pal29's TravelStream™ — Recent TravelPod.com entries TravelStream™ news feed for member pal29 on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/pal29 en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Mon, 22 Dec 2008 00:01:11 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com Sick.... — Berlin, Germany http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pal29/4/1229662620/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pal29/4/1229662620/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pal29/4/1229662620/tpod.html Mon, 22 Dec 2008 00:01:11 -0500 Babes in Berlin!!!
Berlin, Germany

Getting sick... confined to the flat listening to German radio and watching German soap operas. Catching up on the news.... got to hand it to Bush's agility in ducking the shoes. Just down the street, people are tossing their shoes on a large tree in solidarity for the journalist.
]]> Chillin Out — Berlin, Germany http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pal29/4/1229575140/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pal29/4/1229575140/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pal29/4/1229575140/tpod.html Sun, 21 Dec 2008 23:52:57 -0500 Babes in Berlin!!!
Berlin, Germany

It's only getting colder in Berlin but the gluwein keeps getting warmer! Did some good shopping in a popular spot in town. My days are numbered here sadly but I really want to come back and visit during the spring or summer. I really had no idea Germans took Christmas this seriously! It's all coming to me at once... the nutcracker, roasted chestnuts, mulled wine, tree ornaments, those candle-twirling nativity scenes, tannenbaums... it all originated here! Gotta hand it to the Germans who know how to put on a good global holiday and engineer fine cars!

I ran into one of my favorite German cars.. the Audi S8... the only car that can bend my eyes slightly off the Mercedes S-Class! The "S" in both of these stands for "Sonderklasse".. or special class...special for me I wish! Until then, I'll stick to the bahn where I can always find a hot pink phone when I really need one.
]]> Berlin Canine-mania — Berlin, Germany http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pal29/4/1229557620/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pal29/4/1229557620/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pal29/4/1229557620/tpod.html Fri, 19 Dec 2008 18:53:10 -0500 Babes in Berlin!!!
Berlin, Germany

I really amazed at the number of happy dogs I see all over Berlin. Seems almost every where I turn I see tails wagging with their owners. Even the homeless have good looking happy dogs. Halah had a dog until recently he was sent to her brother's place since he can't get up her flights of stairs anymore. Ah yes, everyday in and out of Halah's flat means going up and down five flights of strairs and it is doing wonders on my quads!

I learned the the German government provides 20 Euros a month to the homeless to take care of their dogs. Apparently this program is more efficient than to round up all the dogs in a pound. I think it's a good program that works as I would be the first to be really upset to see mistreated or neglected dogs. Berlin gets an A++ in my book on this one.

I do miss my Pasha bear :(
]]> "Ich hab noch einen Koffer in Berlin" — Berlin, Germany http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pal29/4/1229350560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pal29/4/1229350560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pal29/4/1229350560/tpod.html Mon, 15 Dec 2008 09:30:11 -0500 Babes in Berlin!!!
Berlin, Germany

Halah had to work today and Louise is "knackered" (I love her Scottish lingo!), so I ventured on my own through Berlin and met up with some travelpodders that were also in the area at a nearby cafe in Kruezberg. No Americans, mostly travelers from Slavic countries and some from Australia. Berlin is always buzzing with political views, which I makes me feel right at home with my personality!

It is said that Berlin has more bridges than Venice. At first I thought this was bull... I've been to Venice and there are bridges every where you turn, but now having been around Berlin, the River Spree winds around everywhere throughout Berlin. In fact, just like Babylon with the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the original inhabitants of the Berlin area were settlers around the rivers Spree and Havell eventually forming a city called Berlin the in mid 13th century. Berlin has a rich and long history of violence, varied rulers, and tragedies. From the plague that killed thousands, to Roman and Slavic empires, the 30 Years War, Prussian War, radical revolutions, communism,the Race for Berlin, and of course Hilter and his atrocities. It never ceases to amaze me from every country I visit how quickly some of them can bounce back from such devastating circumstances.... Berlin is definitely one of them. Whatever the circumstances that created the post-Cold War Berlin, to me, more than most other capital cities, Berlin is a place led by bohemian values and is saturated with all forms of art.

