Central square…Berlin–

BAM!  It’s one of the main squares in Berlin: the Gendarmenmarkt…built in 1688, named after a regiment of soldiers that used to hang here, and reworked many times since its original construction because of wear-and-tear, war damage, and the whims of various leaders.

The Berlin Concert Hall is in the center of the square…concerts of all sorts happen here…big statue of the poet Friedrich Schiller out front–imposing, serious, spine-stiffening.

At both ends of this square are the French Dome and the German Dome…these names are relics from Frederick the Great who wanted to recognize French Huguenots and their battles back in France–the French Dome…and, of course, recognize the home team with the German Dome…both buildings are impressive from the outside and warming on the inside–perfect with the February wind blowing through me like an icy spike.

Most of the buildings in this square we badly damaged during World War II and have been fully refurbished. . .silly human race: we keep building things, knocking them down, then rebuilding them again.  Will it ever end?–naaah!

So, enjoy these beauties while you can. . .who knows when the next baloney will occur here, there, or anywhere?  No one…no one knows…so enjoy everything NOW!

It’s lovely out there.

Lights of Berlin–

At night Berlin puts on a bit of a show…various government buildings glow with lovely illumination…the Mall of Berlin is awash in glimmering, shimmering LEDs…and Potsdamer Platz is pulsating with offices alight and full of workers working away.

Then, BOOM, the skies part for just a moment at sunset…the sun breaks through and sends its light smashing into the sides of glass buildings…these sunbeams bounce around and create an eerie February glow that is accompanied by gales of wind and bursts of rain that send us all running for cover…we love the burst of light, but hate the blast of wind–“what the heck is going on here?” we all scream to ourselves!

Just another evening in Berlin–prost!

Come on over here and check this place out…Berlin is most-worthy of your attention, most-worthy, indeed.

It’s lovely out there.

Let me see your papers–

WOW!  A Hummer stretch limo sitting at the location of Checkpoint Charlie in 2020…how far we have come!…or how far we have to go–blaaaahh!

This was the main American access point from East Berlin to West Berlin and vice-versa for 28 years…and now it is a photo-op spot teeming with visitors, curiosity seekers, activists, limo riders, KFC eaters, etc. and so on.  So funny to be here now after all of the seriousness and the Cold War and the machinations and the wall building and the wall crumbling and the thinking that humans can be corralled and controlled and all that. . .and it all came tumbling down.  Now this spot is wide open, full of commerce, full of activity and full of life–jaaaa!

Walls…come…down. . .all of them do.  Don’t build them…they ultimately don’t provide the results folks are looking for.  Cooperation, talking and working together provide the results folks are looking for…it’s harder to do, but the solutions are longer lasting.

Silly-ass walls and checkpoints…hilarious.

This, of course, is a must-visit spot when in Berlin…Checkpoint Charlie is located at the corner of Friedrichstrasse and Zimmerstrasse in the Mitte section of town…just a ten-minute walk from Unter-den-Linden.  Get over here, check it out, snap some pix and muse at the silliness that is often referred to as human behavior.

We try hard to get things right, and sometimes we do after great folly. . .ah well, same as it ever was.

I send you fascinated vibes from the site of Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin…feel them…they are good reminders.

It’s lovely out there.

The grand boulevard of Berlin–

This is the grand boulevard that runs from the City Palace to the Brandenburg Gate here in Berlin.  It is named for the Linden trees that line the street and walkways…surely it is much more beautiful in spring and summer…but right now in February it is barren, blustery and unappetizing.

There are a lot of sights to see while walking along this baby…one of the most fun is the Russian Embassy–a gigantic chock-a-block building that was rebuilt after World War II when most of the this boulevard was in rubble…so imposing…so bulky…so what!

This is definitely a must-do thing when in Berlin, but right now it is so chilly out I am perfectly happy sipping on a coffee in the Einstein cafe located on the corner of Unter and Friedrichstrasse. . .mmmm, aaaahh…nice and cozy in here, great service, relaxed atmosphere–danke schoen, Einstein!

Get yourself walkin’ on the Unter den Linden whenever you visit Berlin…lots to see and feel–just be sure it is any month other than February–jaaaa!

It’s lovely out there.

Parliament/PM offices…Berlin–

BAM!  The Paul-Lobe-Haus is where all members of German parliament have their offices…sleek, modern, and much more inviting that the Reichstag building…looks like a lovely place to work.

And the Bundeskanzleramt is the German Prime Minister’s office and residence…Angela Merkel (the current prime minister) lives and works in this structure.  Also modern and sleek looking…not a bad place to work at all…close to the River Spree…close to the parliament offices. . .must be nice to stroll around here when it is warmer–quite imposing and blistering during this February wind that I am experiencing…brrrr!

Everything feels serious and structured and austere here…totally spot-on for my sense of the overall German vibe.  I strongly recommend a walk through these grounds whenever you visit Berlin…a good way to soak in German-ness while gazing at solid, modern architecture.

Ok, enough gazing…time for a beer–prost!

It’s lovely out there.

Reichstag/Bundestag…Berlin–

The famous Reichstag building of Berlin where in 1933 the powers-that-be voted to give Hitler full power over Germany…shortly thereafter site of the famous Reichstag fire that made the building uninhabitable–source of the fire still unsure…and today, after being totally refurbished in the early 1990s the place where Germany’s parliament meets and conducts business–the modern Bundestag, if you will.

Very imposing building…solid, substantial, imposing, not inviting at all, but full of activity and surrounded by tons of security.  The dedication on the front of the building says “To The German People”…yes, this place is still here and working to deliver the best government possible to them all…at least one can hope that is what they are doing.

We can all hope that all of our governments are working to deliver the best service to us all. . .meanwhile, keep on traveling and enjoying the passage of time. . .all of this, too, shall pass.

