Berlin – 2017, Euro Pride Con

Travel day 0, and Day 1 in Berlin

Adventure
Dawn over Central NY
NYC, gorgeous even when waiting for a bus
Beer and Frites… appropriate dinner before a European trip, no?
WOW air. That’s… uhh. Pink.
Keflavik airport… Reykjavik is waaayyy over there.
Gorgeous coastline in Icelans
Archipelago off the Iceland coast. I think that’s a village…
Ice sheets… hiding under clouds.
Hotel Berlin. Home for a few days.
The view outside the window… left
… center
… right
Seriously. You want to go on an adventure with Amy.
The cafe around the corner
Sausage. Mmm.
Let the spaetzel BEGIN

 

Berlin, Day 2

OOhh… can I come back?
Vietnamese w LA Witt and company.
Great panels at EPC. 🙂
Seriously… even these were good.
Delightful outdoor beer gardens
The pratergarten… with a … thing you were DEFINITELY not allowed to climb
… enough said. Mmm.
Just as pushy as in the US, and UK
“… can I eat the bird?”
Musing
Pfefferlinge soup. Ohhh myyy.
Bread dumplings, seasoned gently and served atop a sea of creamy chanterelle.
“…. can *I* eat the dumplings?”
Lots of smoking still in Berlin, and cigarette machines.
I had a crisis of image here. “I could ride that, write poetry…”
Gorgeous outdoor stalls like so many other ethnic cities.
Architecture. Wonder who’s face that is..
The Zionkirch…
Stark, but beautiful
A LONG spiral stair to the tower for..
A gorgeous, rare view
And the bees, being kept by the church.
And down again.
Even the bathrooms, set under 19th century brick arches.
Busy streets a mix of modern and old.
And much vivid graffiti. Some artistic, some not.
BaoBurgers. No idea.
Everywhere, the TV tower looms around the corner.
Ethnic mixes abound
And little courtyards
Again… how many of that thing are there?
Markers. Of those lost in the Holocaust.
And more little courtyards.
Beneath a church, a playground among icon
Watched over by the steeple.
Down this alley… art abounds.
Anne Frank
And poetry
A nude, hiding behind vines
and faces watching.
Open air markets and street food…
annnnd. Hey. They’re in the US.
Sadly, so are these.
I’m pretty sure “Disney” but… hey.
Museum Island
and the canals
Even the statues enjoy the FKK body free culture
… seriously….
Ahh, the cold war, post industrial architecture style.
The preserved medieval quarter, the only part of Berlin to survive allied bombing unscathed
Quiet streets here, but shops around the corner

 

Berlin, Day 3

Breakfast
Uh, the church is .. watching
amazing building art here…
And gorgeous architecture
The roofs of the new
and of government
The canals
One section of the old Wall
Pigeons feed on the line that divided East and West
Sections of the wall linger around the city
Imposing…
But reclaimed.
The new..
stands side by side with the old
A digital photo of an abandoned photo booth…. fitting
Brandenberg gate, tourist central
but pretty
The Reichstag…
The bridge below the Reichstag, fitted with locks of people
pledging themselves
🙂
Delicate drinks, and perfect light meal
Crepes with the last of the chanterelle, fresh cheese and caramelized onion
The Linden blooms almost gone by scent the city
yet more art
A quiet corner
Watch is kept
Over the grave of one of the greats.
roughly “I love you all”
In Germany…
Even the trees are into shibari bondage.
The modern, sits above the past
A worker perches on the abandoned ghost station on the old wall path
Love, even in the shadow of hate.
Photos of those killed trying to escape.
… it all starts, with one hole in the barriers.
Bike lanes. NOT a sidewalk. Disregard at your peril.
Kids ride skateboards in what was once a military exclusion zone
I have NO idea…
Berliner Pizza. Tasty actually. Damn good crust
Yaassssss
I mean… goes without saying right?
And MORE
Seriously.. does it MOVE?
*cough*
Seriously!!
The TierGarten. Gorgeous
The rose garden in the center of the park.
“where… are we?”
Pride march in support of Iran’s LGBTQA
Bored police.
I hear the Valkyrie are riding…
And one balcony of life… amid the monument of loss
The German Resistance of WW2

Last dinner, and homeward bound

Man, we covered a lot of that
a … LOT
Earned THESE.
UNNnnnhhh. AND these. More spaetzel, rump steak, pepper sauce… ohhh yes.
much better than these in the Airport…
Not… bad? but… yeah. Weird