Tacheles

I'm not sure if it's the valium like natural supplement (l-theanine) I took about 30 minutes ago or talking to my mom but I feel a bit better. I took the supplement because I have been feeling a bit down today. It comes with the territory for starting to get a bit sick. Usually sleep, tea and talking to my mom helps makes me feel a little better.

I promised her I'd write a blog about Berlin because it's well past due by about a week. Truth is I guess I am a bit sad to write about Berlin because I really loved the city and could see myself living there one day. I know I said this about Amsterdam too. Maybe I'm meant to live in Europe... or maybe I am just really good at loving where I am. I didn't write odes to Frankfurt though! Maybe writing about Berlin kind of makes me feel like the adventures there are finalized and done. I know they are (for now) but I also know I can always go back.

To really recreate Berlin's experience it needs to be written into a few entries. I'll start with the non-traditional alternative side and move into the normal walking tour, history and all the history the city holds. Learning about the culture was my favorite part of the trip though and while I enjoyed hearing the history and seeing monuments and important sites it isn't the same.

Berlin has been a city full of artistic and creative people who have been bursting at the seams since the wall fell. I suppose years of having a country, city and people divided can do that to you. When you're repressed and finally free the desire to express yourself is huge and Berlin has a rich culture of artists of all kinds.

I went on the alternative Berlin tour which focused on the sub-cultures, squats, street art, grafitti, abandoned buildings, and bizarre clubs. We started out at the central post office which I wished I could have captured better in a picture, it was massive!



We walked down Oranienburger Strasse (located in Berlin-Mitte) to a place called Tacheles.



It's a large abandoned building with a backyard full of metal art sculptures, paintings, street art and many artists. In the 1930's the building was used by Nazi party members as an office building and later to hold French war prisoners in the attic. During the war the building was moderately damaged by bombs as well as the basement was flooded by the Nazi's.

During the GDR the building was pretty much abandoned. A few retailers, artist and technical schools moved into the building but all left as the building wasn't in great shape and under the care of the Free German Trade Union Federation it wasn't really getting any care. Conditions were worsening and no one was fixing the place up so it continued to fall apart. The building was planned for demolition in the 70's and then the 80's but money and other significant historical happenings kept the focal point off Tacheles. In 1990 a few months before the building was finally slated for demolition a group of artists moved into the space and it became their gallery and studio space. They began to fix up the building and had it surveyed for structural integrity... it passed and even was named a historical landmark.

Throughout the years this building has represented expression and freedom for Berlin. It has been the center of activism and communication as well as an alternative night club. The artist who live there are essentially squatters as they do not pay rent to anyone. The city has had many discussions on what to do with the building and they would love to turn it into a 5 star hotel or something else as fancy but Berlin does not have the money for it yet. One day I'm sure they will succeed and "clean up" this space but for now it remains in the artists hands.

Entering Tacheles:



You walk through the archway and into the back courtyard to the entrance. As you step in the smell of urine burns your nostils and you feel as if maybe you were sent into the wrong place. The stairwell is dark and littered with trash and dirty looking grafitti.





But as you continue on you the smell passes and the bright graffiti turns to art. You come to the landing on one of the floors and peer down into artist studios and start to really see what this place is all about.









The attic now is a huge amazing studio. Out of respect I didn't take any pictures of the artwork anyone was selling but it was bold, creative and pretty awesome. From the attic you can look out over Berlin or over the courtyard:





Down in the courtyard you can buy drinks (alcoholic or non), food or some artwork. Most of the artists are friendly and don't seem to mind visitors although they do appreciate a euro or so to look around.

The courtyard entrance:



Other pictures of the courtyard:





Here are a few pictures of the outside of the building. Art is everywhere:







I think after you learn more about the history of a building and see who lives there now and really appreciates the space it would be difficult to want to tear it down or paint over the art. It's funny because back home you can see buildings similar to this and classify them as slums and wish they didn't exist. Sure, here it's still considered a squat but you feel hard pressed to think about backing the movement to make these people leave. Maybe it's because Europe is more romantic and endearing in our minds. Maybe it's because Berlin has experienced so much throughout the years that we feel that these artists and activists deserve a place they can comfortably express their thoughts in. Or maybe it's because without this type of creative sub-culture in any city the place can really get boring. I'm not really sure but I do know I'm glad to have gotten to see this place and hope that when I return to Berlin it still is the same (type of) place I saw a week ago.

