Valentines Day 2014

Valentines Day seems to come around every year (that's a joke people!) so of course 2014 is no different. Valentines Day again. For this year we marked our love with a 'love lock', something we haven't done before but seen plenty of on our travels. For me I've always thought, 'Why put a lock on a bridge in some city that has no particular relevance to us...why?'

But this year is different, our second year in Berlin, a second Valentines Day here where our love has grown and our ties to the city have also strengthened. Now is time for a 'love lock'.

So where to put this lock? It's got to be a meaningful location right? I instantly thought of the Oberbaumbrücke

Why? Well we pass over this bridge very frequently as its our best link between our district of Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg (where we do most of our recreating), it's a beautiful bridge that spans over the River Spree, and the U1 U-Bahn travels across it.

Moreso, meaningfully, this used to be a dividing point between East and West Berlin in the times of the Berlin wall - there was a checkpoint here. Now that they wall is down, the bridge is a symbol of Berlin, not only for its impressive architecture but as a symbol of German unity.

Unity and relevance, sounds like a good place for a love lock.  :)

So we stuck it on, and yes it is engraved, just marked over again in black pen for the occasion. When/if the pen weathers away the engraving will still show :)

Once locked onto the bridge, it's customary to throw the key away to seal your love, and so we threw the key into the Spree...

And now our lock is tethered to this bridge and we can visit it on our many trips back and forth :)

Funny thing is though, the lock came with three keys. Two keys sounds sensible, but three? I wasn't going to throw three keys into the river (one key = symbolism, three keys = littering!), so we keep one each. Mine is taking residence on my necklace next to another love token...

Always there as a reminder, next to my heart - and insurance in case things go sour :P so romantic.

Berlinale 2014 The Monuments Men

The Berlin International Film Festival (more commonly called Berlinale) is held every year in February. It is one of the worlds most prestigious film events and caters to a wide range of film making styles. In Berlin it is a popular 10 day event with many locals trying to get tickets to the film showings in which the queues for tickets from the few participating sellers are hours long.

This year we went to see the red carpet arrival of the stars of the film premiere of 'The Monuments Men' - Directed by George Clooney, and starring himself, Bill Murray, Matt Damon, John Goodman and Cate Blanchet. The film was shot in Berlin in March of 2013.

The red carpet event was from 5 to 6:30pm and we arrived around 5:30pm. Much of the area was restricted to 'invited guests' but we got a reasonable standing position amongst the crowd. In front of us was the arrival area where the actors got out of their chauffeured transport, and to our right was a big screen showing what was going on. A large official media pack was also in front of us to our right on a small grandstand which blocked a lot of the view for the people on our side.

I had jokingly said that I would bring a ladder with me, and while I didn't (on this occasion), some people did!

'Stars' were already arriving by the time we got there, but we didn't know who they were!

Soon though we could tell from the crowd reaction that someone important had arrived. It was George Clooney. Always a hit with the ladies, the young girls next to me 'shouted out' to themselves: 'George, you might be 30 years older than me, but I'll still f*&k you!' Classy.

Straight after George arrive, Matt Damon appeared...

Followed by John Goodman...

And Bill Murray...

They all walked around, talking to the fans and the press, spending a lot of time walking along the fences for the 'normal people' and also chatting with the media and posing for photos in the grandstanded area.

The crowd was very excited while this was happening, and every time a star walked into view everyone's cameras shot up - trying to capture the moment.

After quite a long time of spending time with the fans and the media, the main stars of the film gathered around the grandstanded area for the official photos. Unfortunately this view was completely blocked off for us but we could see what was happening on the big screen.

And at 6:30pm they all went inside for the start of the film, leaving the chumps without tickets (like us) to go home! Quite an interesting experience and not any hassle at all to get a glimpse at some major movie stars without having to line up for hours or worm your way into some industry event.

Mark Visits

For the week of New Years 2013/2014 (Monday 30 December 2013 to Friday 3 January 2014), our buddy Mark came to visit us.

I went to pick him up at Tegel airport...

...where we engaged in a bit of 'schwarzfahrer' activity - fare dodging on the bus from the airport to the Berlin Ku'Damm area for a bit of sightseeing. Validating our tickets would have constricted our time in the Ku'Damm - we'd validate them later.

At the Ku'Damm we checked out the Ka De We (fancy department store), the Ku'Damm shopping strip and a first for me, a visit to the 'new church' - the Octagon shaped church next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church ruins...

...with enough of the Ku'Damm under our belt we jumped on the bus 100 and obediently validated our tickets (could easily get away with more fare dodging on this bus, but we had a train to catch afterwards). The bus 100 is a public transport bus popular with tourists as it connects to some of the major sites, including Ku'Damm, Tiergarten, Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate, Museum Island and Alexanderplatz...

 After a short rest at home it was time to go hang out with some friends - eating and drinking at the Hofbrauhaus near Alexanderplatz...

That was enough for day one.

Day 2 was new years eve and we had some sightseeing to do. With a borrowed bike for Mark, we went on a home made cycle tour of Berlin...

Museum Island...

And people watching, this couple maybe not realising that their salutes could land them in serious trouble here...

Round the back to the arcades of the New, Old, Pergamon and Bode Museums...

Through Bebel Platz (site of the 1933 Nazi book burnings) to the last day of the Gendarmenmarkt Christmas Markets. 1 Euro entry before 7pm and 10 Euros after 7pm...wow! this is the only Christmas markets we know of where you need to pay for entry. It's a bit more upmarket than the others and I suppose an entry fee keeps the riff-raff out - but it didn't stop us. Mark hit the first stall for a Feuerzangenbowle...hot wine with melted sugar and rum.

