Thursday, June 9, 2005
Dortmund’s on the other side of Germany from here, though Berlin has a sex trade more, um, prominent than I recall from past visits. When staying near Oranienburger the past couple of weeks, every time I came back late at night I’d have to politely “Nein, danke” at least a half-dozen hookers, stationed at their regular intervals up Oranienburger Strasse, outfitted with stiletto heels, furry little coats to protect themselves from the cold, and fishnet stockings. And then, over here in Charlottenburg where I’m now staying, the hostel’s tucked on a stretch of street along with about four XXX porn shops. No prostitutes, just stocky, balding guys with questions in German that I can’t really understand. “Nein, danke.”
The new hostel does, though, have a nice 24-hour bar with wireless internet access and everything right next door, so I’ll probably be in here, getting my fix more often the next few days. I’ve only had internet access here-and-there. And no television for about four weeks, now (except for the TV at the hotel I stayed at the first few days in Berlin, and those channels were all auf Deutsch except CNN). Kind of nice. And kind of tweaking. I finally broke down and bought a copy of Der Herr der Ringe: Die Zwei Türme on DVD just to have something to look at. Not that I need television, but I need some English visual-verbal stimulation and I’ve been mostly on my own out here so far. I chose that DVD because it seemed like it would bear repeat viewings. And, anyway, now I’ve got one of the Lord of the Rings movies in German. In case that might come in handy.
Next week, Sonar in Barcelona. Then heading out to Poland with Haley. Warsaw for a few days. Krakow for a few days. Then back to Berlin. Fun fact about Poland: They have a horrible, horrible history. Reading through my Lonely Planet guide, I got a brain full of 500 years of asskickings at the hands of the Germans and Russians, destroyed cities (Hilter attempted to erase Warsaw after an uprising in 1944, I did not know before), displaced peoples, bad government, the Church, etc. Hopefully they’ll remain stable for at least the next few weeks. I don’t want Krakow partitioned out from under me…
Anyway. That’s all for now. And remember: Don’t invite a bunch of Teutonic knights to defend your home — they’ll just end up occupying your kitchen and stabbing your dog.
Ich liebe hund
Posted Tue, June 14, 2005, 1:25pm EST by Brian
Nun haben Sie uber die Grenze uberschritten, Sie Schnitzelrancher!
Haben ein gute Reise!
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Posted Fri, June 17, 2005, 4:40am EST by bren
I saw a band you'd totally dig, and they're from New York. So hey. Check out Gang Gang Dance when you get back.