working abroad + prague architecture = easy to forget about work issues

I know I shouldn't complain about the troubles of working abroad because how many people are able to do this, right? But I've found it's taken a ton of patience on my end and flexibility because it always seems that when I plan a day of work there is something wrong. This time it's because someone messed around with my system, tried to make it better but really only messed things up because passwords were changed, connections were moved around and nothing was actually TOLD to me. I'm a bit of a control freak with my things at work - especially my computer because I use it so often. When something breaks why not just fix the initial problem, why fix everything else?? All my computer needed was a cord connecting it to the server and the dude created a new connection for me, changed a password to the server, and downloaded about 100 updates for my computer (which I didn't download because I found out a year ago I had a hacked copy of office and windows didn't like that.. I had to system restore). It's silly stuff but when you're thousands of miles away from the computer you're trying to log in messing with certain settings is probably the most annoying thing you can do. Not to mention, why would you not give someone the password??

Work rant aside Prague is really beautiful. The architecture is amazing and it really feels like you're in some fairytale when you walk around the narrow streets. Yesterday I went on the free walking tour and tomorrow I'm looking forward to the non-free walking tour of the castle grounds. Today it's a bit overcast and rainy which is okay since I haven't been feeling great. A girl on the bus sat next to me and coughed the whole time so I think she might have gotten me a little bit sick. I'm going to try and take it easy today, drink some tea, write out some postcards, edit some photos and make a massive blog post soon - haha. I uploaded about 200 pictures yesterday from Berlin, the Czech countryside, Terezin and Prague to my flickr. I have about 50 more to add from yesterday! I won't be a total jerk and post them all but I am going to post quite a few. I feel bad because I can't send as many postcards as I would have liked so I'll make up for it in photos!

Here are a few gorgeous pictures I took of the sunset the other night over the Vltava River.



Prague Castle in the distance:



A view of Stare Mesto (old town):



The castle at dusk:



And finally the river and a small view of Nove Mesto (new town):



Many more to come!

Arrived in Prague

I'm in Prague and all I really want to say is my apartment is fantastic. I will post pictures but really, it's all I wanted. There is even satellite TV. And closets! I can unpack for a few days.

I'll be taking a trip to the market in a few to get some food to cook for dinner and then I'm going to lie back and watch a movie on netflix, sleep without earplugs or interruption, wake up, work for a few hours and go off and explore Prague. Life is awesome!

Guidelines to staying in a hostel

Along the way I've picked up some hostel etiquette and I think these basic guidelines should be followed to keep hostel mates happy:

1) Don't pack your shit in plastic bags. Seriously, what could be more annoying than the sound of you rummaging through your things at an ungodly hour? It is like people seek out the most crinkly and loud sounding plastic bag and shove their stuff in it. I've seen people with all of their items in plastic bag compartments.

2) If you show up late and everyone is in bed with their reading light on or they are asleep don't turn on the main light! There is a certain way of life in hostels. People are trying to be tolerant of each others space and usually the crowd that doesn't go out to bars reads for a bit, then showers or puts on pj's around 10 and reads a bit more. Once one person turns off their light you'll notice others around you will too. When you turn on the light you totally disrupt our balance and routine.

3) Don't be the asshole who falls asleep with your reading light on. People really don't want to reach over you and turn it off or wake you up and ask you to turn it off.

4) If you need to have your reading light on for more than 30 minutes after the last person has turned theirs off go to a common space and do your shit. It's polite.

5) Invasion of the nostrils part 1, Please don't eat anything past normal eating hours. No one wants to smell your burrito at 2am. Gross dude.

6) Invasion of the nostrils part 2, This also goes for hairsprays, perfumes and anything else stinky. There is a bathroom for a reason. Why are you going to subject everyone else to your unnatural smelling products?

7) It's cool to turn the heat on a little bit but cranking it up to 6 (high) to try and heat the room faster then forgetting about it is rude. It also doesn't heat any faster. No one likes to wake up sweating and usually that cranky sweaty person is me. This still applies if you crank up the heat to dry your clothes and open the window. Then you are just wasting heat and pissing people off.

