First we thought about Manhattan, then we took...
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Here we go! Ida and JB go 4 it. The long wait is over. After a fabulous four years in Tromsø, north of Norway, we packed up our stuff; rented out our apartment to a lovely couple; said our goodbyes to our colleagues and dear dear friends and..OFF WE WENT!!!
BERLIN BABY, BERLIN! Monday
In a state of exhaustion after having packed away our lives in three hectic days; still drying the tears after a fabulous surprise Party by our glorious friends in Tromsø, we stayed a night in Oslo, at Ida's parents before we had a
"supersmooth journey to the Capitol of Europe"
It was smooth. You know. Supersmooth. From 0600 in the morning, till we got there around 1100. and then we crashed.
We had booked the NSF apartment (Norwegian Actors Equity) in Kantstrasse, Charlottenburg, for the entire week. It was delightfully spacious, with big rooms. JB's best mate, Jens Ivar, was in the same state of mind as us. Pretty tired. So two hours of TV-shop on the TV was pure massage for the soul. Then we went across the street to a huge Asian Supermarket, and stacked up on spicy, fresh ingredients and beer. Then we watched films dubbed into German (the James Bond Festival on a channel that was called "The James Bond Channel", which advertised that you could buy the Complete James Bond Blue-Ray set... go figure).
Das is nicht alles! That's not all!!! Did we forget to mention the knives? You can get the Best Knife Ever, which you can use for anything. And when we say anything, we mean it! From cutting tomatoes to splitting huge, iron nails, planks of wood... u name it, AND when you buy this knife, they will give you 10 more knives... although we didn't really understand what you were supposed to use them for, as the one knife was so darn god. But that's beside the point! Because: When you buy this knife set you will get A SECOND SET COMPLETELY FOR FREE!!!!
PS: We don't know how, but when we left Berlin, we realized we had forgotten to buy that knife.
VOR BIST SCHÖÖN UNDT AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOLFFF? Tuesday
While we slept, Jens Ivar's girlfriend arrived, and we all slept in. At around 3pm we had "breakfast".
Then we headed out to see the City and see a performance. On the way there, JB got hold of his first (and only) fleisch am Deutchland with sauerkraut (roasted pork), in a piece of bread in the S-Bahn. Outside it was a snowstorm.
Going past the Berliner Ensemble's packed house, we went to the Deutche Theater to get tickets for "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?". We thought it was a 15 min waiting time, but when we had waited for an hour, we realized it was a two hour wait. So we decided it was worth waiting another hour. And it was. A stunning performance. We later found out it was their last showing ever.
On our way back, we stopped for a falafel, and stayed out in bars all night. Including a very smoky club called pussy bar or something.. We caught the early morning tram back home.
WINDOWSHOPPING AND GOLDEN TEETH Wednesday . Getting up around one, we had breakfast with the entire selection of breads from the local baker. To top it all off, we opened a bottle of proseco-because we deserve it!
Then we split up, leaving Jens Ivar and Ingrid to their own, and headed for Mitte. We waisted no time, but went straight to Volksbühne to buy tickets for tonight's showing of "Der mann mit dem goldenen gebiss" ("The Man with the Golden fake teeth"). The showing was in their experimental, younger, cool scene Prater in Prentzlauberg. Check it out if you have the time.
We went windowshopping, and had a delicious mango curry with coocnut and vegetables at a Vietnamese restaurant........, before the show.
The play was great. Edgy, cathcy, funny... but we found that after one hour of watcing a show without understanding the language, it gets a bit tiresome.
Headed to a bar with erotic paintings in the ceiling, and went back home to chat with Jens Ivar and Ingrid.
"GO PUNK?!" Thursday
We got up early and enjoyed Mitte, before the first highlight of this day: the haircut. 11€- any cut. Take a number; wash hair; then the cut. JB said "go punk" and Ida said "Just a little trim on the edges":
Ate at the hidden gem Con Viet (recommended!), before we went to Potsdamer Platz and the Filmmuseum. It was great in the beginning, and then sort of just died quietly. The TV-mirror was awesome. Ida loved the Marlene Dietrich shrine.
