more great stuff

a shout-out to LA from the berlin zoo. that means, you guys over there are only about 6460 miles away from knut...







b-town:

ice cream at karademir. especially the sour cream-honey-sesame. lecker!

the in-LA-impossible-but-oh-so-encouraging sight of a rather mediocre-looking girl with a really good-looking boyfriend.

the public transportation is a dream. there's the subway, the street cars and the tram which is a cute small yellow train from the GDR era. and then there's the endless stream of double-decker busses. they truly never stop. (unless you're standing at the station at 1 am and hail corns as big as a small finger nail hit the ground to your left and right.) and then there's of course the soundtrack. it pretty much seems impossible to take the subway or else without being accompanied by the sound of a violin or accordion. it's all quite melancholy really.

it's flat, so it's great for riding bikes. though it's not so great for pedestrians that are run over by bikes.

being able to go grocery-shopping at supermarkets that i've been practically raised on. there's some sense of comfort in getting my food at lidl or kaufland again. i've been eating it through all of my childhood and teenage years, so i've established a level of trust in their products. which i will never have in campbell's soup or sara lee cake.

no smog.

there's knut, of course. enough has been said about him, but here's an update. he's still kinda fluffy though he weighs about 60 pounds by now. at least they estimate that as he apparently refuses to step on the scale. oh, those celebrities...

it's cheap.

beautiful churches. castles. buildings that are older than 100 years in general.

the libanese restaurant across the street from my apartment. not only is their food yummy, but actually they're originally from near my hometown. which begs the question if that makes me libanese?

the countless lakes and parks. the spree river with its many bridges. there are even real swans here. the only halfway living things floating on the LA river are probably people that have been killed and thrown in but aren't totally dead yet.

more ikea-stores than in LA.

the rich cultural life. the theaters. the museums (you know i do love them, just not their guards). the gorillas-improv group. the man that stands at the ku'damm street in front of the wertheim-department store and performs with a balcan-style violin player-puppet to the sounds of classical music. the boheme sauvage-20's parties. it's a good place for musicians. (apparently rufus wrainwright has found love here). the diverse bar and club scene. not having to go home at 2am.

surprisingly many great public pools and beach bars along the spree river. who needs the pacific?

karstadt department stores. to say it in the rather freely adapted words of truman capote:
when i get those horrible mean reds, the only thing that does any good is to jump onto the bus and go to karstadt. calms me down right away. the hustle and bustle and the commercial look of it, nothing very bad could ever happen to you there.