8) If you're listening to music on your headphones don't blast it. We can still hear it. I dig that Germans tend to like harder music but I don't dig it at 2am.

9) If you are leaving in the morning earlier than 9 or 10 am please pack your bags the night before. Before 11pm. Don't lay out the contents of your bag at midnight, pack and repack the next morning at 6am. I'm not sure what your major malfunction is but um, people are trying to sleep. If you're really that OCD about the way your backpack contents fall then take it all to the hall or a common room and organize to your hearts content. But please, remember your sleepy hostel mates.

10) Again, if there is a common area USE IT. Right now it's 11:30 and I'm on a comfy couch in a well lit room typing this blog. I'm not in the room because two of the girls have their lights off. Two Japanese girls just arrived and ignored this and turned on their laptops and started eating food so I just left. (I was about to go to sleep but decided to write this list to feel better). As far as I see it hostel rooms are for sleeping from the hours of 10pm - 10am.

This is a pretty general list and I know I am getting much better at living with people but I will say it takes some adaptation. I think these guidelines are just basic polite things to keep in mind. Also, hairdryers. I have ear plugs (thank god) but I can still hear the hairdryer next to my bed at 7am. I'm confused as to why people don't use bathrooms. To me it's common sense to take care of everything I can outside of the room when others are in bed.

All of these rules really come from not knowing your hostel mates. It can be different if you are friends with your mates as there is already some mutual respect going around - as well as a bit more tolerance. Most people though I have met I've only seen around for one or two nights. It's awesome to have the same hostel mate for more than 2 nights because you get to know one another and know their sleeping patterns and what to expect.

Anyways, I am really looking forward to my apartment in Prague. Tomorrow I leave Dresden and travel on the bus for a couple hours. We stop at a concentration camp, Terezin for about an hour and 1/2 and will be able to explore or take a guided tour for 5 euros. I'm happy about this stop because I didn't get to visit Saxenhausen while I was in Berlin. I read Daniels story today (quick read) which is about a Jewish boy's experience through the Nazi regime and how he lost so many loved ones and was dragged around to different ghettos and concentration camps throughout his life. Reading about those experiences is powerful and sobering.

After Prague I leave for Cesky Krumlov then Vienna. Originally in Krumlov I had a hostel but I found a hotel for 38 euros a night and decided to invest since I've done well the past week spending minimal money at the market. In Vienna I also have an apartment for 3 days that I had set up before I left so this means for the next 10 nights I am sleeping in my own room, alone. After this I have 2 days in Salzberg, 2 in Munich, 1 in Fussen and 2 in Paris. 1 overnight in Frankfurt probably at the airport and then a days worth of a plane ride and I'm home. I need to stop adding up the days in my head. I'm not anxious to get home or anything, I'm just a dorky accountant. I miss my kitties but I don't miss much else at this point besides a few people. If I could I would love to ditch my apartment, travel and work remotely. Haha, what a nice dream!

Besides days I am constantly reassessing my money situation. I think I will be able to pay for my apartment in Vienna in cash instead of the credit card I brought, which considering my CC debt it would be smart. Not going out and drinking really saves a ton of money! It's freezing here right now (seriously, it's about 40 degrees) or else I'd think about going out for a drink or some dancing. I will leave you with a silly picture of me eating ice cream in the freezing windy weather cause I am crazy like that. There is never a bad time for soft ice cream!

brrr!!

Everyone back home has been talking about the sunshine and warm weather. Well, it's 45 degrees here (4pm!) and I'm wearing a turtleneck, jacket and knitted handwarmers and a hat almost every day. I didn't know it was going to be so cold over here, isn't it May?

The Neustadt side of Dresden is like a bigger version of SE Portland. This is the first place I've seen that composts and recycles everything. Also there are a bunch of themed bars: one plays the Big Lebowski over and over again and is appropriately named, Lebowski, another is a big tiki bar, and there are gay bars, a cellar bar, and well, you name it... they probably have it here. In the middle of these 4 streets between the attached houses/apartments/bars there is a farm with chickens, goats, cats, guinea pigs, rabbits, and more. I biked through it today but it is closed from the 13th-16th so it looks like I'll miss going in.

