Berlin: Poor, but Sexy

I returned Saturday to Geneva from another excellent European city: Berlin. I had to leave Switzerland to get my student visa, and I chose Berlin since it was a capital city that I had yet to visit. I had a long layover in Copenhagen, so I ventured out of the airport and saw the city for about 3 hours. It was a nice, but short, first Scandinavian experience. Once in Berlin, the visa process went smoothly. I found the Swiss Embassy the first morning I was there, finished the paperwork, got my visa stamped in my passport, and headed out ready to explore the city.


Now, I have been thinking long and hard about the statement I am about to make, because I want to be sure in what I am about to claim. I think Berlin is the most interesting city I have ever visited. Ever. It is certainly not aesthetically appealing like a Prague or a Venice. Instead, it has massively daunting gray steel buildings everywhere that are typical of Communistic architecture. It is certainly not filled with dazzling shopping areas or global tourist hot spots like a London or a Paris. On the other hand, it has a really grimy, grungy and melancholic feel to it, and for this reason the city slogan is "poor, but sexy." Berlin has enormous unemployment and city debt. However, its recent history really appealed to and interested me.

The first full day, my friend Jo and I (he is Norwegian; we met during the summer French course in Geneva, and I invited him to come down from Oslo to meet me in Berlin) took a bike tour of the city. This proved to be a great choice because we got to see the whole city relatively quickly (5 hours) and had someone giving us information at each stop. Here is a pic of me on my bike, the government building that has a transparent dome to signify a transparent German government, and Jo and me in front of the remains of the Berlin Wall right near Checkpoint Charlie.




We also saw sights like Hitler's bunker where he shot and killed himself, a memorial to a massive book burning that took place under Communist leadership, the hotel where Michael Jackson dangled his child out the window for all to see, a plaza where Karl Marx used to preach, and a large Jewish memorial. This memorial was interesting because it is left open for interpretation--the designer says the meaning is for each person to individually interpret.

The next day, we did an alternative street graffiti tour. Berlin is renowned for its artistic, punk spirit of denying authority, and it really shows in its street art. We entered old, abandoned warehouses where squatters live, saw a mile long piece of the Berlin Wall ironically rebuilt just to be decorated with art, and just downright cool graffiti on the sides of buildings. Here are pics of a man made up of other naked, pink men eating a little white man, a corporate man bound in shackles by his gold watches while tightening his tie, me with some designs, and a piece on the rebuilt Berlin Wall.







All in all, it was a really nice way to end the summer. That is because I start classes tomorrow, so no more vacation for a little while. Maybe.