different occupations, but all just looking for a place to live.

People have asked why we have been subletting as if it is a burden, but until this point it's been pretty fun. We are accumulating more stuff by the day, but we don't have the trappings of a household. No bed, no silverware, and certainly not the sink, oven, or washer-machine most bare apartments are missing. It's given us a look at different people, different neighborhoods, and different lifestyles. This experience kinda sucked all the fun right out of it.

At the station statements were taken and "tut tuts" were handed out about dealing in cash. By now it was almost midnight and my tired mind could hardly take it all in. We have completed exactly 5 sublets in Germany, 3 of which were cash only. This actually seemed more legit than some of the others.

Some friends arrived to help us carry our bags back home and we went back to the apartment in Friedrichshain for one last night. The next day we felt worse. Desperately I searched for temporary sublets starting TODAY and Ian struggled to stay upbeat with the kids at work. Coming up empty-handed, we moved into a friend's place temporarily- we hoped.

We are now in a very pleasant sublet for the rest of the month. Somewhere to pick ourselves up and find somewhere "real", somewhere permanent. There is a garden with bunnies and table tennis in back and it is in a nice area where people move a little slower, a little friendlier. It is the place of an artist and he has cool stuff in every nook like the boar head his grandfather shot. We have a dishwasher which literally makes our world, and a bright and funky kitchen space - perfect for spending an evening preparing dinner side-by-side.

This has been rough, but through it all I couldn't believe my luck in having Ian with me. When we first found out  about the fraud I felt like crumbling but hugging Ian kept me up. I felt bad for those other singles who had been ripped off and didn't have anyone standing beside them. Ian can be the source of great frustration to me, which I tell him too much. What I should tell him more often, is how his value in the area of comforting are unrivaled and even in one of the worst 24-hours of my life, doubt about us getting it back together never crossed my mind.

We've since found out the asshole Austrian (not a Germ!) only subletted the place for the weekend. We're not sure the total number of people he sold it to. The case is proceeding (supposedly) and it may be that the owner of the apartment is responsible for some of the damage as they didn't follow proper procedure. Luckily, Ian & I are financially stable enough to take this hit and keep on truckin', but the hit to our faith in mankind has been harder to take. We got professionally conned, where someone who appeared like us clubbed us over the head with our trust. We definitely could have protected ourselves more and will take pains to do that in the future, but it's a bit sad to lose that straight forward, not-going-to-cheat-you attitude we so like about being in Germany.

One thing is for sure, if we ever find the asshole Austrian we are going to sic the Honey Badger on him. Honey badger doesn't give a shit.

Want more pics and stories of apartments in Berlin? Click the apartment label for full gory details of our many, many moves and read What Moving 6 times in a Year has Taught Me.

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Icelandic, more like icelandish!

Well, we had a great time in Iceland until we had to head to the airport...

We were running a bit behind schedule, but nothing too crazy when we pulled over to fuel up the car.  All of a sudden our bank cards, which had been working the entire time, decided to leave us in a lurch and not allow us to fill up the tank on the rental.  Shit.  We would have to pay a fee for not filling up the tank...

Then we finally got to the Hertz return center and a Polish guy came out to inspect the car.  He immediately went to the passenger side door with his "torch" and found a tiny tear in the door seem.  "Wind damage," he said in his broken English.  We were completely astounded, as we hadn't done any damage to the automobile.  We had used it for just 24 hours! But the wind outside the resort was fierce and the car was uncovered. I wonder if this minor damage happens all the time. We were so worried that we would miss our flight to Amsterdam that we rushed the process and had him drop us off at the airport where we finished the paper work.

Long story short, we get an email from Hertz's very own Magnus, an oaf of a man with an ill fitting suit, who informs us that we'll be charged just shy of $900 for this damage.  I must say that again, in case you think I mistyped that number, 900!  Nine-hundred effing dollars! 

Our trip has been absolutely amazing so far, but this has definitely put a damper on the mood.  The money has already been taken out of our account, but we're gonna try and fight this.  If anyone has any tips, besides blowing up Iceland, Ebe and I are both all ears.

UPDATE: 

I (ebe) was a bit beside myself when this happened. I freaked out - hard. I let it really bum me out for a while, and frantically worked with my mum across the ocean to figure out what we could do. This was our first time renting & we learned a lot about car rental, and that we had done a lot wrong.

Tips for Car Rental

• Always inspect the car with an employee when picking it up. You can take pics, and even film this. (We arrived before the sun was up and were sent out to a dark lot to pick up the car. We looked, but it was so dark we couldn't see anything.)
• Pay with a credit card as most offer insurance - research what exactly is covered. Credit cards will also put their team to work fighting a charge so it's not just little 'ole you. (We had planned on using our card, but found upon arrival they didn't accept CapitolOne Mastercard. Grr....)
• Keep Cool! Bumming yourself out and everyone you are with is not a good travel plan. (Sorry Leann. I was kind of a basket case for a while.)

