Berlin Breakdown

Ok, so this is copied over from the "journal" I kept in a word document on my computer, so it's all broken up in days and moments and whatnot. I still don't think I've done justice to the Radiohead show in my rememberance here, so if you have a chance to ask me about it, hopefully my actual voice will be able to express its awesomeness. Ok, here we go!

Berlin

I know I’m going to forget little occurrences, little experiences that are now a part of me. But I’m going to do my best to “re-live” Berlin here in text form. Here we go!

Sunday, July 6th
I woke up at 7 in the morning, despite ANOTHER shoddy night of sleep (hoorah?) Luckily, I was excited and that woke me up. I showered off and grabbed breakfast, which I intended to be big (knowing I wouldn’t really have time for lunch,) but instead my nervous/upset stomach caused me to choke down half a cup of yogurt and half a glass of OJ. OK, I thought, not the best start but here we go. I had packed all of my things the night before, so I just added my bathroom stuff and headed out. I got to the train station about 20 or so minutes early, and figured out which car I was supposed to sit in. I read the preface to ‘Life of Pi,’ which I had borrowed from my pal Margaret. Then the train came, and I boarded. I had a reserved seat, but what I didn’t know is that they put me at this round-table, and a family had decided to try their luck and sit there. I thought, ok, I don’t want to break them up, so I moved to the back and sat in a DIFFERENT reserved seat, not yet QUITE knowing how all that stuff worked. I was by the window, and all of these YOUNG American kids all sat around me. They reminded me of how Scott visited Germany in high school (although I doubt they were older than middle-school age.) They were sweet, and, thankfully, pretty quiet. I stuck my earbuds in and rocked out to Coldplay and, of course, Radiohead. We went along for an hour or two, and then just as I was about to take a nap, we stopped at a stop where about 3 different “groups” boarded. One of them happened to own all of the seats in the back. I knew what I was going to have to do, but felt mean, so I tried to enlist a train attendant to help me kick out whoever was in my seat by faking ignorance. I said, “Ich weiss, dass ich ein Platz reserviert habe, aber nicht welches!” She very kindly said, “Ah ja, du bist in platz 66 – das ist nur da!” Damn, I thought. I thanked her and pushed drearily towards my mean-ness. It was a different group, a grandma and her two granddaughters and a nice older woman. I told them the situation, and they moved around. Still, I felt bad. Luckily the grandma/granddaughters got off in the next stop or two. I enjoyed the scenery and my music for basically the remainder of the trip. I wrote some notes about the scenery stuff – I loved it, although I have to admit, nothing can be the Rhine. That was just GORGEOUS. Anywho, when we pulled into Berlin after six and a half hours, I was anxious. I thought I might try the Bahn system to get nearer to my hotel, and then decided the money was worth the peace of mind/ease, so I settled on a taxi. I got off the train in the Berlin Hauptbahnhof, which is like a freaking MEGA MALL. It was HUMONGOUS, I don’t know how to stress this enough. I made the mental note that I would need to get there really early on Wednesday, to be sure I could find the correct Gleis (track.) Then I trekked out to the taxi area. I saw an empty one pull up with a woman driver, and thought she looked nice so I went for it. I had noticed that the woman who took the taxi before me sat in the front seat, so with only a little hesitation I did, too. She didn’t seem phased! I showed her my address of my hotel, and then we took an approximately 15 or so minute mini-tour! She was SO nice, and we chatted in German about why I was there, and how she had visited New York City, and just everything. She told me some things I needed to see, and then we arrived at my hotel! I thanked her and tipped her and headed in to the Sylter Hof *Berlin.* Let me tell you. . .my hotel is BALLING. It is awesome!!! It’s on a super-main popular street in Berlin, right by Wittenburgplatz which houses the famous shopping center KaDeWe (which I intend to peek into tomorrow.) The receptionists are super sweet, and the keys are so cool – they’re on huge, thick gold keychains with leathery bottoms, and you have to turn them in whenever you go out and reclaim them when you return. The one freak-out I had with check in is that my debit card didn’t work (basically because it was a foreign debit card), but all that meant is that I had to search around for an ATM machine. I found one, and grabbed a pastry on the way home (by the way, for those of you keeping track, in sum today I ate: half a cup of yogurt, half a glass of OJ, a big Snickers bar I failed to mention on the train (blocked it out because the snacks guy was super rude,) and a pastry. Woot.) Then I paid and returned to my FANTASTIC room, with a nice big bathroom, minibar, closet, huge window out into the city and a TV. I grabbed a Coke from the minibar and watched German MTV while snacking on my pastry. I had received a message from Uli’s pal Friederike (and now my friend!) when I arrived that said she hoped I arrived well and would call me later. I spent quite a while in my room, feeling nervous to leave, until finally I had a U-Bahn plan and a place where I wanted to go. I headed out to Wittenburgplatz, found the U, and headed toward Charlottenburg, to see the Charlottenburg Palace. I arrived pretty easily, and followed the convenient signs to where I wanted to be. I took some pictures along the way, and finally got up close to the palace. A nice man on a bike offered to take my picture, and I consented. He said something in German about how you have to ask for help when you travel alone and want these things:) I wandered towards the palace, and saw a gate open on the side, so I checked it out. It was a gate into the palace garden, where I wandered for a bit until I received a call from Friederike! We planned to meet up at about 9:30, and she explained how I would get there. I intended to go home first and change into something cute, but didn’t have time, so I went straight to Schlesisches Tor, which actually wasn’t a “straight” path at all due to construction. But no biggie, I was only lost for about 5 minutes. I climbed out of the tram, and waited to hear from her. A guy friend of hers, Julian, was also going to meet us, but having never met either of them, I wasn’t really sure what they looked like! Friederike was running late because of rain, so at around 10 or so she arrived and we met. She is just a lovely, friendly person! Then Julian came over, and he was also very nice. We headed to a bar that was kind of on a river/dam thing, so it was really pretty. Luckily it had stopped raining for the most part at this point! I ordered a Coke (which was the last thing I had to consume of the day – what a horrible day for eating!) We sat for a while, but as my eyelids got heavier I knew it was time to head home. We all headed back to the Bahnhof together, and Julian and I rode together for a little while until he helped me get on the right track home. I arrived at home at around 1am, and was in bed and asleep at around 2am.

