Last week, I found that new European home I was looking for! I found it in the layered city of Berlin, Germany. Ah, just saying it makes me smile. Beautiful women, delicious food, real beer, terrific architecture, and a general feeling of acceptance all around! They all exist in Berlin and will all exist in this post.
There is no denying the fact that Italy produces some of the most gorgeous women known to the world.
Enough said.....
But there is, and any sensible male will agree, a big difference between 'sexy' beautiful and 'beautiful' beautiful. In other words, there is 'long legs, 24inch waist, C cup' beautiful and then theres is 'intense blue eyes, long blonde hair, and perfect lips' beautiful...there is 'German' beautiful. I'm not sure if I'm explaining myself properly, so you'll probably just have to go to Berlin to check out what I'm talking about for yourself. Here's a pic of me getting caught appreciating some 'German beauty'...
Just when I started feeling homesick at the thought of missing out on my favorite season and the hoodied footballs games, drunken bonfires, and smell of changing leaves that come with it, we landed in Germany just in time for the exact seasonal weather I was missing. Slightly threatening clouds, a light breeze, and the countryside outside of Hamburg pushed those feelings of missing out away. At that moment, I could have closed my eyes, breathed deep through my nose, and been in Johnstown preparing the fire ring for a meeting of friends or in Kent walking to the football game on a Saturday morning. I knew what was needed to complete this autumn sensation...some meat and potatoes! A meal typology not fully appreciated by the Italians, at least not like us carnivorous Anglo-Saxens. And my anglo-saxen, meat and potato needs were met again and again by the fine German cuisine we encountered. This baked potato was dressed up like a swan!
=Bier des Blog=
Technically, there should probably about thirty of these in this Berlin post, but for the sake of time and parental concern will keep it to just my favorite beer, or bier in German. The Krombacher Pils is statistically the most consumed beer in Germany and it is fantastic! While just about every beer I tried in Berlin was great, this one really stood out. Its no wander the brewery's moto is "Eine Perle der Natur"..."A Pearl of Nature"!
This being our first school trip, there was obviously a reason our teacher, Giovanni Damiani, chose Berlin for us to travel to. The reason became very apparent as we spent all five days sprinting from architectural masterwork to masterwork. Even if you're not a architectural history buff you can at least marvel at the sheer beauty or the incredible amount of thought that went into so many of these buildings. Mies Van De Roes' Neue National Galerie, Le Corbusier's Unite d'Habitation in Berlin, The Bauhaus - Berlin project, and Lebiskind's Jewish Museum, just to name a few. Berlin is unlike any other city, in the way that it has been built up in layers. The city has been destroyed and built over again and again, creating an amazing and intriguing, sedimentary labyrinth. Your average tourist might walk through the city and be memorized by the huge glass skyscrapers lining Potsdamer Platz or Peter Eisenman's Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe [rightfully so, both beautiful examples of Berlin art/architecture]. But a historian, architect, or architectural theorist can have a hay-day just considering these multi-facitted layers and how they pop up through out different parts of the city.
You can understand when a city goes through three major regime changes, a massive growth, total destruction after World War II, the occupation and reconstruction of the four different allied victors of WWII, the great socialist divide of East and West Berlin, the end of the Cold War and the destruction of the Berlin Wall, and then some how filling in the gaps left behind, how Berlin can 1.) be a melting pot of experimentation in modern and contemporary architecture. 2.) interesting as a 'layered city'. And 3.) a city not one hundred percent sure of its identity yet [at least in my opinion].
Which leads me to my final reason for love of this city. And that is, where many find a "lack of identity" as a flaw, I see it as an 'open-mindedness'. An acceptance to a growing identity, if you will. Whether it's because of the centralized location of Berlin to the rest of Europe, or it really is because of so many layers with in the city [both for good and very bad reasons], the general feeling of Berlin and its people is acceptance. Although I was obviously an English speaking tourist, I still received courtesy and respect at multiple levels and on numerous occasions even smiles. Walking down the average commercialized street we saw Cuban, Chinese, Italian, Greek, Turkish....even a Burger King! They embrace the international market. But even better they embrace each other, at least the younger generations of Berliners do.
We had the remarkable experience to spend sometime with Logan, his German cousins & company, who live in Berlin and the surrounding region. Through talking with them and with Logan about his numerous visits with them, it was apparent that these kids, excuse the terminology...but let's face it...we're still kids =) , are accepting. Accepting of each other and each other's styles. Accepting of us and our curious outlooks on Berlin. Accepting of the new art and architecture that is moving its way into this amazing city.
So, years from now, if you haven't heard from me in a while and wondering where I am...chances are, it will be Berlin...or at least dreaming of living there...
Please, PLEASE!, go on facebook and check out all the picture I posted and/or was tagged in. There are so many great ones! Corey Anderson arrives tomorrow! ...I'm not sure Florence is ready....
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