EaST BeRLiN....2

Well, it's been more than a week so far and basically it's been hanging w my brother and his new son Liam a lot...

Taking photos of where we've been Alot of WW2 monuments, NAZi / DDR history sites, and occasionally venturing out to a funky bar or two... The one day we had out without the nephew was unfortunately Monday... which is when everything is slow and things like Museums and stuff are closed and the Olympic Stadium was closed to tourists as the AC/DC Concert was being set up. So I've had to delay or nix 2 different things...

Everyday... my brother's basically a house husband til the end of the summer... Liam ( as he's a 1 year old ) takes up alot of his time. So, wandering around Berlin is taking a toll.

As Andrew's an office guy not a rock and roll truss hucker like me I don't think he's used to manual labour like lifting all day. In fact, lifting Liam and pushing, lifting around his TANK of a Kinder-wagon ( and wandering Berlin's streets with cobblestones, while wearing Berlin's men's shoes of choice sandals ????) ) is killing my brother's back. So, I've offered to buy him and Liam a new (lighter) stroller.. but it has to pass Sabina's checklist...So that's another day.

We went out to Gera/ Weimar ( about 300 KM's away from Berlin in the south ) to meet Sabina's parents and clan ( I didn't really realize that this was happening till I got here, that this was going to be an " over the weekend " thing..) Which killed going out to clubs last weekend. While we were there her Father got ill and had to go to the hospital, which kind of made things a bit tense and also took away the other other person I'd met so far, who seemed to want to converse in english and help translate what the other german clan members were saying to me. While we were out there I was able to go out with both Andrew and Sabina in Gera... See a pretty...

EaST BeRLiN....2

Well, it's been more than a week so far and basically it's been hanging w my brother and his new son Liam a lot...

Taking photos of where we've been Alot of WW2 monuments, NAZi / DDR history sites, and occasionally venturing out to a funky bar or two... The one day we had out without the nephew was unfortunately Monday... which is when everything is slow and things like Museums and stuff are closed and the Olympic Stadium was closed to tourists as the AC/DC Concert was being set up. So I've had to delay or nix 2 different things...

Everyday... my brother's basically a house husband til the end of the summer... Liam ( as he's a 1 year old ) takes up alot of his time. So, wandering around Berlin is taking a toll.

As Andrew's an office guy not a rock and roll truss hucker like me I don't think he's used to manual labour like lifting all day. In fact, lifting Liam and pushing, lifting around his TANK of a Kinder-wagon ( and wandering Berlin's streets with cobblestones, while wearing Berlin's men's shoes of choice sandals ????) ) is killing my brother's back. So, I've offered to buy him and Liam a new (lighter) stroller.. but it has to pass Sabina's checklist...So that's another day.

We went out to Gera/ Weimar ( about 300 KM's away from Berlin in the south ) to meet Sabina's parents and clan ( I didn't really realize that this was happening till I got here, that this was going to be an " over the weekend " thing..) Which killed going out to clubs last weekend. While we were there her Father got ill and had to go to the hospital, which kind of made things a bit tense and also took away the other other person I'd met so far, who seemed to want to converse in english and help translate what the other german clan members were saying to me. While we were out there I was able to go out with both Andrew and Sabina in Gera... See a pretty little little german town... ( which reminded me of The Movie, "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" ) go to a DDR Kifer - Bar. And visit Buchenwald Concentration camp.

( I can't say that the Buchenwald KZ trip was "Fun" but it was very revealing and so interesting. I'm a huge fan of history and I've always wanted to understand what happened in the NASDAP period to those who the Nazi's decided were undesirables. Even though I've seen so many depictions of the holocaust.

See if I could stomach the remains of real horror... It's one thing to read in books or on websites and watch B&W footage of the camps as they were found. But, after being there... that's a very, very removed experience.

Being there... it's beyond words....The actual site of the mass murders and seeing the exhibits with the factual information right there. I don't believe in ghosts but the grounds of the camp have this terrible feeling even though most of the barracks are just rubble. The Crematorium was just a total brain-fuck. But, thankfully I made it through all the memorials and sites with all the information and bald proof of mass murder to make it to the permanent collection of artifacts.

Stuff that that shows every side.. the inmates, the guards, the towns folk, and the murderers. And see that they're all human beings. People that died here, guarded here, tried to ignore here for fear of the same suffered fate...

And the Murderers... the biggest question... the thing that made me make it to the exhibition hall.

How could humans be so evil...?? so programmed to see other humans as Sub humans? kill repeatedly like a machine. Enjoy it... Even laugh, and make love after. The real insane horror that people make light of... or metal, goth, and industrial bands reference as inspiration or react to - good or bad.

And really... it's too easy... everyone wants a boogy-man someone to blame for things... And with that knowledge in the hands of functioning Psychopaths as local and national leaders... the insane becomes the norm. )

Thankfully, back in Berlin.... the area in which Andrew lives is full of funky art bars which are super cheap, Beer wise. BECK'S which is 6 bucks CND in Vancouver is about 3 dollars here in bars and 2 bucks in the stores... ( and you can drink ANYWHERE... ) so having a few beers is super easy.

The area is stuffed with hot Hippie Cyber chicks... The kind of Smart /Geeky/ Sexy type I tend to like...So I'm constantly checking girls out around here. Most are W/ BF and Child ( Berlin is very cheap and housing is subsidized if you have children ) and they speak only german...the ones I've tried to talk to.

So, I'm hoping tonight to go down to Potsdamer Platz where everyone goes to watch the Germany Fifa cup games and see if a few beers ( God Beck's my Favourite beer is so cheap here....In Vancouver it's always the most expensive beer in the bar...) And see if Drunk, happy, sporty, german girls are more liberal with their english....