Berlin in winter: Lustgarten, Berliner Dom with Fernsehturm in the background
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Looking at these pictures now, in late August seems so strange. We arrived on the coat-tails of another harsh winter. In Early April the ground was still covered with several inches of ice. The transition to Spring and then Summer was so rapid that the cold was a distant memory within a few weeks. This week I can feel the air has changed quality. There is a coolness to the mornings that tells me the days are shortening fast. I've been taking our coats to the dry cleaner in preparation for that first icy blast from the tundra to the East.
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Looking at these pictures now, in late August seems so strange. We arrived on the coat-tails of another harsh winter. In Early April the ground was still covered with several inches of ice. The transition to Spring and then Summer was so rapid that the cold was a distant memory within a few weeks. This week I can feel the air has changed quality. There is a coolness to the mornings that tells me the days are shortening fast. I've been taking our coats to the dry cleaner in preparation for that first icy blast from the tundra to the East.
Brandenburger Tor on a crisp winter's morning. Then retire to The Adlon for hot coffee and schnapps
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One thing I hadn't expected was the terrible toll exacted on footwear by the copious black grit the local authority spreads on the sidewalks. It is absolutely essential. The ice doesn't melt despite the grit but at least you can get some purchase. We won't be wearing our most expensive shoes outdoors when the snow comes back that's for sure.
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One thing I hadn't expected was the terrible toll exacted on footwear by the copious black grit the local authority spreads on the sidewalks. It is absolutely essential. The ice doesn't melt despite the grit but at least you can get some purchase. We won't be wearing our most expensive shoes outdoors when the snow comes back that's for sure.
Trabbi Safari run tours of Berlin by these awful old bangers which have ironically assumed iconic status since 1989. Is there much "Ostalgia"? There is a lot of astute marketing of Berlin's history but we have seen little sign that Berliners pine for the Stalinist past.
Slideshow: April sunshine brings out the best in The Tiergarten
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We quickly fell into a routine of walking to my wife's work together each morning. Imagine that, walking to work through streets with such redolent names; Friedrichstrasse, Leipziger Strasse, Potsdamer Platz. I would then take the long way home exploring different routes; Zimmer Strasse past Checkpoint Charlie (where you can get a fake stamp in your passport at a fake border crossing and pose with young men in fake uniforms from 1969); Rudi Dutschke Strasse; Ebert Strasse past the sombre and moving Holocaust Memorial (Denkmal für die ermodeten Juden europas) or through the wonderful Tiergarten especially in April and May when the magnolias, bluebells, rhododendrons and azaleas create such a vibrant visual tonic. The perfect way to banish the lingering winter blues.
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We quickly fell into a routine of walking to my wife's work together each morning. Imagine that, walking to work through streets with such redolent names; Friedrichstrasse, Leipziger Strasse, Potsdamer Platz. I would then take the long way home exploring different routes; Zimmer Strasse past Checkpoint Charlie (where you can get a fake stamp in your passport at a fake border crossing and pose with young men in fake uniforms from 1969); Rudi Dutschke Strasse; Ebert Strasse past the sombre and moving Holocaust Memorial (Denkmal für die ermodeten Juden europas) or through the wonderful Tiergarten especially in April and May when the magnolias, bluebells, rhododendrons and azaleas create such a vibrant visual tonic. The perfect way to banish the lingering winter blues.
Late Spring sunsets can be spectacular
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As I walk around, marinading in the rich cultural sauce of modern Berlin, I have been musing to myself about why this place seems so significant to me. I grew up in South-East England in the 6os and 70s when Carnaby Street and The king's Road were setting the world of fashion alight. England won the Fifa world cup in 1966. Popular music for most of the 60s was dominated by The Beatles, Mersey Beat and The Stones. If there was ever a time when it was cool to be British, that was it surely? It never quite worked for me though. I was just a couple of years too young to join the "Flower-Power Generation". All I saw of the Anti-Vietnam War rallies was the nightly news broadcasts portraying these young protesters as anarchists and traitors. By the time I reached puberty the bubble had burst, the British economy was in tatters, we had the 4 day week, power cuts, strikes, run-away inflation and a visit from The IMF.
Although we all saw and heard JFK's famous "ich bin ein Berliner" speech, and The Airlift, there was very little interest shown in The British media towards Germany and its struggle for a new cultural identity. We did though hear about Bader-Meinhof and The Red Army Faction. I don't know how old I was when I first saw the iconic image of Uschi Obermaier gazing dreamily straight through me but it was love at first sight. I kept that poster on my wall at Medical School (only removing it when my GF came to stay). Through an obsession with this paragon of feminine beauty I found out about Kommune 1 and the Amon Düul musical commune in Munich. The German underground music scene was far more intellectually interesting than Britain's though it produced few commercial successes. That indeed was part of the attraction. To know something your schoolmates didn't. The musical backdrop to my struggle to establish my identity and explore sexuality was coincidentally suffused with Berlin's dark light. Via the influences of Lou Reed, David Bowie and Iggy Pop I was seduced into feeling that Neuköln was my neighbourhood and it was sexy.
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As I walk around, marinading in the rich cultural sauce of modern Berlin, I have been musing to myself about why this place seems so significant to me. I grew up in South-East England in the 6os and 70s when Carnaby Street and The king's Road were setting the world of fashion alight. England won the Fifa world cup in 1966. Popular music for most of the 60s was dominated by The Beatles, Mersey Beat and The Stones. If there was ever a time when it was cool to be British, that was it surely? It never quite worked for me though. I was just a couple of years too young to join the "Flower-Power Generation". All I saw of the Anti-Vietnam War rallies was the nightly news broadcasts portraying these young protesters as anarchists and traitors. By the time I reached puberty the bubble had burst, the British economy was in tatters, we had the 4 day week, power cuts, strikes, run-away inflation and a visit from The IMF.
Although we all saw and heard JFK's famous "ich bin ein Berliner" speech, and The Airlift, there was very little interest shown in The British media towards Germany and its struggle for a new cultural identity. We did though hear about Bader-Meinhof and The Red Army Faction. I don't know how old I was when I first saw the iconic image of Uschi Obermaier gazing dreamily straight through me but it was love at first sight. I kept that poster on my wall at Medical School (only removing it when my GF came to stay). Through an obsession with this paragon of feminine beauty I found out about Kommune 1 and the Amon Düul musical commune in Munich. The German underground music scene was far more intellectually interesting than Britain's though it produced few commercial successes. That indeed was part of the attraction. To know something your schoolmates didn't. The musical backdrop to my struggle to establish my identity and explore sexuality was coincidentally suffused with Berlin's dark light. Via the influences of Lou Reed, David Bowie and Iggy Pop I was seduced into feeling that Neuköln was my neighbourhood and it was sexy.