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september 23, 2005
a little Berlin
The bear is a sort of mascot for Berlin and these painted bears are everywhere.
Gedächtnis Kirche ruins
The new glass dome above the German Reichstag. We stood in line for an hour and a half to go up and walk around the ramps inside the dome. The dome itself is absolutely beautiful and provides incredible views of the city as well as peeks into the parliamentary chamber.
And speaking of the German government, here's the latest on the he said-she said debacle that has resulted from the election. The various parties are trying to put together a coalition that would have a majority in parliament. Each party here is represented by a color, which gives the Germans the opportunity to come up with fun names for their government - for example, a Red/Yellow/Green coalition (sort of like the Democrats/ the Libertarians/and Greens) is called an Ampel, or stop light. The current debate is whether the possible Black/Yellow/Green (Republicans/Libertarian/Green) coalition should be called a Schwampel (a contraction for Schwarze Ampel or "black stop light") or, even funnier, a Jamaica coalition. I don't know if I'm really for that coalition, but I do like to say Schwampel.
That's meat. It spins. They cut some off for you, stick it in a pita pocket, and you eat it. The Döner.
In the Berliner U-Bahn: "We can shorten any wait." Romeo and Juliet summarized for the 3 minute subway wait, the 1 minute wait, and the 10 second wait: "Romeo meets Juliet. Love at first sight. Secret wedding. Adults make difficulties. Stupid misunderstanding. In the end, both dead."
Remnants of the Wall at Bernauer Strasse
Although most of the Wall is gone, it's path is now marked into the sidewalks. The diagonal marks here, leading up to a single wall segment, show where it cut through Potsdamer Platz.
An oversized foosball game. The Germans love Fußball!
On a building at Alexanderplatz, from Döblin's Alexanderplatz: "See you at Alex. Freezing cold. Next year, 1929, will be even colder." posted by alison at 6:23 am | in
vacation 2005
Comments
Hi It's funny to see what kind of things you recognized her ein my town....they are so familiar to me that I don't even recognize them. By the way: we made a big story on döner and döner production, and visited different döer-productions. it's not ALL meat in that "thing"! you would wonder, what they put in... ;-) Cheerio It's interesting to see one's own country through the eyes of foreign person - or tourist. To me 'Schwampel' is a very funny word, too. Only the word, not the coalition anyway. Let us read more! Loved the pix and the commentary. Yeah! Posted by: claudia at September 23, 2005 8:43 AMThe Doner makes me think of the sandwiches I get from Swarma King near Booksmiths sometimes. Yum. Posted by: Amber at September 23, 2005 8:49 AMI love the doner's they're yummy and oh soo fattening! i'm sure i spelled every german word wrong.. LOL sorry about that! Posted by: allena at September 23, 2005 9:12 AMI love the doner's they're yummy and oh soo fattening! i'm sure i spelled every german word wrong.. LOL sorry about that! Posted by: allena at September 23, 2005 9:13 AMJust an FYI that my sockapalooza socks arrived safe and sound. I'm absolutely delighted with them. Thanks again for organizing the exchange! I'd absolutely do it again if you ever have the energy to organize another one. :-) Posted by: Beth S. at September 23, 2005 9:58 AMWonderful pictures!! Posted by: Luvtocraft at September 23, 2005 10:08 AMAh, the döner! Surprisingly, the food I miss most from the year I spent in Germany (unless Bier counts, that is)! Döner anywhere other than Germany just isn't the same. Thanks for reminding me of all the wonderful things I miss! Posted by: Valerie at September 23, 2005 10:45 AMThese are great pictures, Alison. Thanks for taking us on your adventure with you! Posted by: Daphne at September 23, 2005 11:12 AMHi there! i was wondering, are doner kebabs something you cant get in the states? They are pretty much a staple drunken favourite over here in the UK! Sadly they are also lacking in quality compared to those of other countries. Best one i had was in Greece.. mmm. Glad to see you had a good trip though! Love the giant table football game. Posted by: Emily at September 23, 2005 11:23 AMFrau, Sounds like you're having an amazing trip! Posted by: Sarah at September 23, 2005 11:42 AMI really wish I were there with you I love Berlin I was there in 1994 and I would love to go back it was a very interesting city to visit. Posted by: Katie at September 23, 2005 12:17 PMOh my - I had my first and best Doener in Berlin more than 15 years ago. The ones I get here are so disappointing I do not even want to try anymore! Alison, eat one for all of us, would you please? Have fun in my old "Heimat"! Hah! The U-Bahn Romeo and Juliet summaries are awesome. Kind of reminds me of the end of "The Compleat Works of Willm Shkspr (Abridged)" where they take their curtain calls by doing Hamlet faster, faster still, and then even faster AND backward. :) Thanks for posting the neat photos. Posted by: Tonia at September 23, 2005 2:17 PMthanks so much for posting the many fotos from your trip into berlin - i haven't been there since (get ready for this) february of 1989... vor der Wende! Posted by: jennifer at September 23, 2005 3:00 PMThanks for the photos! I lived in Berlin in the late 80s and haven't been able to get back since the wall came down. It's so nice to see what it looks like now. Posted by: Michelle at September 23, 2005 3:26 PMsuch cool pictures! i especially like the foosball table!!!! it looks like it would be so much fun to play on that. reason enough to go there. and the glass dome is so beautiful. mahalo for sharing :) Posted by: keohinani at September 23, 2005 6:50 PMOne day I'll have to post my Germany pictures too! In Munich you have lions, all decorated. Someone told us that those, the bears, swans, etc. are part of the planned touristy things for next year's world cup. Same thing with all the restorations. And doner! I had a bite, it was good. I miss Germany... Thanks for reviving the memories... Posted by: MJ at September 23, 2005 7:13 PMMmmmm, doner kebab! Best food in the world after a night of beer-drinking. Posted by: Liz at September 23, 2005 7:29 PMOh My Gosh. I was reading your blog and thinking, "Doner? Hey, That looks like Donair meat to me!" What Shonnie didn't mention and Liz did, is that this is good food after a few beer. Among the locals, it's what you eat after a hard night of drinking. The donair places around here are open until the wee hours. I love your photos of Berlin. My husband was there last fall. It's hard to believe it's already been a year since his trip! He didn't have much time, though, so we don't have many photos. Posted by: Stephanie VW at September 23, 2005 8:53 PMYum, the only thing that could possibly be better than a cone of yarn is a cone of meat! Posted by: Laurie at September 26, 2005 4:05 PMGosh, you know Berlin better than me and I live here. Posted by: kimberly at September 27, 2005 12:33 AMbring one of those foosball tables home!!! :) Posted by: carolyn at September 28, 2005 10:25 AMHEY Alison! Bethany (whose favorite thing to eat in Germany WAS a doner) wants to know how many you ate? Posted by: sandy at September 28, 2005 8:47 PM |