It seems that Germany's liberal government constitution from before Hitler that nutured an artistic and electic culture re-emerged after the wall came down. The downside is neither then nor today can this style guarantee a stable economy. In the 1920s, the government began printing enormous amounts of currency to make WWI treaty payments; which caused massive inflation destroying the middle-class. US loans helped keep the economy afloat until Hitler took over in the 30s.

Today, Chancellor Merkel is really taking a dangerous platform with Germans by not engaging with the EU in government cash infusion. She believes Germany's economy can weather the economic storm. I really think she's got this wrong and will eventually have to chage her stance. It doesn't take an economist to figure it out... just take a stroll through Berlin, see the people, the businesses, the clothes, declining spending, the attitudes, etc.... you can tell. She is taking Germany down a dangerous road and acting alone from the EU, Germany stands likely to rack up loads of debt without creating much in the way of an increase in employment.

After we all got the global political issues out of our system, some of us headed off on a photo hunt of Berlin's best sites. I think I captured a few good ones.
]]> Havana Nights in West Berlin — Berlin, Germany http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pal29/4/1229296260/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pal29/4/1229296260/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pal29/4/1229296260/tpod.html Sun, 14 Dec 2008 18:26:30 -0500 Babes in Berlin!!!
Berlin, Germany

Halah, Azideen, and I met up with some other friends in West Berlin's Havana Club in Schoenberg. This nightclub has four stories with each one offering a different style. The first floor was 100% Cuban with Cuban music and instructors to get the mood going. Several guys were really looking the part by wearing the nostalgic Cuban attire even the white shoes. The second floor was Spanish salsa and Calypso dancing. The third was 80s music, and the fourth floor was Euro top 40s music. We were sure to not discriminate and spend time on every floor! The type of people in the Havana Club ranged from young teen-agers to people well into their senior years and all different races, locals and foreigners, and straights and gays alike. I loved the diversity of the joint... a place where everyone fits in. In a place like this, there is never a dull moment!
]]> Touring Around Local Style — Berlin, Germany http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pal29/4/1229276580/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pal29/4/1229276580/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pal29/4/1229276580/tpod.html Sun, 14 Dec 2008 13:33:53 -0500 Babes in Berlin!!!
Berlin, Germany

Today we got off to a slow start after what Louise would say was, "a heavy night". Halah said a great way to get a
tour of the town was to catch a particular double-deck bus and take it from start to finish and that it would only cost 2.5 Euro. So we did just that, caught the 100 bus at the Berlin Zoo stop and took it to the end in Alexanderplatz which lasted baout 30 minutes. We drove by the German president's house, the victory statue, through Tiegerpark, and the government building "reich strag". It was a great ride and it seems we were on the same route as the Berlin City Tour buses that charge 12 Euros... the benefits of knowing a local has indeed paid off!

At Alexanderplatz we went into the X-mas carnival and warmed up again with Gluhwein (mulled wine) but since it was a bit more chilly than last time, we added a shots of Amaretto... and had two servings. Louise was dying to try some original Bratwurst and I got a special dish with mushrooms in a delicious garlic sauce. The carnival had a lot more shops and gets really crowded as Christmas nears. I did some good Christmas shopping and got some original German made items for some family and friends.

It gets dark by 4pm in Berlin and the sun is rarely seen during this time of year. As we made our way back to Halah's flat, we stopped in an out of stores and then to the grocery store to get stuff for dinner. Azideen came over to cook us dinner and he cooked up feast with muscles, salad, some yummy cheese concoction, veggies, and baby sardines cooked in local German beer. We reviewed the world news and all shared the German, American, UK, and Algerian perspectives over wine. After dinner we hussied up and headed out to one of Berlin's hot night clubs in town called "Havana Club" which is a huge 4 story posh nightclub for the elite West Berliners in a community called Schoenberg.
]]> Sisters United! — Berlin, Germany http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pal29/4/1229155320/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pal29/4/1229155320/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pal29/4/1229155320/tpod.html Sat, 13 Dec 2008 03:41:09 -0500 Babes in Berlin!!!
Berlin, Germany

