I arrived on time this morning, but my luggage did not. I reported it at lost and found at TXL, the Berlin airport. I was intending to take Uber or a taxi to my new digs even though my airbnb hostess Gritta had given me meticulous instructions on how to get t0 Belforte Str. 20 with public transportation. I called her and she challenged me to take the public transportation. Since I only had a backpack and no luggage I accepted the challenge. The acceptance was reluctant. The feeling of accomplishment of getting there, even though I had several communications with her and inquires of others was pretty good. It took about an hour. I got on a TXL bus, but not the right one. Although it headed in the right direction, It didn’t go as far as the as the one I was supposed to take (and then take a train). I took the M10 train to Alexanderplatz then the M2 but in the wrong direction and then finally in the right direction and a short walk to the building. The building is relatively modern amidst older structures. I followed someone inside the door and called Gritta and met her on the 6th floor, apartment 6/8. The apartment is nice with a terrace overlooking other buildings. It is spare but appears to be completely adequate. Gritta gave me pointers on the apartment and the Prenzlauer District (there is no central district she repeated. Berlin was once 24 small towns and now is comprised of districts.). She has that national characteristic of being insistent about things she thinks she is sure of. Her apartment has been with airbnb since 2008. She’s married, slim, athletic, attractive, helpful in an efficient but not particularly effusive way – other than a breakfast place she insists I try – Bar Gargarin (like the Cosmonaut). She does temp work and acts as an agent for others renting apartments (that is she competes with airbnb). After she left I sort of settled in, took a nap, showered and went to Netto’s, then back and felt the need for a coffee to keep me going until night time to get adjusted to the time change.
Hilde’s on Prenzlauer Allee at Metzer is a block from the apartment. It is a small, relaxed coffee bar with free wi-fi, something very important until I figured out how to use the hot spot device I purchased at IAH when I adverted to the fact there is no wi-fi in the apartment. Had I known just six hours sooner I could have gotten a device from Verizon that cost less to buy and use than the one I did buy but being able to use wi-fi for phone and texting should more than make up for the data charges I would I have been to the small grocery store Netto, next to the apartment. Netto has more versions of wurst than it has versions of soft drinks, shampoo but no conditioner, lots of things there with which I’m not familiar and things not there to which I’m used to being able to buy.
If my luggage doesn’t arrive on time, I’ll have to buy clothes for the party at the embassy tomorrow night, not to mention underwear. I think I can do without my meds.
This evening I walked to Alexanderplatz, the site of the giant television tower that is a landmark for one having an idea of where one is at in Prenzlauer Berg. I got a converter plug in case the luggage doesn’t arrive timely so all my electronic devices can stay juiced. I have spent an inordinate amount of time and angst on electronic communication. It’s most important purpose is for me to know where I am and where I’m going and to communicate by phone, text and email but of course I use it for other purposes such as this entry.
I wasn’t hungry for dinner, I wanted to go to a roof top bar named Izaio that offers, I was told by a woman walking a sweet Dalmation, a wonderful view of eastern Berlin but they were closed for a private party. I asked the bouncer who prevented my entering where to go for live music. He said Kaffee Burger, which serves alcohol and music but neither coffee nor burger. I was walking on Torstrasse which apparently is where the live music scene is that is close to where I’m staying. A woman was putting up small posters on lamp posts and traffic signals. I looked at the poster and it was promoting a Sound Design, a band playing at, where else, Kaffee Burger. There weren’t many people when I arrived at about 9:15 but the place was totally full by the time the band was ready to start, about ten. The band featuring an electric violinist who wore a tee with a six pointed star on it and a mandolin player, two guitars and a timpanist who played an outsized instrument that looked like a giant tambourine. They played what the violinist described as Oriental music (his accent was Russian but it seems to me that is a term Israelis use) but I would call Middle Eastern music, a fusion of Turkish, Iranian, Syrian, Egyptian, etc. music that sounded pretty good, sometimes with a bit of an Irish jig to it. I’ll post a short video to get the flavor if I can figure out how to do that. I left after the first set so I missed the singer and music which the violinist said would get the crowd dancing. I should be tired from the 7 hour extension of the day, but I’m not.
My phone showed I walked 5+ miles.
This small part of the Prenzlauer Berg district I’ve invaded so far seems old and new, more young people than old and also vibrant. Other than Alexanderplatz, part of Stalin’s vision of the GDR, I haven’t hit any of the tourist spots yet, but I’m sure I will. Lots of people on bicycles. The people seem nice and friendly and the streets, day and night, safe. So far most of the people I’ve spoken to are friendly and have a good enough command of English to compensate for my nearly non-existent German. One person to whom I spoke, the promoter of the band I saw, asked if I was from Australian. Since her English was without any discernible accent, So far my Yiddish hasn’t really helped. I cannot yet make JFK’s claim: Ich bin ein Berliner, but nothing so far has made me think I should have chosen somewhere else.
For those of you who read these posts, I’m not intending to do one every day but the first day with its angst and everything being new was something I put down.
Marc's Berlin Diaries 