We had shot ourselves in the foot in several ways including signing off on the car being returned without settling the damage dispute. We had accepted a verbal "Well see what happens.." which is clearly not a good idea.

We fought the charges through our debit card company, saying they weren't authorized - which was true. When the estimate was sent to us, they politely asked if we would sign the papers and turn them back in and we politely wrote them back that they could go F*%$ themselves. (Not really, we tried to explain our case). BECU, our debit card company, accepted our claim and reversed the charges. We followed up by sending a formal complaint to Hertz (the Rental company) and waited for action....and waited, and waited. For 6 months we were on pins and needles thinking any day now we would receive a letter or have the money withdrawn again. 2 years later, I assume we are in the clear. This was a stressful experience and we learned a lot. I just wish we didn;t have to learn it the hard way.

Chasing Evers - Marseille, Perpignan & Escape to Bordeaux

As I type this, I am sitting in an internet cafe in Bordeaux, France, a place we never expected of visiting on our little whirl-wind tour of Europe. How did we end up in Bordeaux you ask? Well my little friend, let me explain.

After leaving the Cinque Terre, we were headed to Marseille to meet up with my high school/college buddy Sean Evers. He has family in Marseille, and we all thought it would be fun to get together and kick it in the south of France. It got off to a bad start as we arrived late to Marseille without a place to stay. Now I don't know if you've heard, but Marseille is one of the roughest towns in all of France, and isn't exactly the place you want to be rolling into town at night withough an idea of where to go... luckily Evers, being the stand up guy he is, picked us up from the station, and after a little French direction lesson from the GPS, we were dropped off at a hostel.

The next day's plan was to explore a bit of Marseille, and then hop back on the train down to south-western France and meet up with Evers and a few other peeps in the Catalonian town of Perpignan. Ebe and I explored Marseille, and saw what would be a recurring theme throughout our stay in France so far... a carousel. After having walked around Marseille for a few hours with my bag, I began to smell like a local if you know what I mean. I felt bad for the people near us on the train which we were about to bord.

Halfway to Perpignan my phone finally gets a text message from Evers telling us that unfortunately we wouldn't be able to stay with them in their family's beach house... shit. Now we were beginning to question our decision of following Monsieuer Evers almost to the border of Spain.


In the end we probably spent under an hour with him. It was pretty much the perfect storm. It really was no-one's fault, just a big misfortune of events. But hey, we got to see some really cool towns in the process, and that's why I'm here writing this blog in Bordeaux.

Bordeaux has been a surprisingly fun town. Lodging is quite cheap, and there is certainly all the wine you can drink... if we only had the money! The city is really beautiful, with wonderful gardens and amazing architecture around every corner. Ebe and I even splurged today and had a three-course lunch. Among the things we had were escargot (yes, snails), lots of duck, and creme brulee... yum. One more night here in Bordeaux and then it's off on the TVG (one of the fastest trains outside of Japan) to the City of Lights... gay (and I mean really gay) ol' Paris!

(end note on Bordeaux: we stayed in a lovely family run hotel that had an incident in the room next to us. As in, there was a suicide in the room next to us sometime in the last week. Ian wisely didn't tell me what the tag said until we were about to leave. Talk about a hang over!)

More highlights of our trip through Europe
and more of our favorite spots in France

"Same Bad Trip"

....says French youth on train from hell. Before boarding the train, many were told, "no reservations necessary." Upon arrival of the train, Romanians and Hungarians alike fought to gain entry first onto the train. One scared American couple were quoted as saying, "these bastards are crazy, let's go over to that one!" Alas, no relief was to be found.

After being shoved out of one compartment that was reserved, the afore mentioned couple took refuge in two seemingly open seats. They soon found out that one seat was reserved by a kind Romanian woman; however, due to her niceness, she allowed them to stay. It wasn't to last long. Crazed French rollerblading youth soon bordered the car, singing out of date American pop music and drinking beer and vodka, and started terrorizing the peace loving inhabitants of the train.

At this point, said train was completely full, and Romanian woman requested seat back. American girl sat with American boy and other nice on one seat, thanks to another nice Romanian woman scooting over. American boy was very uncomfortable. After being told by a French youth, "speak English. Same bad trip." No shit thought American couple, or no merd.

This was basically a short news clip of the train we took from Budapest to Sighisoara, except with less sleep, more angry ticket and border police, and one ridiculously hot porn star Romanian border guard... yikes! Reservations... ha, methinks yes next time.

More stops on the TRIP.....