Monday, July 7th
I had set my alarm for 9am to be sure I got to partake in the buffet breakfast I paid for, but for some odd reason woke up at 8am which was sad. I tried falling back asleep, but no dice. I got up, took a shower and got myself all ready, and then headed down to breakfast. It was tasty, and again the workers were super sweet. I had a big roll with butter on half and Nutella on the other, 2 glasses of multi-vitamin drink (which is SO tasty,) a peach and a bowl of cereal. Not too shabby! Then I came back upstairs, organized myself, and headed out to meet Friederike at Postdamer Platz. When I got to the Wittenburgplatz Bahnhof, the Deutsches Red Cross was standing outside trying to get some money. A friendly guy from Austria, Lukas, introduced himself and gave me the spiel. He was super sweet, and I felt so bad but I obviously knew it would be difficult for me to contribute every month since I’m leaving in a month. Plus, then I realized I don’t even have a German bank account! I told him, and he brought over one of his “associates” who was tall and blond and he said, “Aww that’s too bad!” but then they both told me how nice I was, and shook my hand before I left. It was my ego-boost for the morning! The tram went quickly, and I was early, so I walked around and got to see on the ground where the Berliner Mauer (Berlin Wall) had stood. Then I wandered to the main exit for the Bahnhof, and there were actually pieces of the wall on display. It was really cool to see, AND there was a guy dressed in guard clothes “stamping passports” the way they used to when you really had to cross from West to East Berlin or whichever way you were crossing. I paid the 2 Euros and now own a passport with all kinds of stamps! Coooool:) Then I met Friederike, and we headed out. First we walked towards a Holocaust Memorial, with 2,000-some different sized concrete blocks in different heights and tilted and it was really quite powerful to see. We caught the end of an English-version tour about it, and the tour guide did a good job handling material, I thought. Unfortunately the museum was closed, so that was a no-go. After that, we went to Dem Deutschen Volke, and we were going to climb up and see a good view of Berlin, but the line was too long and I decided my time was too short. However, there were some AWESOME street performers all dressed in black with white masks, all a part of one giant skinny orange tubey puppet! I’ll try to post a picture later. Then we headed towards Unter den Linden, a really famous street in Berlin. We passed the new American embassy, and of course saw the Brandenburg Gate. We headed along on Unter den Linden, passing embassies (the most impressive being the Russian, which was HUGE,) a VW store, the Berlin Castle and the Berlin Opera (which was really gorgeous) and Humboldt Universitaet. Then we came to the Dom, and by this time we were STARVING. So we paused for a minute but then headed down another street, passing museums of all kinds, until we got to a tram stop. I tried to buy water while we waited, but JUST as I got to the cash register, the train pulled up so I left the water and ran. We got pizza at a place Friederike loves, in an area of East Berlin where apparently a lot of artists live! After that, we stopped in at a boutique called “Kauf Dich Gluecklich” (Shop Yourself Happy – so appropriate!) I found the PERFECT shirt there (sorry for all of these caps, I just need to explain how important all of these things are:-P) It’s long and black, with flowers all over the top and cute butterfly sleeves, and and and (here comes the best part) on the bottom, it has a graphic with piano keys, with cats running all over them, and a big music note in the middle!!! Music and cats, people. It was the last one in the store, and Friederike and I agreed it was made for me. I got it, and will forever remember Berlin when I wear it:) Then we headed towards another part of the city, where there were tons of shops and cafes and a cemetery. Then we headed to a Bahnhof in the area, where Friederike just had enough time to point me in the direction of the Jewish Museum before she had to literally run to her tram so she could pick up her brother from school. I got on a tram, got off on the right stop, and headed towards the museum, a little less confident without my tour guide (despite pulling off solo-touring the day before.) As I walked along, a man was walking in my direction, and we accidentally locked eyes so I smiled. I was heading on my way, when he stops and starts talking to me. I was a little freaked out, because I could have sworn he had a gold purse in his hands (it turned out it was just a canvas bag, ridiculous me) so I thought he was eccentric:P Really, he was just Joe, from France, now living in Berlin as a cook! He stopped me because he wanted to take me out for coffee or something. I was a little suspicious and am also unavailable, but I thought it was sweet and felt happy that he thought I was so pretty! He ended up escorting me to the Jewish Museum and we talked about where he was living in Berlin, and how he had a friend in California and stuff. He told me I speak wonderful German (something I keep hearing from everyone – huzzah!! I have arrived:)) He pointed out the Jewish Museum, and gave me his number in the event that I changed my mind about coffee. Then I headed towards the gray, jarring building that is the Jewish Museum. The portion dedicated to memorializing the Holocaust was very moving, but I also liked that the museum was meant to celebrate Jewish life, and not just victimize an entire culture (overheard a tour guide saying this, and really felt it, too.) However, I was EXHAUSTED from walking around all day, so I kind of rushed through. I spent an hour and a half there, and then decided it was time to trek home. I did, and then came the ridiculous excursion that was ordering pizza to a hotel. It took me three tries before I found anyone who could do it, but it was worth it – I ate my fill of (more) pizza and about half a pint of Haagen Dazs. The lovely receptionist working even brought me up a spoon! So glad I asked, it saved me the time and energy of going out to try to find one! I watched German TV, or rather, a German-dubbed version of “Under The Tuscan Sun.” I’ve never seen it, but now I want to (not because I didn’t understand the German version, but because I finally turned it off because it was distracting me from recounting my day!) Right now, it is dark outside as I look out my window. Berlin is a fantastic city, and I truly think I could live here for a while. But I would want some kind of family or close group of friends here, because it is wonderful to be the queen of your hotel room, but quite lonely, too. I miss so many people right now, and I don’t want that to get in the way of my last month of experiences here, but it is hard not to be excited about being back to life in Austin. I will add the Radiohead experience tomorrow when I’m back, because I have a feeling I won’t want to sleep right away:) And then, of course, I will just have the trip on the train home (another six and a half hours,) and then SO much homework it’s going to make my head spin, I know it. But I’ll take care of it, and moving out business, and everything else I need to do by the end of July. I’ll keep riding my bike with Lindsy and on my own, keep hanging out with Margaret and Maria and David and everyone else, and before I know it, August will be here and I will have 2 weeks until I get to hug you all again, with my arms or with words of love from your own continent:) I will say that I miss playing guitar TERRIBLY. I want nothing more than to belt out a Radiohead song in preparation for tomorrow! Anyway, I’m exhausted so it’s time for bed. See you after tomorrow!!

