And we’re back!

The biggest advantage of traveling through the late fall/winter months is the lucky stroke of not having to deal with huge tourist crowds. Sure in hot spots like Paris and Rome there’s bound to be a few tight spaces but it’s nothing I couldn’t handle by just bat-a-ranging those fuckers to the side.

The disadvantage is the unpredictable weather. While I’ve loved my time in Germany thus far it’s unfortunate I’ve been hit with a few bouts of bad weather. The day I went to the Berlin Zoo was fine up until 15 minutes after I went through the gates and was poured on. But, mustn’t grumble.

Actually the good thing about the zoo was because of the weather most animals were moved inside and as a result I’ve never been so close to fucking lions, tigers, leopards  and panthers in my entire life. I was blown away and scared that a Planet of the Apes type situation might break out and I’d get mauled.

I had to snap a video, they were so damned close.

Spent a week in Berlin, it was fantastic. Thanks so much to Klara and Jonathan for hosting me and putting up with my antics. Especially the first weekend there. Whew. After a heated fuseball match, I apparently almost inadvertently got into a fight. Apparently jokingly and sportingly saying “Motherfucker” is a big no no.

The Brandenburg Gate

Holocaust Memorial

Longest in tact piece of the Berlin Wall (graffiti prohibited)

It was pretty striking seeing the East Side Gallery, also known as the longest still-standing stretch of the Berlin Wall. Photos don’t do it justice. The Holocaust Memorial was also a very eye-opening exhibit, featuring many rooms with horrific stories. The memorial exhibit is actually underneath the ground of that photo above. One room features stories about 15 different families that were targeted from different areas and how they lived and how they either died, were murdered, captured, or hid. Another room featured pieces of letters, postcards and diary entries that were thrown from trains or trucks as Jews were deported to the concentration camps.

Inside the dome atop parliament.

Charlie's Checkpoint (I had to surrender my grappling gun)

The Egyptian museum, on Museum Island, was pretty fantastic too. This was the first time I actually tried one of those audio guides and it helped tremendously. Usually at museums I consider it “nap time”, I’ll find a corner and accidentally nod off. I can’t help it. I always want to go to museums but it’s so damned boring sometimes. The audio guide helped. This particular museum was home to the infamous Nefertiti bust which was pretty damned detailed considering how long ago it was made.

Berlin's CN Tower

Spent a lot of time perusing the Christmas Markets. I’ve become addicted to mulled wine. So damned delicious and cheap. And you can just literally pubcrawl the place because there’s literally over a dozen and each one tastes slightly different. And because it’s totally legal to drink in the streets in Berlin you can just walk around with this wine/beer/whatever and not have to worry about any public drinking fines. Literally. After leaving a party en route to a bar we were riding the subway downing brews the whole way. It’s quite astounding.

One night Klara was nice enough to find a great little jazz club. It was packed but we managed to get there early to grab a table. The band was amazing. The three piece that opened featured an amazing Spanish drummer, she’s up there with some of the top musicians I’ve seen play live. Then the stage was open to other performers who came up and had a jamsession. It was great.

I blame the blurry photo on the whiskey.

I also traveled to the end of the line of one of the metro lines to a place called Potsdam that had some really beautiful architecture. And one hell of a Christmas Market. Due to the cold I was maybe drinking the hot wine a little too fast. The metro ride back to Klara and Jonathan’s was a little confusing…but I made it.

In Potsdam

Gate in Potsdam

It was impossible to see it all in one afternoon though. But there’s a bright side, leaves stuff I can still see when I eventually return.

So yesterday I left Berlin and made my way to Hamburg. I will be here until the middle of the week then I’ll travel to Cologne where I’ll stay just before heading to Belgium for the holiday.

So nothing really updated to say beyond my last post, “Hanging up the cape and cowl”, which pretty much summed up my decision to come back. Well one thing I could add is I didn’t really stress that money was the biggest factor into the decision to come back. As of now I’m already in the hole financially. A part of me is excited to return to Toronto and I think that’s mostly because I have the plan set in my head that I don’t really want to stay back beyond a year…unless some fantastic opportunity comes up, like Tom and I get nominated for an Oscar for best short. HA! Like THAT would ever fucking happen. The lies I tell. Extraordinary.

Have I used this image before? Fuck it.

I’m battling getting sick… AGAIN. I can’t seem to shake this cold. It always seems to go, then a cough lingers for a bit, then I go out and sight see and then the threat of a full on illness coming back comes full force. Can’t win. Mustn’t grumble. That’s a very small tedious thing to get upset about. It’s fucking winter, common cold should be expected. Especially when I’m still wearing my cunting sneakers! Ha! There was a mini-blizzard out today in Hamburg and I was thinking “Shit, I have three pairs of footwear with me and none of which are boots.” Good planning, eh? I suppose I can just alternate between the sneakers, running shoes, and black dress shoes I bought for Vegas. I really don’t know what I was thinking. Oh I remember…

“Corkscrew, check. OK all done, time to hit the road!”

I’m abandoning the “Miss/Don’t Miss” portion of the blog. Also the questions. No one was fucking answering them anyway. Lazy bastards. Kidding, of course, I know most are so busy being journalists and fighting the fight for all Torontonians delivering information on how they can Skype Santa this year. Hard hitting news. Your degrees serve you well.

Nothing much else to say. I’ll end it here. Have a good rest of your weekend. Talk soon.

Cheers,

- B.

PS – Oh, James Cameron…unfortunately the people I met have no idea who Flula is. Don’t worry though, I showed them.