Today was decent, especially by my I-hate-Berlin standards. I slept pretty well last night, and so I didn't feel jetlagged much today. So I had a lazy morning, then went out and grabbed döner kebab for lunch - since I can't eat pita, I got it in a box with fries, salad (some greens and some beetroot), kebab meat, and a bunch of sauce. Since this is basically meat on top of fries, I was pretty happy. It was also a gorgeous day, so I was able to eat outside, and then take a walk along the East Side Gallery. My hotel is right on the edge of the River Spree, which used to be barricaded from view by the Berlin Wall - it must have been ridiculously depressing to be so close to the Spree and not be able to see the river because the wall blocked the view.
sssanyway, the Wall came down years ago, but sections of it survive, especially in the form of art exhibits. So I strolled along the East Side Gallery, bought myself a coffee to enjoy some more strolling, and generally wandered a bit. I ended up checking out a flea market in Freidrichshain that felt vaguely post-apocalyptic - since I'm from a v small midwestern town, I tend to find graffiti trashy, but here it's an inescapable artform. In any other city, if I'd walked down a flight of stairs into a half-submerged alleyway and the first thing I saw was a completely defaced ATM machine, I probably would have left. Instead, I got money from the ATM and wandered among all the families, locals, etc. who were perusing the flea market. I didn't get anything there, but I did buy a cute book at an art gallery - they'd taken an old book and folded/cut the pages inside to make a 3-D design, and I found it oddly charming, so now it's coming home with me.
Then I came back to the hotel and took a longer-than-advised nap. I also wrote for a little bit while drinking a mocktail in the bar (who am I?). And then I had dinner with my team - we went to an Italian place called Ristorante a Mano, which was v. tasty and had surprisingly excellent service. And then we came back to the hotel bar and hung out for awhile...but slowly it dawned on all of us that tomorrow is a work day, so it's time for bed. Goodnight!
sssanyway, the Wall came down years ago, but sections of it survive, especially in the form of art exhibits. So I strolled along the East Side Gallery, bought myself a coffee to enjoy some more strolling, and generally wandered a bit. I ended up checking out a flea market in Freidrichshain that felt vaguely post-apocalyptic - since I'm from a v small midwestern town, I tend to find graffiti trashy, but here it's an inescapable artform. In any other city, if I'd walked down a flight of stairs into a half-submerged alleyway and the first thing I saw was a completely defaced ATM machine, I probably would have left. Instead, I got money from the ATM and wandered among all the families, locals, etc. who were perusing the flea market. I didn't get anything there, but I did buy a cute book at an art gallery - they'd taken an old book and folded/cut the pages inside to make a 3-D design, and I found it oddly charming, so now it's coming home with me.
Then I came back to the hotel and took a longer-than-advised nap. I also wrote for a little bit while drinking a mocktail in the bar (who am I?). And then I had dinner with my team - we went to an Italian place called Ristorante a Mano, which was v. tasty and had surprisingly excellent service. And then we came back to the hotel bar and hung out for awhile...but slowly it dawned on all of us that tomorrow is a work day, so it's time for bed. Goodnight!
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