Destino: Berlino

Destino: Berlino

This has been an amazing weekend, not because I saw so much of Berlin, which I didn't, being on foot, alone, and extremely tired after spending the night in the Milan train station, then the next night at Watergate.

It was amazing because I gained perspective on both Florence and Indianapolis. I have new ideas. I have a new image of myself as an American and as a world citizen. And I have new earrings that suit me perfectly. Since I've just been traveling by myself so far, there is no one to take photos of me, and I think that I ought to have photos of myself from this trip. So I set up a little photo shoot on the train back from Milan; Liguria was blessed with sunshine and warm weather, and I soaked it up from inside the train, along with the view of the Italian countryside.


After I took this photo, the train from Milan to Florence got interesting - long story short, I ended up playing the part of tour guide and dinner companion in Florence for two Malasian sales reps for Guess eye wear who were on the same train as me from Milan when it broke down in Bologna ... mama mia, what MADNESS ensued in the Bologna train station! There couldn't have been a more perfect comparison of Italian and German societies within one day.

I have new goals after this weekend. The first is to live in Berlin. The second is to master two languages apart from my mother tongue. I'm halfway to Italian, and I've got a little German translation book to start. Saturday night, I ate dinner in a bar and flipped through magazines trying to pick up some words. It's similar to English, and it's similar to having a wad of gum in your mouth (at least it feels that way when I say the words to myself).

I've had a crush on Germany from afar for some time now; it's only been fostered by everything I've read and everyone I've talked to who has been. Berlin in particular was my dream dress in a shop window. I've admired the funky cut, but only this weekend did I try it on for the first time. It fit like a dream. It's a bit dreary in Berlin in March, but the graffiti and people and love for music stirred me in a way that Firenze has not. I can't imagine that many people my age go to Berlin and have a bad time. It seems to have responded to its dark past by radicalizing. It's spread out, full of funky people. It's the mecca for minimal techno. And I'll be going back in May with the Boy for a week, so I'll have time to explore its wonderful museums, history, and vastness.

The main differences I noticed:

• more casual clothing style, but people were still just as stylish.
  
• the bars were approachable by at least two sides, and they were a place for socializing and interacting with bartenders, as opposed to bars in Italy, which are generally against the wall and not a place to hang out (though I'm sure there are exceptions?)
  
• women and men are friends in Germany - hallelujah!
  
• the men were still forward in their advances, but they weren't aggressive or overly sexual like many Italian men I've encountered - it was more about playful eye contact than spouting ciao bellas left and right. No one grabbed my butt or my hips in the club.
  
• people have tiny dogs with sweaters in Italy; in Germany, they have real dogs that are born with enough fur
• everything makes sense - the architecture and space planning, the train schedules, the social interactions ...
  

... there are more things to write, but I've got to get to bed for painting class in 5.5 hours. I'm sorry my posts are less complete than usual; things are getting busier here since my eyes have been opened to just how short the semester is.

I promise photos this week!