10: Grey glimpses of Berlin

Berlin is a true puzzle with a thousand pieces, but a deeply enjoyable one. So beautiful and ugly at the same time, filled with pieces of everything to explore and experience. Marble pillars, high culture and heavenly architecture rule some parts of its anatomy, where as concrete and decadence rule the rest. The city has ghosts of its past lingering under the streets, but it's still so revived and lovely! There's something wonderfully strange going on in there. 

I've mentioned before that every city has a different soul inside (and according to Neil Gaiman, a beast. Berlin had a monstrous bear beneath it, if I remember correctly), and you can never know in  advance whether you make friends with it or not. The spirit of Berlin started to grow inside me a little, I could even imagine living there someday.

Travel mode - active. I'm sure you will see more than enough of this in the posts to come.

One of my favourite people in this world

Did you know there's an universal rule that the day is always saved if you manage to see a pug? :>
On that particular day we saw three.

This store had us bleeding for the fact that we don't have a vinyl record player at home!

One night we stumbled into this bunker. My love's old friend took us there and there was a goth club going on, 
a lot of fun was spent that night. I still have no idea how we managed to get home that night, ha! 
Getting lost at remote bars is nice, once in a while.

I still have a staggering amount of travel photos left and I don't know how to unwind them yet. There might still be some Berlin photos left with more colour in them. Is anyone up for a second post, with some recommendations and random recollections on the trip?

2: Patterns In The Ivy

One of the hidden gems of Berlin is Jüdischer Friedhof on Schönhauser Allee, in the Prenzlauer Berg district. It was one of the most memorable things I saw in that city, and definitely one of the most beautiful and breathtaking places I've ever had the opportunity to experience. Remembering the pages of history it is also a sad thing to see, but I'm glad this place didn't disappear during the horrors of Crystal Night.

This grove is an old Jewish graveyard, sunken under waves and waves of ivy leaves, years and lost memories. In such places it's hard to capture the atmosphere on camera and this place definitely had a certain feeling of its own, wrapped around the stones and plants like a veil, keeping the ghosts safe from time's jaw. We walked around the area for about an hour before we had to leave, I wish we could have lingered there a while longer.

Destruction Makes The World Burn Brighter

I've been in a deep travel coma for the past few days.

We flew back on Wednesday dawn and I went to hear Chelsea Wolfe's mesmerizing tunes at dusk. Can't believe I was so tired after my nap that I forgot to make the usual preparations and had to run to the gig, and still missed the first song! Even so, for the remaining hour it was a true joy to be under the spell of her bewitching sound, pure love. 

I wish I could say the same thing about Russian Circles. There were some problems with the mixing and electronics and there was a horrible rumbling sound the whole time, hurting the ears and messing with the mood. It was a little vexing because their music is really good and I couldn't enjoy it as much as I wanted, so I left a little early to catch my tram. Hope I can see them live again on better circumstances!


And I'm sure you're wondering about our trip? Berlin was wonderful. And surprisingly big! Pulsating with life of all sorts, intriguing and damaged at the same time. In five days you only get to scratch the surface of the city so there was A LOT left to be seen next time. And the time after that, even years might not be enough. We didn't make it to Spreepark or Altes Museum or the East Side Gallery, for instance. But it's much more important to occasionally dawdle in a café or take a long bubble bath than run from one place to another.

More pics will follow when I get some time to sort them out, but for now, here are a couple of glimpses of Berlin in black and white.