Germany, Berlin: on cravings

You'd think after about 10 years times 12 months a year, I'd be able to figure out what I wanted when I was craving something. But, no. No, I haven't learned yet.

Luckily, I had the entirety of downtown Berlin at my fingertips and needed so desperately to satisfy the unknown craving, that, for the first time in a month, I ventured out into a city leaving behind any and all forms of map.

Now to preface, there has been something about Berlin that had irked me, and I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Unfriendliness? No, they are quite kind. Too laid back? No, they are pretty on their game. Sort-of outgoing. Too much of a big city? Maybe. Oohh but look at that cute little market. And these quaint bars and little clubs. Damn you Berlin, I can't figure you out.

Back to cravings - and not being able to figure out what I want, at all - I roam the streets, mapless, iphoneless, and German-languageless, passing from dep's to kebab stands to dessert & wine bars, but I am just not feeling it. And then as soon as I see it, I'm surprised, but I know... Fresh squeezed mango juice. Mmmmm soooo good - oh, finished already. So my cravings are satisfied for about 15 min, as the bar was raised high by other mango juices (damn you Turkey Central, Qatar, damn you).

During these 15 satisfied minutes my mind wandered through other cravings - like home. and close friends. colour orange. montreal - and other parts of north america even if they are big coughing smoggy cities - going for a run. my bicycle. greenery.

Luckily, the unknown food cravings soon returned, so my focus switched to the tangeable, manageable cravings, instead of those which could only lead to, well, homesickness.

But as I sat eating my way through a large serving of overly salted fries (my heart was getting jealous of all the work my liver has been doing...) I realized that Berlin is kind of like an undercrowded, German-speaking Montreal, with a bit less diversity and a bit more history. It's a city with tons of different areas, from swanky rich shops (Westmount) to hip, trendy, young, and grafittied (Plateau/Mile End) a fewww old areas including sections along the water (Old Montreal), a pretty cool downtown, and similarly rich in the arts & culture. But more, it reminds me of the Montreal vibe, it's sitting there saying 'yeah, whatever, I rock, and I know I do, and even though I'm great fun, great culture, history and great food all in one city, I don't have to prove any of this to you. So whatever. Just come visit me and enjoy. I'm really none too worried that you won't...'

Seriously, the motto here is 'Berlin: poor but sexy' and people actually wear t-shirts to that effect.

And so, with my much higher than average skype usage & emailing over the past few days, I think I managed to satisfy a pretty good chunk of my 'home-related' cravings.

And when I thought about it, all of the Berlin activities together remind me of Montreal style - a real little bit of everything.... Hostel in a pretty sketchy looking eastern Berlin, drinking games with really cheap 'dep' beer, walking tour with amazing history, Brandenburg gates, holocaust memorial, opera house, memorial to burning of the books, a live orchestra-concert, delicious Indian food, insightful conversation, hours just relaxing in a various Starbucks around the city, a bike tour through eastern Berlin and its communism story, a chalk diagram of how Germany was split up, old sections of the wall, an all-you-can-drink wine bar where pay 2 euro for a glass & 'what you think you owe' at the end, a couch-surfing reunion, a native Berlin dude to show you other crazy grafitti, a native French girl on internship in Berlin who spent 4 months living in Montreal, a history museum, the DDR museum (GDR in English - German Democratic Republic - think about that for a second...), an exhibit on checkpoint Charlie, a walk through 'topography of terrors,' a bike through huge grassy fields and park, a holocaust memorial, a memorial to Soviet soldiers, a walk through what reminded me exactly of 'lower field' Montreal, a beer garden, a birthday beer, 2 birthday beers, a birthday shot, 2 birthday shots, birthday cake, birthday drinks....... So glad I get to wake up early after this to catch a train...

To Dusseldorf! Ya, don't really know what's there either ;)