Berlin 2022

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Traveler Berlin 2022
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- Jun 15, 2022
- ⛅ 21 °C
- Altitude: 37 m
- Germany Berlin Berlin Treptow 52.4859, 13.442652°29’9” N 13°26’33” E
Day 1
We made it to Berlin!
June 15, 2022 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
We had spent the last days before moving here to Berlin packing stuff, cleaning the house, finishing work, and preparing the house for the people who would sublet our apartment in Cambridge. At times it felt we would never been able to finish and the day of our departure would arrive with nothing ready. At times, it felt like this day would never arrive. But it did.

The flight was a pain and it felt endless, but the city was bright and gorgeous when we arrived. Our first apartment is in the Western part of Kreuzberg, just north of Viktoriapark. We need to explore that park more. The neighborhood is so pretty. It's very lively, full of coffee shops, little stores and cafes, but also very green and covered with trees.

We spent the first day exploring the area. It's fun to think that we'll live here for the next few weeks. I need to make a list of everything I want to do but it's too overwhelming to think about it right now.

One nice detail, though: there seems to be tons of stationary stores around. I love those.Read more
Traveler It sounds delightful! I can't wait to hear/see more...
6/17/22Reply
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Traveler Berlin 2022
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- Jun 18, 2022, 1:00pm
- ☀️ 31 °C
- Altitude: 33 m
- Germany Berlin Potsdamer Platz 52.506627, 13.38194652°30’24” N 13°22’55” E
Day 4
Gropius Bau
June 18, 2022 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
Berlin is going through a heat wave. It's not the worst I have experienced, and staying in the shade is still quite nice, but we decided to escape the heat by going to a museum.

Gropius Bau was wonderful. I enjoyed the exhibition by Indian photographer Dayanita Singh. Her little "museums" collections of photos in small folding books format are beautiful and intriguing. I loved her pictures of busy, messy file rooms and the series 'Time measures', featuring bundles of documents that she found in an archive in India wrapped in pieces of red-colored, faded fabric, almost bloody looking, that look the same but unique at the same time. The building was also featuring a piece by Emeka Ogboh, 'Ámà: The Gathering Place', a massive colorful tree sculpture with sonic elements and beautiful seats covered in Akwétè cloths, which are hand-woven textile produced in Igboland, Nigeria.

But the building! The building itself is gorgeous! It was designed by architect Water Martin Gropius (a great uncle of Walter Gropius) and Heino Schmieden. It was severely damaged at the end of World War II and reopened in 1981 after some reconstruction work. Further renovation took place in 1999, and it's beautiful! Some parts show the previous state and the new one, and the space has detailed mosaics and decorations.

Here is a fascinating fact: until reunification, the building stood on the border between East and West Berlin, literally next to the wall. This spectacular renaissance-style building was so close to it that the main entrance on Niederkirchnerstraße had to be moved to a side because the original faced that stupid, horrifying separation. Just another one of those details around Berlin that remind you of its bizarre, cruel history.Read more
Traveler Very interesting story about the building, Marta... and the art displays. It sounds very unique! When I googled it to see some photos, google told me I should also attend Einstein on the Beach, which apparently is not on the beach but on the stage! It seems like there is much to discover in Berlin!
6/20/22Reply
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Traveler Berlin 2022
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- Sep 20, 2022, 7:30pm
- ⛅ 12 °C
- Altitude: 64 m
- Germany Berlin Alexanderplatz 52.525898, 13.41143652°31’33” N 13°24’41” E
Day 98
Metropolis at Kino Babylon
September 20, 2022 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
I had been meaning to watch Metropolis since I went to the Deutsche Kinemathek museum, so I got pretty excited to see it playing at the Babylon theater. Not that it's a rare occurrence, but it was one I wasn't aware of.

This was also an excellent opportunity to check out yet another cool movie theater in the city. The building that hosts Kino Babylon was erected in 1929. In 1948, under the German Democratic Republic, the theatre was renovated and screened films from the State Film Archive of the GDR, state film and television, and documentary films made by the state-owned DEFA studio, among other films.

Years after reunification, in 1999, the theater was restored again because of the danger of collapse. The restoration was awarded the "German Award for Monument Protection". The orchestra pit was restored so that a chamber orchestra could play live music during screenings of silent films. In 1999, the 70-year-old cinema organ was restored, becoming the only cinema organ in Germany that is still played in its original location.

Since then, the Babylon theater has been used primarily as an arthouse cinema venue, and it hosts festivals and events. For example, it was a Berlin International Film Festival venue from 2008 to 2010. It has its own orchestra, which allows them to show silent movies with live music, which is what we saw in the Metropolis screening.

I enjoyed the movie a lot, and certainly more than what I was expecting from an old silent movie!Read more
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Traveler Berlin 2022
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- Sep 25, 2022, 6:00pm
- ⛅ 17 °C
- Altitude: 62 m
- Germany Berlin Mitte Hackescher Markt 52.524042, 13.40208352°31’27” N 13°24’7” E
Day 103
Acrobatics at the Chamäleon
September 25, 2022 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
I had been meaning to go see the show at the Chamäleon theater for a while and my friend Fernando's visit was the perfect opportunity for it. And what a wonderful show! The company Gravity & Other Myths offers a combination of music, dance, theater and acrobatics in a super fun, playful, and engaging performance, called "The Mirror." The artists were impressive and the set, with live phone cameras and LED lights, was very creative and innovative. The three of us loved it.

They'll play another production in November, "Out of Chaos", and now I'm very tempted to go see it as well.

We went to an Italian restaurant nearby for dinner, Pizzeria Garda, that was full of people who had run the Berlin marathon that morning and, in some cases, were still wearing the medals.Read more
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We made it to Berlin!

Gropius Bau

Metropolis at Kino Babylon

Acrobatics at the Chamäleon