Heidi in the DARK Alright. JB got this as a Christmaspresent, after been recommended this restaurant by her friend Katja. The place: Unsicht-Bar. The plot: eat in complete darkness, served by blind waiters!
Our host was Heidi. The one and only, never to be forgotten. We gave him our order (fish, meat, vegetarian or "unknown"). Then he told us to place Ida's hands on his shoulders, and JB's on Ida's. He then continued to walk zigg-zagg through a maze that took us into the darkness. We saw absolutely nothing! But we could hear the buzz from about 60 people, chatting, drinking and eating away...but we couldn't see a thing. He stopped at our table, showed us physically where our knife, fork and glass were, before he left us. Then we laughed.
*Knock, knock, knock* on our table. "Helloo..." Hello." "Mmmmokay, I have your first dish, are you ready? Good. Okay, starter for you, Sir.mmm.... and starter for you mmmmadammm... Hm? Yes, I think for you it is probably best to eat with your hands. Here is your plate and here is your wine. Enjoy."
Silence. More laughter. We had a very tasty four course meal, hilarious conversations (nobody could see us pulling faces) and just a bit afraid we had too much to drink to actually be able to walk out without crashing into one of the unseen tables. When we got out, four hours later, looking in the mirror, we saw we had food all over our faces. Priceless. Enough impressions for this day. Bedtime. In the dark..
TGIF (Thank God it's Friday) - IN A TRABI Friday
Started off with the DDR-Museum on a sunny day; before we headed home to make a meat stew in beer (JB and Jens Ivar on a mission to get all the ingredients took about three hours). Relaxed at home, and actually got hold of 100% pure cranberry juice, to make Gin Cranberry drinks. The girls were extatic.
ART, WALLPAPER AND BURLESQUE Saturday The four of us got to the Samlung Boros bunker. It is one fifth of the private art exhibition of Mr Boros. The story about the bunker was incredible; it was built during WWII, later a prison, then it was a storage for bananas (!) for 15 years before it became a techno-party place and fetish sex-club until it was closed down, and sold to Mr Boros. Go go go go if you have the chance.
Afterwards we walked all the way to Marienburg Burger in Prenzlauerberg. Wow! Go there. HUGE tasty burgers served by rockabilly chicks. Met Dag, Jens Ivar's big brother and Ida got her long sought after black boots. JB couldn't believe his luck, that after five years in the search, they had his favourite wallpaper next door:
Our new friends, The Burlesque Dancers
Chilled in the Wohnzimmer cafe with a cup of chocolate, until Ida fell asleep in the sofa. Headed over to Kastanje allé for a glass of wine, before we went to Kleine Nachts Revue: oh my sweet lord. A genuine burlesque show. When we called them, the Lady said "Do not be scared. It is ugly on the outside, but a pearl on the inside." The girls working aged from 18 to 50 (coincidentally the oldest was the mother of the youngest girl!), and served drinks between the dances.
We stayed there long after the show, and got to know the dancers. We were specially invited to the Kit Kat Club, but didn't go as we were told we had to take our clothes off (!). We'll do it next time ;D (Please join us, and bring your parents.)
On our way home we met with our two Norwegian friends, and headed off to Maria Am Ostbahnhof at 0400, to go to a electronica club. The great feeling of being able to go from one place at four o'clock, and take public transport to the next venue and stay there as long as you like, taking the tram back with people going to work... priceless. So around 07-0800 we got home, had a curry worst and fell asleep.
OG ALLE VAR ENIGE OM AT DET HADDE VÆRT EN FIN TUR. * Sunday Brilliant Italian food in the evening. On the ground floor of our apartment. We couldn't make it any further.
*Everyone agreed it had been a nice trip.
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