The train in Germany is a culture all to itself. Do not make eye contact, which you can’t do anyway because nobody is looking at you. Sit next to someone, and they’ll move to the edge of the seat to ensure they have created the maximum distance between the two of you. However, if you are a testosterone-driven creeper, you move for no one as you attempt to take up extra space. This last move is the young thug-wanna-be putting on the “I’m too cool for you” pose.
Earbuds were the perfect invention for Germans, allowing them to retreat into their own silence. Add the now ubiquitous phone in their clutch, and denying eye contact has been elevated to the level of not even needing to try.
Unless there are children on board, the train is quiet besides the sound of the steel wheels and the electric whir of the motors pushing the train forward. I believe the majority of the phones, including people’s phones on the streets, are set to vibrate mode as if to reduce the risk of disturbing others. Again, the young hooligan will act to negate this unwritten law, as his mission is to annoy people. And yes, I know that this polite phone etiquette contradicts what I recently wrote while on the train to Berlin.
If you are under 30, male, and traveling by bike, you are likely wearing Air Jordans in black, have straight-legged black jeans on, and a black baseball cap while your t-shirt is light and airy to make sure the sense of being careless is properly conveyed. To finish off the ensemble and ensure the uniform is complete, earbuds are de rigueur.
Most everyone is carrying a bag of some sort to move things around during the day or to pack up stuff they’ve shopped for. Very few people are carrying drinks. At first, I thought it was an aversion to throw-away single-use containers, but there are no thermoses or plastic cups either. The occasional gruff old dude or some young one on his way to being a gruff old dude will have a bottle of beer with them, but that’s relatively rare. There is an exception to this rule on Friday and Saturday nights when it seems like everyone is drinking on the trains while en route to a party.
I don’t wait for more than about 6 minutes for a train, often only 2 or 3 minutes. This morning’s journey takes me across Berlin using two trains, requiring a little more than an hour to travel from Schöneweide station to Südkreuz, where I’m transferring to Pankow.
I have no great reason for this as my destination, other than it’s a place to explore away from Mitte. The idea is to walk the 8km back to the city center on a slow route, allowing me to take in the suburbs. I’d originally had a reservation to visit the Bundestag today; I’ll save that for a visit with Caroline in the future.
By the time we pull into Humboldt station, only a few people remain on the train, it makes sense as most people are heading into town for work instead of going off to the burbs for some wandering around.
The first time I explored my environs around Germany, I knew nothing of the language, food, or things to look for. Landing in Pankow, I asked the first person I could where the Hauptstrasse was, and she asked me back in German what exactly I was looking for. I told her it didn’t matter, that I wanted to walk around the main shopping area or anywhere else of interest. With the info she shared, I was soon headed in the general direction when a place offering coffee and Frühstück (breakfast) appeared.
Sitting in this cafe while enjoying my breakfast, I reconsidered my options yet again and felt that the 8km walk wasn’t challenging enough, so I decided to detour to Charlottenburg. By the way, the two eggs, salami, and pickle served on an open-face slice of course rye with coffee and a bottle of sparkling water was only €5,50 or $6.
A note about the cafe I’m in: there’s a diversity of products here, from baked sweets to more than a dozen types of bread and rolls. There are sandwiches, salads, some hot dishes, yogurt mixes, coffee drinks, and various cold bottled drinks. It’s simply your average everyday quick-stop cafe that dots the German landscape. There is no drive-thru; there never is.
Thirty-five years ago, I was enchanted with posters and flyers being plastered everywhere here in Germany as a means to share cultural events that were coming up on the calendar. Then, after getting used to them, I took them for granted. These last couple of visits have struck me how vibrant the live entertainment scene is for Europeans. You may not be able to make out what these posters are advertising, so I’ll share Bach Fest, a didgeridoo, accordion, and jaw harp jam session, an Art & Design Market, and a piano concert with Martin Herzberg. On other postings, I’ve seen announcements for Vivaldi, more Bach, some reggae, DJs, and as you can see on the top post, Lollapalooza Berlin is happening in September.
Parking is the nemesis of almost everyone who lives in Germany’s big cities. It’s a major contributing factor to why so many take public transportation or use bicycles. On spring days, things look idyllic, but on wet, snowy days, German cities can be grim, depressing places where life can feel like a slog.
The Fahrradklingel a.k.a. the bicycle bell. When the sound of one goes off right behind you, it can make you leap gazelle-like, bounding out of the way of the angry cyclist. Normally, though, it’s just a beautifully pleasant sound letting you know that you are sharing pathways with a culture that cherishes their ability to navigate cities on a bike. When I walk around European cities, I’m hard-pressed not to press the lever of bells on parked bikes so I can hear the Klingel while delighting in it.
The kind of shop that sells cigarettes, papers, drinks, lighters, knives, lottery tickets, tobacco, newspapers, magazines, a model car, or some trinkets along with some alcohol. They seem to have pretty much about 90% of what a neighborhood needs aside from hot pizza and fresh strawberries.
