Talk Box Rock

Seven Falafels, Art in the Most Peculiar of Places, and a New Hairstylist

I stayed with Lisa in Berlin, ah, I could live here forever, or a few years at the very least.

In case you’ve never been, or haven’t snooped around on wikipedia about the modern history of the city, a short history of Berlin in the past 50 or so years.

post WWII to 1989 - The area surrounding the Berlin wall isn’t the most desirable, immigrants with little money move into the area. It just so happens that many Turkish immigrants fill vacant properties. Falafel and Döner Kebab begin to find their new happy home. Many squats and misc. uses of abandoned buildings pop up, including art spaces, underground experimental clubs, etc.

1989 to ??? - The wall comes down, West Berlin swallows up East Berlin, the city is united, but it’s still hard to convince people to move in, cost of living is through the floor, and thus, artists come in droves, Falafel finds more happy parents. The area around the wall that was once the cheap Turkish neighborhood is now one of the most happening neighborhoods in the city.

Today - The going rate of Falafel is somewhere around €2.20 (about $3.30) and Falafel/Kebab stands grossly outnumber Bratwurst stands, there’s only one squat left, the city is thriving and has the most unique culture I’ve ever encountered, it’s impossible to walk a block without spotting something artful, and the cost of living? I think my friend Lisa put it the best. “Anyone can afford to live here.”

After a long train ride from Zürich, I met up with Lisa at an U-bahn (subway) stop near her house. Later that night, we met up with a few of her friends, hit up a few bars, and went to a house party. Afterwards on the walk home, we picked up some currywurst and falafel. What’s currywurst? Take a hot dog, cut it up into chunks, and throw it in ketchup mixed with curry powder. Sounds awful, but it’s delicious.

The next day, we went to an art exhibition at Stattbad, an old city pool turned young artists exhibition space. Lisa told me that a few days earlier, there was a huge party there celebrating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall, where they had a huge styrofoam dup. of the wall in the pool, and at midnight, a bunch of guys in pink stormed out and tore the thing down with chainsaws. What?

After Stattbad, we had a falafel, and the next day, we visited the Eastside Gallery, the largest standing portion of the wall, though, nowadays, it’s covered in paintings. No pictures of the paintings because I always feel weird taking pictures of art, but here’s an adorable couple sitting on top of the wall. At some point, we ate another falafel.

Over the next few days, Lisa was gone during the day for school, so I went out and visited museums around town, and wandered the city. My fav was certainly the Berlinische Art Gallery. The entire downstairs commemorated the 20th anniversary of the wall, a common theme around the city. Aside from the art galleries, I was really digging the huge murals (graffiti?) posted up on the sides of buildings.

A few days before I planned to depart, Lisa and I were having dinner at a friends house, and we were scheming. Both of us hadn’t had hair cuts in a very long time, and we figured it’s not so difficult, so we may as well try it ourselves. Thus, the next day, after a few beers and a bottle of glühwein, we hacked at each other’s heads with scissors. She had the sweetest rat tail for a day.

And thus, I have a new life goal. Move to Berlin, learn German better than what I picked up in Zürich, fall in love with an artist, eat falafels every day, and fly Lisa in once a month to cut my hair and party.