Time for a beer…prost!

It’s lovely out there.

Berlin heavy hitters–

BOOM!  You gotta visit the Holocaust Memorial, the Brandenburg Gate, and the Frank Gehry-designed meeting room when boppin’ around Berlin…you gotta…no excuses.

The Holocaust Memorial is located on Ebertstrasse as we walk from Potsdamer Platz toward the Brandenburg Gate…you can’t miss it.  Solemn, chilling, somber and angering all at the same time. . .it should never become a cliche to keep saying, “never forget, never again.”  Walk through here when you visit Berlin…pay your respects…then carry on and be a better human being in whatever way you can.

The Brandenburg Gate is magnificent.  Didn’t think that I would be impressed by it, but I am very impressed…a wonderful symbol of the German vibe–staunch, unyielding–for better or worse, austere, humorless yet ever-rising up toward to cloudy skies…unmoved by chilly winds…ready for more of whatever the universe throws at this place. Love it…may the Germans continue to strive to do good as time marches forward.

And in a bank lobby just to the left of the gate is a meeting room designed and decorated by Frank Gehry…pop on into the DZ Bank, ask politely if you can snap a photo or three of this thing, snap away, then move on. . .aaahh, wavy architecture makes everything better.

Berlin…so much to see…and soooo little time.  Jaa-vold!

It’s lovely out there.

Information board marks the spot–

KAPOWY!  This is where the infamous Fuhrerbunker used to be here in Berlin…right in this very spot marked by an information board that sits in front of a parking lot for an apartment complex.

It’s located at the corner of In den Ministergarten and Gertrud-Kolmar-Strasse…just about a ten-minute walk or so from Potsdamer Platz.

This is where Hitler conducted his operations during the late stages of World War II right up until the very end when Berlin was overrun by Russian and British and U.S. forces.

Once it was clear that the Germans were defeated, Hitler married his girlfriend, Eva Braun, here and then they both committed suicide.  A trusted aid, probably a dude called Martin Bormann, then burned the bodies of Hitler and his wife as his final escape of sorts.

Strange to stand here and imagine all of the kookiness that has happened on and around this spot…the vibes are surreal…at least I imagine them to be surreal while today folks are driving here and there going about their daily lives in and around this intense area.

The darkest stuff of humanity was directed from here…millions of lives affected…insanity rose and faded…and we continue on.  Insanity will rise and fade again, and humans will keep on keepin’ on. . .keep on keepin’ on.

I send you extremely fluctuating vibes from the site of the Fuhrerbunker in Berlin…feel them…and never forget them.

It’s lovely and mysterious out there.

Streetscapes…Berlin–

As we wander around the streets of Berlin we find more and more fun stuff to gaze at and contemplate…street art that makes us giggle and become solemn at the same time…sections of the old Berlin Wall scattered about to remind us that devastation can happen anytime, anywhere–watch out! these sections seem to say…’citybikes’ laying on the ground everywhere–“thanks for the help, government, but what else have you got for us?” these seem to say…and a wonderful mural on The 17 June Memorial that commemorates a labor uprising here back in the 1950s that was brutally crushed by the powers-that-be back then–‘we have risen on the backs of our bold ancestors, let’s never forget them’ this most-assuredly says.

Berlin is good for walking, finding surprises and reminders, and contemplating them. . .lots of heavy stuff has gone down here…gotta appreciate it and continue to have gratitude for all of the good that we have around us today, even though it is somewhat hard to see at the moment.

I send you ever-hopeful vibes from the streets of Berlin…feel them…they can help all of us to continue to move upward and onward.

It’s lovely out there.

World’s greatest orchestra…Berlin–

WOW!…WOWEEWOWOW!!  These guys are good…real good…let’s check ’em out.

Finally, I am seeing/hearing performances of the Berliner Philharmoniker here in Berlin, and it could not be more satisfying.

First, I pop over here to grab a ticket to a performance led by their new conductor, Kirill Petrenko, and I am told that the box office opens in one hour…in the meantime, I am told, I can feel free to hang in the lobby where the lead violin dude–aka, the concertmaster–and the lead violin dude from the Copenhagen Philharmoniker are heading a chamber group for a free lunchtime performance.  I hang out, and it is eight folks playing lovely pieces of music for hundreds of us in the lobby–wunderbar!

The lobby is spacious, soaring and quite good acoustically…we are all happy…very happy, indeed.

I grab my ticket for the next night and am good-to-go.

For my concert with the full orchestra–126 members strong–Petrenko leads them through pieces by Stravinsky, Zimmermann, and Rachmaninoff. . .all the pieces are lively, passionate, varied and well-played…extremely well-played–tight, crisp and heartfelt.  What a joy and honor to sit in the famous Berlin concert hall that is the home of what many consider to be the world’s greatest orchestra: the Berliner Philharmoniker.

This Petrenko dude has been the main conductor here only since August of 2019…folks are still checking him out.  In fact, a woman sitting near me said she bought a ticket in our section–first row on the stage right side of the orchestra–so she could “watch his face” as he conducted this performance.  She wants to see if he is really into it, and I gotta say, he seems quite into it to me…gazing heavenward during particularly lovely sections of these pieces, gesticulating crisply when necessary, and even leaning back on his podium safety rail during delightfully relaxed sections. . .he is quite into it, indeed, and fun to watch.  I am satisfied and so is my seat mate–bravo!

If you ever get the chance to attend a concert in this hall here in Berlin, then do it. . .it will rock your world in a magical way…mmmm, aaaahh!

The hall is located on Herbert von Karajan Strasse, of course it is, near the Potsdamer Platz. . .you can’t miss it.  Pop on in here and give it a look. . .you deserve the treats on offer in this wonderful space.

It’s lovely out there.