Ian is trying to kill me

and it is only the second day of the trip. Wish us luck in Budapest.

May Day 2008

Was anyone else under the impression that May Day was all about May Poles, Love, Spring and Good Will? I was until I came to Berlin.

Berlin has all that, a festival that shuts down 16 city blocks, a live band in whatever direction you turn, food and cold beers (although, eaters beware. The home prepped meals & hot sun don't necessarily mix - yum, salmonella!).

All that is great, but cutting through the good tidings are the loads of police in riot gear. Berlin's "Erster Mai" features annual riots. There were literally thousands of cops and agitators, pissing each other off all day. The history of May Day in Berlin has been fairly violent, and this year's festivities marked the 80th anniversary of "Blutmai" where several protestors and cops were killed.

"Berlin emerges as yet again as a metropolis of contradictions. For starters, May 1 in Germany has seen street fights between right- and left-wing radical groups, as when the far right NPD and gangs of neo-Nazi ruffians decide that they can use the day for their own cause, which then leads to battle with Nazi opposition groups. These violent conflicts obviously contradict the messages of coexistence and peace that are the focus of several of the other groups hitting the streets on May Day."

This was something we had to see for ourselves. We headed out from the Hard Rock Cafe (where we did some mystery shopping, LOTS of eating, and a little self-shaming) to get a glimpse of the day-time celebrations. The plan was to quickly check it out then relax at home for a while and come back when it got spicy. Instead, we ended up carrying my "polizei" bag and Hard Rock Cafe leftovers deep into the night. Bad planning.

Seattle Summer Solstice

We find some friends, sit on the grass, and enjoy the hippie love, environmentalism, and nudism we have been missing since Summer Soltace in Seattle. As the groovy beats and conversation with our pals continues, we start to really enjoy and leaving becomes less of a concern.

As we begin to walk around, police are still pulsing through the crowd, but besides the scary outfits, they look pretty tame. We wander to a stage where there is some music we can all dance to. Holding bags, drinks, and fighting the streaming crowd around us we dance. Until the inevitable happens. I need to pee.

It is very common to see men peeing just about anywhere in Berlin or in much of Europe. Public restrooms are scarce (one was even boarded up in the park we stayed in) and usually you can barter with a restaurant or store to use theirs. However, no one is taking chances today. All pride gone, I go with Ian to the park and he watches my back as men unzip from other areas of the brush. Just like camping right?!

After we finally find our group again, it is time to move to a new stage. As we settle into some Eurotrance, a stream of cops rushes by with the black helmets. We have already figured out that these are the guys to watch out for. Its hard to tell if the crowd is pushing at them, but it is obvious that some of the cops are getting angry and make several hard shoves at the backs of bystanders. The Polizei lines up at the end of the street as they start to quardon off the area.

Ian and I have started to yawn and take this as our cue. We say our good-byes and head for the Kotti U-Bahn. On the way, we catch sight of a band dressed in Middle Eastern robes and headdresses. Upon closer inspection, these guys are definitely not Middle-Eastern- so what's the deal? I think at one point they shout out "We are the Iraquis!" Really? Is that their name? They are terrific and we push into the crowd to get close to the stage. People are going wild for them- including us. They are singing and we are jumping and singing along to songs we have just heard for the first time. This tops my best concert experience of The Presidents of the United States at the Showbox. It was simply nuts.

Restarting our journey to the U-Bahn, Ian takes a picture with some while helmeted Polizei that seem to be enjoying the show. I pick up a huge pink key that appears to be from a little girls toy. Bizarre, but where is the mayhem?

We find it in the form of a road block- literally. A line of white helmets has cordoned off this exit as well and the crowd is getting restless. They are standing shoulder to shoulder blocking the street and the U-Bahn. Ian asks where to go and they wave off to the right. An apartment building straddles the street and some of the crowd has parked here and begun to throw bottles. We get the hell out of the street and watch a bit of the madness unfold. A battalion of black helmets comes up behind the white helmets with their sticks...and video-cameras? They are filming all this as well, apparently confident that their behavior will not be out of control - but the crowd's might. They are right; as drunk idiots risk the safety of all by trying to hit the police with bottles. The glass explodes upon impact like raindrops. Black helmets head into the crowd and clear the balcony over the street. Another comes to the right and blocks our exit this way. It appears almost like a game with the crowd pushing the police and the the police slapping them back down.


Seeing 2 exits shut-off, we decide it is really time to leave. We make it to the U-Bahn this time and watch as we pass other areas of congregation on our way home- but luckily no fires. We were happy to make it home and enjoy our capitalist burgers. This is a war we wanted no part in.

Want more mayhem? May Day 2012 

American Expat Blog: May Day in Berlin and Beyond

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