Berlin 2008-Commentary 2009

BERLIN

Ich bin jetzt hier. (I am now here)

24 Sept 2008

The Apartment

It is a one bedroom apartment on the fourth floor in the Checkpoint Plaza Building on Charlottenstrasse which is in the former East Berlin. It has the usual apartment amenities, including a balcony with a table and chairs. It also includes a WiFi system, which has become de rigueur in dwellings nowdays. At 115 Euros a night it sounds reasonable, but after factoring in the near record weak dollar this translates to about $160 a night after conversion, and now it becomes a bit on the high side. It's expensive living for an American over here, especially after you add 50% more in dollars to all Euro prices.

As indicated in the name of the apartment building, we are near Checkpoint Charlie, or Checkpoint C as oficially named. After WW II Berlin was divided into four sectors: Soviet, French, British and American, and Checkpoint Charlie at Friedrichstrasse was the entrance to the American sector from the Soviet sector. So I am just inside the Soviet sector, one block east of Friedrichstrasse and two blocks north of the former Berlin wall. There is a reproduction of Checkpoint Charlie, which I can see from the balcony of my apartment. At the checkpoint is a museeum of the history of the wall.

Consistent with the Charlie theme, my building, the Checkpoint Plaza Building is divided into John Haus, George Haus, and Ronald Haus, and I’m in Ronald Haus.

It's in the Mitte (Middle) District in the area of Unter den Linden, the famous, wide, historical avenue with historical buildings, museums and shops that ends at the Brandenburg Gate. Hitler had all his military parades down this street. In any historical footage with Hitler either in a parade or reviewing a parade, it was on this avenue. Also nearby are the Tier Garten, several museums, including Museum Island, and other attractions.

Recommendation: Google CHECKPOINT CHARLIE and there you will find several interesting articles on the subject of the wall and the checkpoint, including a tour of the Mauer (Wall) Museum.

Wikipedia is a good start.

Klick on the thumbnail photos to enlarge

I am supposed to be in Berlin today, but I am not. Not this year. Maybe nevermore.

You see, unsupervised little boys in $3000 suits gambled away most of my income sources, driving them into bankruptcy and then gave themselves handsome bonuses for their good work. This is called cowboy or casino capitalism, I believe. My, those Bush years were really good years. Capitalism without restrictions brings out the best in human nature.

I heard some impolite people at a "town meeting" shout "we want to take our country back!" Back to what? Where we were? Back to casino capitalism? I can't wait.

So this is the first year in eight I have not gone to Europe at least once, and in the last 5 years usually twice a year, that being Madrid in spring and Berlin in the fall. In the spring of 2007 I booked my usual month in Madrid, and then on a whim made a one week side trip to Paris. I liked it so much that in 2008 I completely replaced Madrid with Paris. So I did 3 weeks in Paris in the springtime, where I met some people from Spain and spoke more Spanish than French, and then did my usual 3 weeks in Berlin in the autumtime.

This year, 2009, things have changed. The little boys with the big bonuses have grounded me. Now I am doing no-weeks in nowheresville, spring, summer and fall. But maybe that's OK too. There is always pretty Nashville of course, and certainly there is beautiful downtown Beanblossom. On second thought, with all that abundance who needs Unter den Linden, the Louvre, the Prado and all those other tourist traps.

This year I will instead be making a "staycation" (now trite), for which you may wish me "non voyage" (cute, as per Liann Hanson). This year there will not be any "en casa de nuevo (home again, home again)" because "me queda aqui (I am staying home)". No goodbye, hello, goodbye, hello. No 18-20 hours traveling each way, no staying awake 30 hours, and no 5 day jet lag. Actually,I am also enjoying not having to do all that planning and organizing and execution of details, in addition to studying 100 hours of French or German before each trip.

I will miss Berlin, a city I have gotten to know quite well during 5 visits. I know it almost as well as I know Old Madrid. I think I like Berlin a little better than Madrid, even though my Spanish is far better than my German. Berlin is such an interesting and historical city with such a violent past. A city that has risin literally from its ashes 60 years after its near total destruction. Today it is a thriving modern city with friendly people and much to see and do, including 147 museums. If you visit one museum a day for seven days a week it would take about five months to visit them all. I have about 130 to go, so I might not finish until about 2060.

I will also miss spending time with Anette Marks, formerly my language helper who became a friend. We did some fun things together in the last 3 years. Our conversations probably sound funny, being about half German and half English, with my handy electronic dictionary always close by to fill in the gaps. I will miss walking the streets, sampling the variety of food, visiting alleys and poking around in nooks and crannies. I felt at home there from the very beginning visit in 2004. Maybe it's related to my German heritage on both sides. That's it. The SPIRIT did it, made me feel at home there. I'm such a spiritual guy.

On the other hand, international travel is a lot of work and I will not miss that. All that busy work, and then there is always some hassel or another to deal with. Also there is always the unknown to deal with, which sometimes can be good and sometimes not so good. But I guess that is what makes it an adventure, all those challanges and surprises. So now I'll be taking a break from all those adventures and surprises (die Abenteuer und Uberraschung)), and will be snoozing at home instead.

This year it is also nice to have all of spring and all of fall in my own home for a change. For the first time in 8 years. And I don't have to do anything but enjoy, thank you. Muchas gracias por todo - Danke sehr fur alles - Merci beaucoup pour tout. Yes it is nice to be home.

This year I will do a "pretendication" (my neologism) during my non voyage. I will pretend I'm there and display photos from times past when I actually was there.