There is a really tasty bagel shop where the owner made me veggie sandwich on a rosemary bagel with some amazing rosemary cheese. Last night I had a huge bowl of vegan soup at the indian place across the street for 3 euros. Food is cheap here and delicious. I have food from the market but I will save it for Prague as I am looking forward to another bowl of tasty indian soup for tonight.

I spent a good part of the day biking around on a free bike my hostel loans out. It was a weathered nice bike and I chose it because it looked like the local bikes. I rode around for a bit in the rain and decided to head over to the deutsche hygeine museum and had a good time there sending out vague ecards to people saying Greetings from the Deutsche Hygeine Museum. Haha. It does not really have much to do with hygeine although it is the study of man and reminds me a bit of OMSI but with a bit more outgoing and "risky" exhibits. Like the birthing video that everyone had to watch in 7th grade but a bit more graphic. And also life sized replica's of human bodies. I think it's silly how we (Americans) shield children from seeing these things when they are young. It is nice to see other countries so open and not ashamed or embarrassed to explain these things to their children. It reminds me of things I have explained to Anise and how upset Corban got when he found out I talked to her about those things. Children have questions and most of the time it's best to answer them rather than them learn through gossip or who knows what. Also, if you make something available and don't regard it as taboo the child won't see it that way. Children naturally are curious and if they think something is taboo to talk about they will do it. I find that it is the same way here with alcohol.

The more I am away the more I realize something my friend Dave pointed out a bit after I left is right. Americans are too cautious. We shield ourselves from so many things and we're scared of accidents, terrorists, falling ill, life! If it seems that a European is having a good time it's because they aren't freaking scared of life like we are.

Dresden's attitude is great. I am able to find and love a lot of little things about each city I am visiting. I take a few pictures here and there but I'm finding that my desire to post a ton of pictures of museums, historical buildings, bridges, churches and buildings is dwindling. I remember the architecture. I remember the bridges and the shops. But most of what I want to remember is the culture and the people. Those are things that cannot really be captured by photographs.

awkwardness

Tonight I was thinking about going out to some clubs in Dresden but they were a bit further away and it's raining and cold. Since I'm here two nights I decided to wait until tomorrow to see how I feel. A girl in my dorm asked me if I wanted to join her and another friend out for drinks (at a bar, not club) and for some reason I said no. After I thanked her for inviting me but said I was going to stay in I immediately wanted to take it back and go but I felt awkward. I wonder how often people feel like this. I feel disorientated and out of touch with people that when someone who may be cool actually invites me along I end up turning them down. And the silly part is, it's Friday, I've showered and I was dressed to go out.

I think maybe I am just too much in my own world. I'm used to people having different schedules and not really connecting with others. I'm used to being on my own. For the rest of the trip I'm going to try to say yes to everything unless I'm not feeling well or it is a request from some creepy guy. I'm also going to make more of an effort to try and meet others even if it's just a smile. I think I avoid looking people in the eyes and talking to them here because I am worried I will not understand them or that they will speak to me and I'll awkwardly tell them I don't speak German/Czech/Dutch. I am having a good time but I really would like to connect with some people. It's difficult because everyone who is traveling has had a different schedule than me. So many of the people on Busabout stay in each city for little time. One night even.

So now it's about 20:30 and I think I might head to sleep and wake up early tomorrow to explore this city. I'm in Dresden and really only have 1 full day here, which is okay. It's quiet and a lot less busy than Berlin. I will write more about Berlin when my internet connection is a bit faster. It was a nice week and I have given a move abroad to Berlin some thought.

I'm really looking forward to Sunday though as I leave for Prague and stay for 5 nights in my OWN APARTMENT. By myself! The thought makes me super happy. And here I am reflecting on how I need to meet more people, haha. Truth is though I feel more comfortable meeting others and having a place to leave to and go back to by myself. I am truly a Cancer. I crave a safe, home base to go and escape to when I'm done having my fun. After sleeping in the same room as someone else for the last 2 weeks I'm ready to have my own space again. It is my splurge for the trip at 45 euros a night but at this point what it represents is priceless.

Amsterdam in my heart - Part 2

I cannot tell how my phone is able to tell I am roaming as when I log into Tmobile's website they have no activity for my phone since I've left the US. I should be getting a bill tomorrow and it will show roaming charges if there are any but I would think that this data should be available online. When I roamed with Verizon's phone it would appear on the phone usage.