Tuesday, July 8th
I tried to sleep in, but (as usual these past few days) sleep didn’t come very easily so I was up at around 8:30am. I showered, and realized my toilet was broken (the flusher was a button, and it had fallen in.) I decided to deal with it later, or see if the housekeeping would notice and take care of it for me. I grabbed my things, and went to have breakfast. Just ran upstairs quickly to brush teeth, and I was out for my day. Friederike and I decided to meet at noon, so I wanted to do something nearby that would take up time. I went to the famous shopping center, KaDeWe, and it really was ginormous! Stories and stories of expensive stuff. The bathroom was even one of those fancy ones with people who wait on you. The woman there didn’t really do anything, but I left a tip anyway, because it seemed appropriate. Then I continued wandering around. They had tons of books, music, and videos, but my favorites were the journals. They were really beautiful! Very intricate designs. I went down to the clothes area, and they really had some amazingly cute stuff, but nothing in my size (which was good, because everything was SO expensive!!! Like, 350 Euros-which-translates-to-close-to-650-dollars expensive.) I went back up to the entertainment section before I left, and bought a cheap collection of Simon and Garfunkel CDs – 5 CDs and a DVD for only 30 Euro!! Yay:) I forgot to mention – saw my pal Lukas from the Deutsches Red Cross again, so I said hi. Apparently they had luck the previous day! Good for them. Then, after I was all done shopping and whatnot, I went to the station where I waited for Friederike. From there, we started walking towards a cafe, but it started to POUR rain so we switched to a different cafe, and I’m glad we did. It was called Cafe Bilder-something, and it was SO COOL! They were playing super old American songs, from the 20s it sounded like, and they had books all around and board games to pull out. I got tortellini there that was super tasty, and had to take some of it back to the hotel. Then Friederike’s sister joined us, and they took me to the bus stop where I hopped on and got back to my place. Then I decided to rest, until Radiohead.

