ich bin ein berliner... sort of

yes, i'm finally in berlin. the capital. the birthplace of cabaret and burlesque. the king of undisclosed decadence. the giant wurst. to be perfectly honest with you i haven't done that much sightseeing wise, but i have wandered around a little. i've seen the reichstag from outside (haven't been inside yet, that's for another day, along with a couple of museums and galleries). i've seen a church that has been left as it stood at the end of the war. i've seen some hardcore goths (one resembled pinhead from hellraiser). and most importantly i have been to berghain/panorama bar and i loved it that much i bought a ticket to go back for new year's eve.

there are two things that i have been surprised at. there doesn't seem to be a skyline here. i've been to a couple of areas and i have yet to see a skyscraper in the distance. i don't know if there are any here, but i have been truly confused by this. don't all capitals, or at least major cities on an international level, have skyscrapers? the second thing is i haven't seen what can be called a city centre. melbourne has bourke st, new york has time square. the list in endless. so doesn't berlin have something similar? i'm not bitching by any stretch of the imagination, but i seriously expected a city centre. granted i saw the reichstag, but that could hardly be called a city centre.

but that all seems beside the point. i went to berghain! this place was insane. it's basically a club in an industrial area that is an old warehouse looking very hostel-esque that sits kinda by itself with a chainlink fence around the entrance. i have a photo of the outside on my phone but i have yet to put in on my computer, so i promise i'll add it later when i get home to heidelberg and back to my own computer. (i'm using a friend's mac at the moment so i wouldn't even know where to begin. oh pc how i miss you.) the reason i have a photo of the outside is because you are not allowed to take photos once inside. i thought this was a little odd until i went in. all i will say now is darkrooms for sex, small little 3-walled rooms facing away from the dance floor for what i assume is for taking drugs, as that's what most people did in them (pot is legal in berlin, and i have a sneaking suspicion that most things are here) and people just being decadent everywhere you look. apart from that, the foyer was filled with giant photographs of various fetishes, the mezzanine has a massive picture of what looks like the apocalypse, two gigantic rooms for dancing and barstaff that are from all walks of life. i swear to god i got served by a transexual at a small bar near the toilets. one word of warning, if you have to go to the toilet, try not to sit down. there is no lid bit for your bum and the weather being about -6 degrees makes the metal a tad cold on bare skin.

i'll post more later about the various things around, like the cafe that resembled hell (in a good way), the dali museum/exhibition, the cool as goth shop round the corner from where i'm staying and all the other sights and sounds. before i go i will let you all know that i'm trying to find a cabaret place and an S&M/fetish place to go to before i leave. i've already found the erotik museum...

till then...
merry christmas und tchuss mein gut freunds