I've been monitoring this closely because I've had to turn on data roaming quite a bit when I've used the GPS feature or to look up certain word translations. Yesterday it was baking soda for the cookies I made. Everyone here has been so grateful and complimented me on my baking. Many were surprised that I made them as it seems like not many people know how to bake... For myself I am happy because I love to share cooking and baking with friends and I don't particularly want to eat 50 cookies myself. I made butterscotch oatmeal and they turned out really amazing. My trouble was converting everything to grams so much of the recipe was adding things by remembrance and thankfully it worked okay. I added a bit more oats and flour than usual but I think it is because I used too much butter. These cookies were my ticket into getting a 12 euro/night room here in Berlin. A steal! (And great for someone on a budget like me)

Paula, my host, is really accommodating and sweet. There are a few Japanese girls here and one of them made some homemade sushi last night and I was invited for sushi and champagne at the table. The two girls in my room, Ayako and Anna are both from Japan and are dancers. Ayako is here for 2 months and Anna is here for about 2 weeks. Sharing a room with them has been really great as it's nice and quiet. Last night I slept so well, I even slept in until 9am.

So back to my days in Amsterdam!

The first day I walked around all on foot and got a bit lost. I tried to find the Van Gogh museum but after 4 hours of walking around in a skirt and knee high socks I was hungry and a bit tired. It is quite chilly in Amsterdam! I bought a pair of white leggings for 2,50 euros to put on because my legs were cold but the pair had a hole in it which the world could see when I walked. I was too embarrassed to try and return them so I just wandered back home to the hostel. During my walk I went pretty much everywhere in the downtown area. I visited the Red Light District but it was at 11 am so there was not much happening. I took a picture of this one club though for a livejournal friend who likes elephants although I found it a bit disturbing :)





Walking through Dam Square was emotional as I already mentioned the memorial for remembrance of WWII. However the day of remembrance was followed by a day of celebration so there was a ton of street music and people partying even at early hours.

This is where all the flowers were laid:


The weather was cold but it reminded me a bit of Portland as there would be periods of light rain and then bright sunshine afterwards. The sky was a beautiful blue and I loved seeing all of the clock towers.



The second day I decided to rent a bike and see the city as the rest of the people do. I felt so free biking around and this time I found the Van Gogh museum and went inside to enjoy the artwork. A friend recommended getting the audio tour, which I did and it was really interesting to hear more in depth about Van Gogh's life and watch as his artwork went from light strokes with blossoming trees and colorful Japanese wood prints to thick brush strokes of heavy paint and lonely scenes. Of course we weren't allowed to take any pictures inside but this makes the experience more special.

After the museum I biked around some more and then found a comfy little bench to rest on and had someone snap my photo.



A funny story though was when some guy tried to pick me up on my bike! I think because my bike was a rental he knew I wasn't from there so he asked where I was from. We were waiting at a red light. He was friendly so I asked for help to find the museum and he pointed me in the wrong (which I found out later) direction. I took off and he proceeded to follow me and try to show me the way which I thought was a little creepy but I suppose maybe he was being friendly until he asked me if I had time for coffee. I could have said yes because I did have time but when he tacked on that he had a house to the request I decided against going. I still can't tell if he was telling me he had a house to show he was responsible or to try and get me to come back there. My faith in men kind of favors the latter. Does that actually work? I've had a handful of men tell me this since I've been here and I cannot figure out why any woman would fall for this.

Anyways - here are a few more photos that I thought were interesting!

Flowers and vines traveling up windows were quite common



An old weigh station - Waag:



Some really cool mosaic tile benches and tables:



People seem to paint everything to make it prettier:



For the whole set of my pictures from Amsterdam, which includes a lot more pictures of the architecture and canals Click here to go to my set on flickr.

Last night I did not go to the club as there was a strict door policy and I did not want to travel across town in a dress and get turned away. I plan to go on an anti pub crawl which includes a lot of alternative places and underground clubs. This happens every night at 9:30 so I'll check it out when I have plenty of opportunity to go!

Today I am going to walk around downtown and just breathe the city in. I've found that I tend to enjoy walking around for a day or two then maybe visiting a museum or going on some walking tours. I like to familiarize myself with my home base first then work outwards from there. Yesterday I found a few wonderful markets and I've been able to eat vegetables to my hearts content!