As I was taking the tram over, I started to pick out the people who were going to the concert. I heard English, French, Italian, lots of German and even some Swedish! Even though the doors opened at 5pm, I left my hotel at just before 5pm, which put me at Wulheide at around 6pm. This was PERFECT. I was able to get about 50 feet or less from the stage, in the center. I sat until around 7pm, when Modeselektor was supposed to come on. They were a little late, but not too bad. They’re an electronic band from Berlin, and although I am not a huge fan, their beats were cool and they had cool samples (including a really cool Bjork sample!) When they left the stage, of course it got a little more crowded but it was kind of nice. A couple of German guys scooched to my left, and I was glad because they were really entertaining. Just before Radiohead came on, it started to rain. Throughout the entire concert, in fact, it decided to pour at various intervals. Honestly. . .I loved it. It was perfect! Thom Yorke even said later, “Sorry about the rain, but it is a Radiohead show.” Anywho, their set was awesome – individual sets of silver bars came swooping across the stage to hang down in vertical lines. They were like layers and layers of curtains, and they really set the tone. Finally, after chanting and excitement and waiting and rain, the band took the stage and kicked it off with ‘15 Step’, which is what I thought they might do! It was, of course, phenomenal. Then it was ‘Airbag,’ one of my favorite songs of late, but unfortunately the song was semi-ruined by some jerks who pushed their way in front and blocked my view (they were all SUPER tall.) I didn’t mind them nearly as much as these other two guys who tagged along with them – they moshed, like violently, the entire time they stood by my little group of people, thoroughly pissing ALL of us off. Eventually, during another of my favorite songs, they were told to get the hell out and left. Anywho, my memory is a little shady on all of the songs but I’ll try to remember as many as I can, in the best order I can: ‘All I Need’ (the rain was POURING and I started to cry and it was kind of a perfect, bittersweet moment;) ‘Nude,’ ‘Bodysnatchers,’ ‘Videotape,’ ‘No Surprises,’ ‘Street Spirit (Fade Out),’ ‘The National Anthem,’ ‘You And Whose Army?’ ‘My Iron Lung,’ ‘I Might Be Wrong,’ ‘Weird Fishes/Arpeggi,’ ‘Reckoner,’ ‘House Of Cards,’ ‘Jigsaw Falling Into Place,’ ‘Everything In Its Right Place,’ ‘Idioteque,’ ‘Paranoid Android,’ and probably a few more I’m missing. Also the order is TOTALLY wrong, only the first two were easy for me to remember the order. And then the first few in my list are KIND of in order, but after ‘No Surprises’ it’s just random. During a solo-Yorke song that I didn’t recognize, Thom messed up the first 2 times he tried to start the song. We all cheered him on, and he laughed and said, “Why don’t you all come up here and do it?” Also, at the very end after the final song of the final encore, Thom said, “Goodnight, darling!” to us all. So sweet, such a lovely bunch of guys:) Anyway, the setting was AWESOME, amazing lights, great crowd (minus nasty violent guys,) amazing songs. . .they did ‘No Surprises’ which is the one I had asked for in my head before the show, so I totally felt like we were on the same wavelength! (They have SO many songs, they really could have skipped it.) There are still so many more I want to hear live! Basically I just need to seem them live again and again until I hear all the ones I want:) I bought a shirt at the very beginning which I LOVE and I’m just so happy, but now I’m exhausted. I wish I could share more vividly how incredible the show was, because Thom Yorke is such an artist and he really feels the music when he plays – you can tell by the way he moves. Jonny Greenwood was incredible, the whole band was incredible. It was beautiful and wonderful and I can’t wait until the next time!! For now, I need to sleep because I am leaving Berlin early, early, EARLY in the morning. Farewell to a fabulous city that helped me rebuild myself.