Berlin: Tacheles through Today

We went to Tacheles right after I posted that last blog.  It’s that artist community I told you about?  I did tell you about it, right?

Oh well, if not, I’ll cover it later.  Anyway, the first place we stopped at supposedly smelled like weed (you know me, I’m bad with smells) and the guy running the shop was missing a lot of teeth.  He was selling what looked like graffiti but it was on bags and shirts and canvases and stuff, so I guess it wasn’t really graffiti.  He said in the back (it looked like a really run down, dirty room with tan bean bag chairs or something) they had free art lessons because, like one of the shirts said “free education for everyone.”

Then we went inside a gate, with all kinds of workshops.  We saw a guy who sold jewelry made from silverware (it was some badass crap right there, lemme tell you), someone who did metal work, someone who, like me, loved bunny rabbits (I almost bought a standing hare with a cigarette in its mouth) and various other types of artists.  Then we went up flight after flight of stairs, which were covered–no, LAYERED in graffiti and posters.  I ran into some Hispanic artists…twice actually…I bought a necklace from the Peruvian one.  Dr. Ute said he gave it to me for less than what it was worth because I spoke Spanish and was a girl.  He had never dropped the price, I told her, but she said there was no way it was only worth as much as I paid for it.

Anyway, after that we ate at a Cuban restaurant.  Dr. Z forgot he was in Germany, and at one point, he questioned the waitress who said the beer was a real Cuban beer.  He figured it out later.

Yesterday was…hm…I dunno…kind of a bummer in some ways, kind of awesome in others.

First of all, did I mention they put a boy in our room? His name was…I’m not sure how you spell it…Ekain.  He was from the Northern part of Spain.

So yeah, that was just a random fact.  Anyway, yesterday we went to a museum and a gallery.  That part was awesome.  The museum we went to is the Pergamon Museum–it’s really famous and has the Babylonian Gates of Ishtar (awwwwwwwwwwwesommmmmmmme!!!).

Anyway, afterward we went to a gallery where I thought I was going to pee. in. my. pants.  I’m uploading the pictures as we speak.  Unfortunately, they don’t do it justice.  Afterward we started walking back home, and on the way, we stopped in shoe heaven.  It was store filled from top to bottom with shoes, shoes, and more shoes.  They were vintage, too, and super awesome.  I didn’t get any though.  The ones I tried were pricy and didn’t fit comfortably.

Unlike the day, the night pretty much sucked.  It’s a long story, though, and it makes me feel a bit like an ingrate, so I’ll leave it out.  The only good thing that came out of that was that I got to call Mike (hi Mike! I love you!).

This morning we were supposed to go the Frida Kahlo museum, then to the Kaethe Kollwitz museum.  Well, we got to the Frida Kahlo museum and Dr. Ute took one look at the line and went “Oh shit.”  The line was ridiculous.  It would’ve been at least a 2-hour wait.

So we decided to go down a few blocks to the Salvador Dali exhibition.  I was so excited, I was tingling.  But then we got there and they said it would be 9 Euros per person (that was the student discount) and the only thing to see would be a few drawings, a video, and some cultures.  F that S, we went to the Kaethe Kollwitz museum instead.

It was really touching.  Strangely enough, the most haunting part about it were the self portraits.  Kollwitz was just staring at you with tired eyes, like “What the hell are YOU doing to make the world a better place? There are starving children out there and YOU NEVER FINISH YOUR FOOD.”

What? We each have our vices.  That’s not really mine, but it still happens….

So yeah, after that we shopped, met at this famous church, saw some awesome break dancers, and shopped some more.  I got tired around dinner and decided to turn in early, but since I was the only one, it gave me a chance to get to know the NEW roommate (Ekain left, so we got another) Pablo.  (Mike, guess what? He’s from Santiago!)

Then I slept, and now I’m blogging, and in about 3 minutes I’m heading downstairs to go out with Lindsey and some British folks.  She just couldn’t find some Germans could she?  Now I’ma be speaking English all night.