From the Gendarmenmarkt Christmas Markets it was a double back to the Brandenburg Gate. This was busy with tourists, especially because of the influx for New Years celebrations and also the stages built for the huge party on the 'fest mile' behind the gate.

Around the corner we checked out the 'Memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe', with its puzzling stone blocks that no one knows what they mean....

Through to Hitler's car park (Fuhrer Bunker, now nothing to see but a plaque and a car park), the Topography of Terror (remnants of the Berlin wall and former Gestapo headquarters), the former Luftwaffe headquarters (now a much more scary and hated Ministry of Finance) and then quite by accident, the former electricity substation which is known for its amazing 1920's industrial architecture.

There were people setting stuff up here and we had a quick chat with them. They were setting up for the MTV New Years Party. The guys setting up were cool and let us have a poke around. Amazing architecture and also looked like it was going to be a good party!

Nearby, we had to tick of Mark's wish to see Checkpoint Charlie (Not one of our favourite spots, as its a reconstruction and always teaming with tourists).

On the way back home we had to stop off an get some fireworks. We were a bit late to the game on this one, but managed to pick up a little sack of explosives (7.77 Euros).

A quick dinner at home and we had to head out again to our New Years Celebration plans for the night. A house party with friends. On the way we got told they were not at the house, but instead at the nearby park - letting off some of their fireworks. We checked it out. It was a bit crazy and then they ran out of steam and we went back to the house to get acquainted with 'the crew', our drinks and our fireworks.

These guys all had an alcoholic head start on us - we cracked our beers and joined in. They were getting silly. Our mates wanted a private fireworks moment with just the five of us, so we snuck out of the apartment and set off a few rockets. Being novices at it, the first launch wasn't a complete success...but it was a crap load of fun!...

Click here for the bottle rocket attempts.

After rejoining the party, it was getting close to midnight. 'The Crew' was intent on creating their own Armageddon scene, so we all went back to the park and went crazy with the fireworks. It was crazy, and all around the rest of Berlin was doing the same things. Pictures and photos can't convey completely what was going on!

Click here for a shaky video of the fireworks at midnight.

Amongst the three of us, we were quite impressed with a little sack of fireworks - some duds in there, but mostly great fun from the little bag.

Now it was 2014, we celebrated with our friends and then we went for a bit of a walk through Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg to survey the damage, and grab a 3am burger at the very cool, converted toilet under the Schleisches Tor U1 railway line called 'Burgermeister'. A bit more walking and finally home. 

So much debris everywhere, so much broken glass.

The next day was a rest day, but we still managed to get out for some local sightseeing. The East side gallery (longest remaining section of the Berlin wall)...

and a walk around (but not in) the still pumping notorious club 'Berghain' - touted as one of the best clubs in the world.

Dinner was on Mark as a thank you to us, so we took him to our nearest most favourite little local pizza/pasta place 'Vira' and had a great meal.

The next day, and Mark's last full day in Berlin was planned as another cycle tour of more parts of Berlin. Once we were out and about we were keenly aware that with this much glass on the ground we were going to be very susceptable to punctures. My bike has the worst condition tyres so I thought it was bound to be me. We cycled along, trying to dodge the obvious bits of glass - and made it to Tempelhof, the former airport and now huge recreation and function space.

As we left Tempelhof, disaster, Mark had a flat tyre! Oh oh, we weren't very close to home at all. We had planned on going from here to Neukölln anyway, which is the side of Tempehof we were on. So we had to walk our bikes there. On the way we pondered what to do about the flat. I knew there was a bicycle shop nearby so we went to ask them about solutions. To replace the tube, 23 Euros...no way man. How about a puncture repair kit...they don't sell them. What kind of shitty bike shop is this? We left.

On the way we hit a shop where I knew they sold some budget bike bits. Mark's not one for mucking around, and being experienced with bikes and punctures, picked out the necessary bit he needed for a fix at home. Pump, new tube and repair kit - under 10 Euros. Done. We thought we'd do the walk home which would take an hour or so.

We went to Neukölln as planned, and hit up a bakery which we a fond of (it's ridiculously cheap and not bad stuff). 3 coffees, two cakes and one salami bread roll...4.35 Euros! Bloody love this place.

Coffee'd and Cake'd up, we went for a quick poke around Neukölln...

And then decided we better start the long walk back. On the way we decided there's no difference really in fixing the bike at home or on the street. We had all the necessary repair crap with us, so why not do it now and save the big walk!

We got dirty (well Mark did most of the work and got his hands very dirty), but the tube replacement was done in under 15 minutes.

Now mobile again we made quick work of the way back home, detouring to check out the Cuvrystraße squat and admire the architecture on the river Spree...

Later on, Mark went out on his own to check out some museums. We met him outside the Brandenburg Gate so we could all go to our pre-arranged visit of the Reichstag. Another new thing for us, to see it at night - which is good in some ways, but mostly it's better to go during the day.

Dinner was at a nearby 'grill' which we frequent often for its pizza, kebabs and cheap beers, before heading home once again.

The next day was the sad farewell. We walked Mark to the Warschauer S-Bahn station and plonked him on the train that would take him to the connecting bus to the airport...

And as the train left with our house guest, things were back to normal! 

Another great week in Berlin, made all the better by good friends to share the good times with. 

Thanks for coming Mark!