Today Halah had to work at the Embassy so her friend Azideen escorted me around town. He took me to some great shopping spots and to a major department store called Ka We DO, which is known for its elaborate window displays. Many people were taking photos of the windows, which to me were very abstract and avant garde... and a bit senseless. After this we went to the airport to pick up Louise. We headed back to Halah's flat and celebrated us three best gals together again with some good German beers. We got caught up with all of Louise's news. She is currently working for Oxford University working on a special research project that has been in the European news a lot. The research is about giving a vitamin, mineral, and fatty acid pack every day to 500 prisoners and placebos to another 500 and see if these supplements have any impact to violent behaviors. She is currently in the design phase of the project.

We decided to stay in Kruezberg and bar hop all night. By the end of the night, we came up with our master travel plan. We will continue to travel together at least once a year to any city, state, or country beginning alphabetically. We determined we already have covered A and B. It took us just under five minutes to figure out the rest!



Amsterdam: complete
Berlin: complete
California: Oct'09 (arrrive in NYC and drive cross-country to San Diego! Then we've been to each other's homes)
Denmark
Egypt
Finland
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Jamaica
Korea or Kashmir
Laos
Mumbai or Morocco
New Zealand
Oman
Palestine or Peru
Quebec
Russia
South Africa
Turkey or Thailand
Uganda or Ukraine
Venezuela
Warsaw
Xingang
Yemen
Zaire
]]> Life in the GDR — Berlin, Germany http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pal29/4/1229043120/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pal29/4/1229043120/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pal29/4/1229043120/tpod.html Thu, 11 Dec 2008 21:03:39 -0500 Babes in Berlin!!!
Berlin, Germany

Today Halah took me to see parts of the Berlin Wall in the East Side Gallery. This place is known for being the only outdoor museum and the artwork from the years of oppression while the wall was in effect are preserved. After WWII, Germany was spilt under two separate rules: the West by the British, French, and Americans, and the East (GDR) by the Soviets. For the next 20 years following WWII, many people in the GDR were unsatisfied with many of the outcomes of communist rule and "voted with their feet" and fled... nearly 2.6M of them! One GDR officer Walter Ulbrict convinced the Soviets to allow him to build a wall that would prevent people from leaving. In one overnight effort in August 1961, he did just that and Berliners woke up to see barbed wire dividing the East from the West.

The Stasi (or secret intelligence of the GDR) started a massive campaign to spy on everyone that criticized the GDR. The Stasi was known as the "shield and the sword" of the GDR. In nearly 40 years, they got nearly 173K registered informants spying on their friends, neighbors, and colleagues that resulted in approximately 250K convictions. There was absolutely no such thing as privacy or legal protection.

The Communist ideologies brought on many changes for those living in the GDR to subscribe to collectivism and social education. This even included "potty breaks" for children. In the museum I went to in the East Side Gallery, there was a picture of the "potty break".... A row of children all sitting on the potty, and none could get up until the last child was done. This was believed to promote social education... we shit together, therefore we learn together!

The farmers were forced to give up their lands to the gov't under the principle of "collectivism" for the people of the GDR. There were many protests, but eventually, the regime won the land. In the work force, medals were given out to those that performed well. Benefits were given to those that were married including a flat to live in, reduced debt, women got maternity leave and were expected to work along men. I can see how some of these methods are desirable.... I recall my mother telling me her and my father were denied a Sear's credit card in the 70s b/c while they included both of their debt, they only included my father's income... seems the GDR was one up on this issue at the time!

One very odd thing was that one way people in the GDR did to protest conformity was going nude! At one point, this form of classlessness was so popular that someone in a swimsuit at a water front was the odd one out!

