madame claude

last night i went to this bizarre bar called madame claude
where all of the furnishings were upside down.
even the steps, for example, were made out of a chest of drawers
that had been pulled out at different intervals.
very cool and interesting vibe, with lots of people speaking english.
check it out:: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPGILJx0y00
(it's not to the actual bar, but rather a pretty amazing clip)



oh, and there was an open mic night in the basement.
it was pretty hit or miss, but there were a few stand-out performances:

waffeln & eis

kauf dich glücklich is the best cafe i've experienced in berlin.
amazing waffle selection, great coffee, very relaxing atmophere.
i got a waffle topped with caramel sauce, cinnamon ice cream and whipped cream.
there were three guys named erich there, not including me,
so that must be a good sign, right?
gotta go back, gonna get fat.
http://www.kaufdichgluecklich.de/

fleas please

first things first.
went to an awesome flea market this past saturday.
it went on for at least a mile, but i still didn't feel the urge
to buy something i would inevitably toss after the year.
ulli helped me steal a book about fairy tales though,
and by steal i mean let me shove it in her purse and walked away.
good tiiiimes.

berghain

went to this club called berghain with ulli.
it's supposed to be "the best club in the world"
but i found this online review to be spot-on:

A repulsive, sweaty mass of leather-clad gays swinging their bodies around to ear-bleedingly loud techno pounding out of massive speakers.

A brilliantly insane club of clubs for the all-out hardcore, take-no-prisoner party animals. It also has the strictest door-policy in town, run by the ominous man with the tattooed face. Cameras must be checked at the door.

Berghain is meant to be the ultimate club of the millennium, an industrial-style warehouse with an extremely free-spirited, hedonistic all-around attitude. On Saturdays, the Berghain’s most popular night, you’ll want to show up as early as possible. Those trying to be fashionably late will no doubt find themselves waiting out in the bitter cold.

So we waited for an hour in a seemingly endless line
just to get in and have bad electro music booming
gross men galore trying to look hot / not possessing monster faces
and avoiding going too far into the dark hallways
where men were waiting in booths to have sex.
went to bed at 8 am today. yiiikes.

twisted

i bonded with my host brother yesterday
by betting whether or not
the taxi guy yellow jacket was
a playable character
in twisted metal 2
aka the best car game ever.
i bet he was.
i lost.

scholarships put to good use?

"the subtleties of fitting into german culture"

nothing like the pain of enduring
black out drunk americans
being loud and lost on the streets of berlin
riding around in shopping carts
with no respect for anyone or anything.
CBYX 2009-2010 for the win!

20 Jahre Mauerfall

the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall was pretty epic.
epically rainy and cold that is.
i got to see bon jovi play and stand around in a sea of people,
many wielding large umbrellas.
for the celebration they knocked down a wall of dominoes
that had been painted by local students.
the students were dressed in silver space jackets for some reason.
i also peed in the jewish memorial without realizing what it was.
i just really had to go!
it took me until today to recover,
but it was well worth the wait!

many clips of the event follow:

smooches

cute couples were all around this weekend.
i thought passionate kisses in the rain
only happened in them drama flicks.

one foul swoop

i happened upon a peace ralley of all things
as i wandered the streets of berlin the other night.
it's for an organization called PACE.
their flag looks suspiciously like a flag for gay rights,
but anyway it was really cold and i got a glow stick.
i love the shot of the people walking in front of the police!