more berlin (27.6.2009)

there are a few memorable stories from berlin two weekends ago, and then berlin again this past weekend. i'll start with the first weekend in berlin.
i have a rick steve's guide to europe, and i took it along to read about the section on berlin. it had some of the major sights, and also had a self guided tour that you could do by going from place to place along a route that he mentions. After the guys saw the Charlottenburg Schlossgarten, and Ileana saw the zoo, we decided to try and do our own tour by taking Bus #100. After finding a bus stop and waiting for several minutes, we hopped on and found seats on the top deck. It was hard to tell where we were by the map, but it was interesting to just look out the window and see the different buildings. We passed the zoo and some of the buildings that we had previously seen, so i wasn't sure when i was going to start seeing some new sights. sadly, it didn't really dawn us that we were going the wrong way until the bus came to a stop in a bus parking lot and the driver turned it off. that was our signal that the ride was over, and we needed to find a new mode of transportation. thankfully the walk to the tram station wasn't very far.

later that day, when we were taking Bus #100 in the right direction, we turned the corner and saw a huge crowd of people down the street and around what i would later find out to be the victory statue. the layout is such that five roads come directly towards the statue, and then a really big circle drive goes around the statue and connects all the roads. the tents and the dense crowds were on the circle part of the road, but people were streaming down the side roads too. as we started walking down the street towards the center, it occurred to us very quickly that this was not just a normal gathering. it was some kind of gay and lesbian pride festival. maybe the cross-dresser at the bus stop should have tipped us off. let's just say that there were many sights to see at the victory statue that day. there were some strange costumes, some gothic getups, some normal looking people just holding hands, and then there were the thong wearing guys in high heels prancing about the street. then there was the guy without his shirt on, holding himself and dancing erotically to the blaring music. as we were walking through the crowd we walked right in front of that guy. it was kind of awkward, but we kept moving. small children would have been scarred for life.
so, the victory statue was nice, but the rest of berlin was calling us. i think it was coincidence, but after the victory statue we went back to the hostel to take showers before we headed out again for the evening.

the Brandenburger Tor, or Brandenburg Gate, was neat to see. around the gate there was also the U.S. embassy, starbuck's, museum of the kennedy's, and the hotel where michael jackson held his baby over the balcony. later that night, while walking down the street called Unter den Lindon, we saw a group of people sitting on the sidewalk and bemoaning michael jackson's death with posters spread out all over the ground, and candles lit to set the mood. some things i just don't understand.