Karneval der Kulturen

This last weekend was Pentecost, which meant yet another Feiertag (Monday), the third this month in Berlin. Apparently that is it until Christmas, but as May has been my first month here I have come to expect frequent free days as the norm. The big event of the weekend was the 'Karneval der Kulturen', a four day festival culminating in an enormous street parade starting at Hermannplatz and continuing down Hasenheide Straße. There is a fair amount of hype surrounding the event and it attracts a huge crowd. A lot of Berliners, however, hold the opinion that the Karneval has become a commercialised event that is more about celebrating consumerism than cultural diversity. This cynicism is typical of large events, partly, I think, because they tend to disrupt normal life. As a newcomer, I was less aware of the negative elements of the Karneval and approached the Sunday parade unaware of how it has deteriorated over time. For me it was a colourful and lively event, with a seemingly endless number of participants. There was a general air of enjoyment and appreciation at the effort gone into the floats. Some of the 'cultures' were questionable. I wasn't aware that vegetarianism, roller-blading-disco-hipppies, or electro swing were cultures, (though these were among my favourite floats). Berlin is not a homogenous city, it is populated by people from different cultural backgrounds who are keen to preserve their traditions and identity. Occasions such as this street festival might mask the many problems that come with a multicultural society but at least it is a celebration of difference rather than the usual lamentation.  

Spargel

It seems almost obligatory at this time of year in Berlin to buy some weiß Spargel (white asparagus). It is absolutely everywhere; in supermarkets, veggie stores, at specialist stands set up in the street, and at open air markets. I had always avoided white asparagus in Australia because I found the idea of it a little pointless. To keep the asparagus from turning green they cover the stalks to shield them from sunlight (I won't risk elaborating on the scientific aspect of this process). I just didn't think the novelty of it justified the price. Over here, I resisted for a couple of weeks but I just couldn't believe how much of it was around. As a newcomer I felt I really ought to experience something that a large chunk of the city seemed to be obsessed with. The lady in whose apartment I am living tells me its important to buy Spargel from Beelitz,  situated just outside Berlin (I hope I have remembered this correctly), as it is fresher. Often that on sale will be from Spain or further abroad and has suffered the consequences of travelling such a long way.

To prepare it you need to shave off a layer of skin using a vegetable peeler and snap off the woody end. The traditional cooking method (which I again learnt from my 'landlady') is to boil the skin shavings in a large pot and then use the cooking water (minus the shavings) to cook the asparagus. This apparently reduces the cooking time and helps lock in the flavour. Ideally the asparagus should be cooked in a tall pot, with their tips just above the water, but I don't think this is essential. Add some salt, sugar and lemon juice to the shavings water and cook the asparagus until tender. Serve with a béchamel sauce or simply with a little salt, pepper and butter. The asparagus does taste wonderful; clean, fresh and sweet (though you do get the occasional bitter one). The thick stalks have a lovely texture, much better than the stringy, thin stalks you often find in Sydney. The season is short, from April to the end of June, so it is important to eat as much of it as you can. I'm glad I can share in the excitement of Spargel, it makes me feel a little bit more a part of this city.

Double-take

Berlin isn't renowned for it's beauty. It is far more typically associated with alternative fashion, pulsating clubs, a thriving cultural scene and, of course, its tumultuous history. On exploring a few areas, however, I have found myself impressed by the facades of the apartment buildings which seem to dominate many parts of the city. I am drawn to their symmetry and order; lined up neatly down long streets they can sometimes look like cardboard cut-outs. In response to this structural similarity each apartment block seems to have made an effort to be distinctive, presumably attempting to distance the city from the grey uniformity of Soviet era concrete architecture. They vary in colour and decorative detail, some are are quite sparse others more elaborate. I have learnt that since the fall of the Berlin Wall the city has undergone an extensive facelift and many of the apartment buildings have been done up to look old. I did encounter this idea of revisiting or refreshing the past again on visiting the East Side Gallery and learning that the graffiti and paintings adorning the wall were quite recently re-painted by the artists. While the images are often striking, I feel that they have become almost meaningless due to their pervasiveness in popular culture. They seem to have been created to be photographed. Millions of people around the world must come away with exactly the same photographs. This seems somewhat ironic, since many of the artists sought to convey a subversive message and opposition to mainstream politics. Berlin, like any other city, is full of contradictions, and discovering them is part of the fascination of getting to know a new piece of the world.        

A selection of some of the facades I have come across.

My photography does not convey them particularly well.  

Striking but well past saturation point: 

Pictures from the East Side Gallery. 

Berlin: First Impressions

I survived my first week in Berlin. I was unsure of the particular effect that moving to a city on the other side of the world whose language I don't (yet) speak would have on me. Everything is so unfamiliar and every action exhausting, from finding my way around to ordering a coffee. Within a matter of moments I will feel the exhilaration of realising a long-held desire and then utter despair at the obstacles ahead of me. 

Here are some of my first impressions of the city:

Likes: 

•  The abundance of bakeries and the marvellous smells they produce. 
• Bikes, bikes and more bikes: coming from a city hostile to cycling, this amazes me. There is so much infrastructure for cyclists; bike lanes on roads and on footpaths, they even have their own traffic lights!
• Public transport: Wow. I'm already starting to get annoyed when i have to wait 3 minutes for a train or tram. 
• Casual dress code: No heels. Win. 
• Legal street drinking: Berliners seem to drink everywhere and at all times of the day, but I haven't seen to many of them drunk and disorderly. 
• In the same vein, the numerous 'Getrinkt Markts', where you can buy a cold beer for around 1 euro, use the conveniently located bottle opener affixed to the counter and enjoy it on the footpath. 
• The smell of my apartment building: Gummy bears. 
• The markets, the bars, the Bier. 
• The atmosphere at night: the youth take over, and the U-bahn really is busier at 2am than at 9am.

Naturally, there are a few dislikes:

• The ambulance/police sirens: the worst in the world. I'm sure they use the sound as a torture device.  
• Cold snaps: when i arrived it was 27*C, this weekend was 12*C. 
• Winter: minus 27*C???? Ausgeschlossen. 
• Learning another language: not so much a dislike, but it is hard, really hard and I am so impatient. You really feel like a stranger in a city where you cannot speak the language (even though most Berliners are able to speak excellent English). Street signs, train announcements, newspapers, background noises all leave me baffled and feeling a little alienated.