As I drove down the autobahn in Germany I kept seeing cars passing me pulling tiny ‘bubble campers’. Many of them were old little caravans that were only big enough for a bed. I thought about the tiny house movement and mused to myself wondering what it would be like to actually camp in one…
The warehouse is chilly, dimly lit, and smells of paint. Curtis is dressed in black from head to toe and gives me the go-ahead nod. I look at all the cans in front of me, pick up the pink one, shake it, and push the top gently; my first attempt at graffiti is exhilarating and…
I walk down the stairs and hear the familiar sound of the Berlin Ubahn arriving on the tracks below – I instinctively pick up my pace and start to race down the stairs, around the corner, down a final set of stairs, and slip into the Ubahn before the doors slide shut! It’s days like…
One of the best things about Berlin is the vast amount of ethnic food choices you have in the city. However – what about the German food – where is it hiding? I’m happy to tell you that I found it – Sauerbraten and spätzle! I was so happy I felt like polka dancing –…
As the 4 of us walked through the neighborhood streets of Prenzlauerberg and Mitte in Berlin, chatting excitedly about restaurants, dating, and life in Berlin, I felt a little Sex in the City nostalgia coming on. It had been a while since I had this feeling in my travels – it was comfortable – I…
You don’t have to walk more than a few blocks in Berlin, and you will find graffiti. This form of art has me confused – I’m not really sure how I feel about it. Most of the time, I’m annoyed that the brilliant European cities that I love are covered in graffiti, which actually enrages…
Prior to 1989, Berlin was the modern-day Tale of Two Cities – one city of inclusion and groups and one city of decentralization and individuality. The two sides, East and West Germany, had completely different ideologies, which presented themselves in architecture, city planning, everyday life, and, of course, politics. It was the history of the…
Cemeteries tell a story, and the Weissensee Cemetery in Berlin is a giant historical war novel. However the story is not necessarily about what’s in the novel, it’s about what is missing from the novel. Weissensee is one of the largest Jewish cemeteries in the world and is the resting place for 115,000 Jews who…
Put the words German and Food together and you think about hearty, heavy food – with visions of sausages, sauerkraut, potato dumplings, spaetzle, and cabbage dancing in your head – and sitting heavily in your stomach. Being my first trip to Germany this is exactly what I was expecting, however my first night in Berlin…
Politics are normally conducted behind closed doors – seedy deals, negotiations, handshakes, promises, and sometimes even sexual favors (aka – the blue dress). But in Berlin, a city with a dramatic political past, politics are transparent. Politics The Reichstag building was part of that dramatic past and paid the price in many ways including burning…