I imagined the wall to be bigger than what I saw. It's less than 3 meters tall and not very thick. My young school-age thought pictured some massive 2 foot thick wall that was 50 feet high! I think the wall could have been taken down physically at any time... it was more the message and mentality it sent to everyone during this time... FEAR & OPPRESSION. It's hard to imagine 40 years of a lively dense town divided in this manner where they can see each other from across the border so easily. I do know that the wall in Gaza is 2 meters taller than the Berlin Wall... and still stands today.
]]> Kicking it in Kreuzberg — Berlin, Germany http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pal29/4/1228834920/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pal29/4/1228834920/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pal29/4/1228834920/tpod.html Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:37:31 -0500 Babes in Berlin!!!
Berlin, Germany

Halah lives in a 100 year old apartment buillding in West Berlin in a community known as Kreuzberg. It's a very ethnically diverse community that is predominantly Turkish. There seems to be growing resentment towards the overwhleming Turkish presence in this area. Halah currently works for the Palestinian Embassy doing work with human rights initiatives. She's been living here the last 12 years. Her mother is from East Berlin and escaped in 1960 to the west side when she was 20 years old. It was only when the walls came down in 1990 that she was allowed to see her family again. Her mother married a Palestinian doctor from Beerseba who fled to West Germany after the '67 War. Kreuzberg is just maybe 100 meters from where some of the wall used to be. Most of the wall was built in old basins and resevoirs.

After a good nights rest, Halah woke me up to say something bad happend in San Diego about a helicopter crashed from the Navy. She heard it briefly on the radio. I later learned about the jet plane that crashed in University Heights.

We headed to Alexanderplatz which is known as major business and political center of Berlin. We went to a "weihnachtsmarkt", which are Christmas carnivals. The first thing we did to ward off the cold weather was grab a cup of mulled wine. From here we strolled down the City Center and wound up in front of City Hall that is a entire red brick building. I wandered inside to see if I could meet their Financial Managment department, but everyone already went home. The official German work week is 38 hours and liesure is more significant than work. I think this speaks volumes about the drive for a higher quality of life in German culture... I admire this. We walked in front of many the ministries in the area.

Hala's friend, Joseph, called and invited us to dinner at his restaurant called Salaon Al-Hambra. He's Palestinian from Ramallah and owns three of these in Berlin. So we feasted on some great arabic food and then headed to walk to Check Point Charley. It was strange to see this place I studied about in school. Saw the American sector and officers and crossed the check point. When Louise gets here, we will go through the musuem.

We headed to a sheesha lounge (hubbly-bubbly) called Cheeshkans. We met up with a girl names Baher, who is half Irnanian and half German, and Heisem, who is full Palestinian. We had a great time sharing jokes and getting political with others in the lounge. Apparently the debate among Germans is if Turkey should be permitted into the EU. There are srtong mixed emotions about this. Earlier this year there was a fire in a house in southern Germany that killed 7 people. There was suspician it was arson. The Turkish premier came to visit and stirred up lots of trouble and encite more tenions between Turks living inGerman and everyone else. Turns out the fire was set by children playing... but it made tensions worse. On top of this, any person that asked me where I was from all shared their sympathy for the plane crash in San Diego... amazing how fast word travels!
]]> Made it to Berlin! — Berlin, Germany http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pal29/4/1228824120/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pal29/4/1228824120/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pal29/4/1228824120/tpod.html Tue, 09 Dec 2008 07:02:56 -0500 Babes in Berlin!!!
Berlin, Germany

When I boarded the plane to Berlin, we had to sit on the plane another
hour and a half because of the extremely low visability. The airport
shut down all runways except for one that ended up in a heavy taxi
line. The flight was only 45 minutes and Halah was there waiting
outiside the baggage claim area for me. It was easy to see her since
she screamed my name so loud... nothing has changed with her! We drove
back toh her apartment and went up four flights of stairs (at that
point I was wishing I had left the concrete I packed at home!). We
spent the evening catching up to a bottle (maybe two, ok three, but not
more than four!) of good German wine. Louise will here in a few more
days and then Germany is in for some trouble!!!
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