Girls in Berlin

by annie

It's been a year and a half since I last saw Christine. Since then, she and Jonathan have travelled the globe, inspiring Brian and I to do the same (their blog: http://blogs.bootsnall.com/seeingspain/). Christine and I recently reunited in the Paris airport before heading to Berlin for LadyFest 2009 (http://www.ladyfest.net/). We stayed with her friend, Clara, who welcomed us into an apartment that she had only moved into a week prior to our visit. Super cool girl!

LadyFest focuses on feminist values and "do-it-yourself" power. We attended a workshop on building a wind turbine in the yard of a trailer squat, set amidst a contrast of crumbling, graffitied buildings and posh, modern structures alike. We saw fantastic live music of the all-girl bands "Las Kellies" and "Skilla." We watched a comedy about menstruation and endured a couple of performance arts that didn't necessarily speak to us like the rest of the fest.

In Berlin we capitalized on photobooths, flea markets, vegan eats and five-story thrift stores. We cut our hair and dyed it pink. We marvelled at the similarities to Portland. We embarrassed ourselves on the subway at least once a day by making mistakes that only a tourist could. We visited a section of the Berlin Wall and the memorial to those who died trying to cross it.

I spent one day checking out monuments like the Brandenburg Gates and took a train out to a former concentration camp. It's hard to know what to say about it. After walking around the site, seeing the prison, the execution trench, mass graves and video interviews of former prisoners, I suddenly became extremely ready to leave. According to my map, I made my way towards the nearest exit, only to find it closed. I won't use the word panic, but it felt intensely uncomfortable not being able to leave this place where so many were trapped years before. Lucky for me, it was only a 10 minute walk to an open exit.

Berlin reminded me of Portland with it's bikes, coffee, bio-markets and alternative cultures. It was the perfect place to meet up with a Portland pal and soak up quality girl time. A week was not nearly enough and I look forward to going back again.

In the meantime, Brian is attending a silent 10-day vipassana meditation retreat in Spain. I'm now in Paris with Christine and Jonathan.

Berlin Pics here:

Berlin

Click here to read my post on the UK.