A gaggle of brightly colored children going on a field trip, probably to check out adult clothes stores to get them ready for their black and gray wardrobe when they grow up. Why do Germans insist on wearing depressingly dark clothes all the time when as kids, they are allowed to demonstrate some individuality? Not to say that some tight black latex pants don’t normally look great on anyone who wears them; male or female.
Note – I just remembered Edith Massey as Aunt Ida in the John Waters film Female Trouble, and I think I have to make an exception as to who looks great in latex.
Street trains are not as ubiquitous in Berlin as they are in Frankfurt; maybe my wife can help explain this.
More graffiti because a look at Berlin without it would be a lie.
This picture? Well, it’s only here as a nod to Scott Jaeger of Industrial Music Electronics. It’s the Berlin offices of Bayer.
It’s noon; time for a break. There’s a bench here next to the Nordhafen waterway, which right now looks like the perfect opportunity to pause. My walk has covered nearly five miles that have taken me out of a mainly white German neighborhood through an ethnically mixed community and into an industrial zone. Ever-present throughout these changes have been the songbirds who sound especially joyous while celebrating this warm, breezy day.
It’s nice to just sit here in the sun with my sweater off. The water glistens as the wind glides over its surface creating disturbances and undulations that grasp the sunrays to shoot them over to me as sparkles. Occasionally, ducks peel off and swoop around the lake. Other water-loving birds hover overhead, likely looking to snatch an unsuspecting morsel out of the water before moving on. The guy who had been fishing has since left, as has the person who sat here at the opposite end of the bench and smoked a cigarette. An emergency vehicle darts by with its siren blaring, cutting through my hypnotized state with its characteristic “Tatue Tata” sound. Think I’ll get moving again now that my feet have cooled off.
For nearly 800 years, Berlin has been in a cycle of growth, building, destruction, and new construction. Following the fall of the wall and reunification, Germany has been on a tangent to absorb the former East and integrate its population into a modern, thriving economy. Cranes have never left the skyline of Berlin since the rebuilding of the city following VE Day back on May 8th, 1945. Victory over Europe notes the day Germany unconditionally surrendered 74 years ago today. Like Frankfurt, Dresden, Hamburg, and Kassel, the city of Berlin was heavily damaged by prolonged bombing campaigns by the Allies. Evidence of those bombing raids is still evident when old munitions are found buried underground and might still be explosive.
To the left of the current train tracks is a massive construction site with new rail lines being brought into the city. The project extends for hundreds of meters where it appears there will be further building once the overhead train lines are finished being built. From renovating apartment buildings to digging up streets for laying new infrastructure, Berlin is constantly busy trying to meet the needs of a modernizing metropolis.
I will become one with döner while in Berlin. They are everywhere until you are hungry, and then it seems they are hard to find. Harder to find is McDonald’s, which doesn’t bother me in the least. Speaking of burgers, there is a trend here in Berlin right now – apparently, the thing to do is to open an American-style gourmet burger joint. I wonder when the burrito will gain a foothold. Hmmm, the döner-burrito?
Had to think about Kenny Lorenz over at HEK Yeah BBQ in Phoenix upon seeing this guy who even reminded me a bit of Kenny. A portable smoker the guy is dragging around to markets where he’s selling smoked fish has me thinking of a new line in marketing smoked meats in the Phoenix, Arizona, area. Hint hint.
When people think of Berlin, I’d bet a dollar they don’t think about the many canals that run through the city. I’m not sure the river Spree feeds them all, but as I walk across town I’m impressed by just how much water courses through Germany’s capital. Strange that I’ve not seen a single kayaker or private craft on the waterways. In the city center, there are plenty of sightseeing boats offering simple tours and evening wine and food tours, though I can’t say I’m really interested in that spectacle of bland consumerism.
This has been a seriously long walk to get to the palace in Charlottenburg from Pankow
Out of the bustle of the city and away from its traffic, I started to walk along one of the canals on my way to Tiergarten. At this point, I’ve walked over 10 miles or 16km, and my feet are feeling it, but I still have another 4 miles (7km) to go before I reach the train station I have in my mind for the goal of my long walk across Berlin today.
Maybe because it’s Tuesday, but the park is not crowded. I expected throngs of people here, but instead, I found an oasis of tranquility amidst the bustle of Berlin.
Would you believe that I did not encounter a single mosquito?
Just as graffiti, posters, and flyers are plastered on larger flat surfaces across Berlin, stickers are slapped on everything else. Knowing my wife, the pink sticker will elicit a giggle from her.
Stolpersteine are stumbling stones that effectively note on sidewalks where Jewish residents were pulled from their homes and either executed on the spot or were taken away to death camps. Until today I thought this project was only going on in Frankfurt, turns out that there are over 70,000 of these installed across parts of Europe, making it the largest decentralized memorials on Earth. It seems like this is a good point to stop my trek through the capital today and give my feet a break.