Ich Liebe Berlin

Hi Y'all,
Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. Got back Sunday without any checked luggage but hand-carrying the flu instead and today is my 2nd day of calling in sick from work and I'm not enjoying it because I'm really feeling miserable, truly being punished for my shenanigans with the State beaurocracy.
Berlin is a city emerging from the rubble of bombings literally, and tryingto come to terms and move on from it's dark and ignominious past. The city has grand boulevards and majestic roundabouts, and a sprawling central park Tiergarten, the hunting grounds of past royalty, that was just lovely last Friday covered with fresh snow, the same weather which dumped tons in the rest of Europe and paralyzed transportation. Doobie and I took the double-decker bus hop on and off city tour while snowing which rendered the city views pristine and fresh, until it got heavy and dark towards the afternoon. I was cozy in my ankle- lenght mink, a wise decision considering I hesitated to lug the bulky garment at first. I bought a wool cloche, hated to pay the Euro price since I know i can get a similar one from Loehmanns at 75% off, but I needed a hat in the snow. I lost it on our first stop, left it on the bus, then Doobie and I got separated and went on our separate ways. I hopped back on the bus at Checkpoint Charlie about 2 hours later and I couldn't believe it! There was my cloche on an empty seat. I felt it was my lucky day. Checkpoint Charlie was the border crossing between East and West Berlin when the Wall stood from August 1961-November 9,1989. Berlin has been divided and reunited many times, parceled out among various nations as war booty and divided into 4 sectors at one point. There are whole neighborhood sections bombed to smithereens during WWII. Therefore you don't see many old buildings in spite of the city being 750 years old. But literally they are reconstructing it as it was and heavy equipment and lorries are everywhere, digging the rubble and building anew. There are sections that are completely modern marked with distinctive architecture designed by important architects from the planet, such as in the Potsdamerplatz, the equivalent of Times Square and in the superlative Friedrichstrasse shopping arcades. The Kurfurstendamm or Ku'damm for short is the longest street in Berlin and is very charming and romantic with double sidewalks lined with cafes and shops and with trees and park seats in the center promenade. Bismarck, who felt culturally inferior (my editorial),designed this after the Champs- Elysees and it captured its splendor. The rebuilt Reichstag, the seat of the Republic and the new observation dome atop it with its intricate mirror panels and rails has circular spiraling ramp where you can stroll and have a panoramic view of the entire city. It is a work of art built by an important London architect. Not far is the historic Brandenburg Tor, where part of the Wall once stood, and south of it is the newly opened Holocaust Memorial designed by American architect Eisenmann. It is a field of 2711 concrete stelae in a grid pattern, with varying heights covering a whole city block with the effect of undulating and seeemingly unstable surface if viewed as a whole composition. Along the shorter pillars of the field it suggested rows of perfectly lined coffins as far as the eye can see. One can walk in between the stelae and can enter the field from any direction and find one's own way among the pillars. Among the tallest ones one can feel an oppressive feeling as if the walls are closing in. Underground is the holocaust museum, a place so gripping it will not fail to break you down in tears. I emerged very angry at Bush's policies,for many of them are reminiscent of Hitler's initial moves that culminated in the atrocious systematic murder of a group of human beings.We stayed at the Westin Grand on Friedrichstrasse, a former palace which is decked to the hilt in Christmas lights and holiday trimmings. It has a central 6-story foyer with a stained glass domed ceiling and a grand staircase where carolers would line up to entertain guests beginning next week. It's a shame we missed this. Berlin is big on the holidays, just like its big on its mascot the Berlin bear, which can be seen in effigy or as looming sculptures in corners and sidewalks all over town. Christmas bazaars and fairs are popping up in every neighborhood and major commercial intersections. We checked out the bazaar set up near our hotel, in the Forum on Unter den Linden, a square flanked with beautiful buildings, among them the Staatsoper and St Hedwig Cathedral. I stopped for a moment at St Hedwig to pay my respects. It is an odd Catholic church set up differently with no central space or knave and the main church space is in the basement level and divided into several chapels.These Christmas bazaars are so nostalgic and festive. They set up wooden booths dressed with holiday lights and glitter. They sell crafts and the usual import doodads from developing countries, and gifts and holiday decorations, and wonderful food concessions with bratwurst stands and cheese and spun sugar candies, fried dough breads,pastries and chocolates to die for, a Thai booth where I had to sample their noodles (good), capuccinos,and hot chocolates and warm spiced wine laced with amaretto (goes down real smooth). The bigger bazaars come with old-fashioned fairs with ferris wheels and carousels and music grinders with hustling monkeys (now robotized). You meet the German populace, and as a group they are a handsome lot, after the Scandinavians. They are rule abiding. They stand at the street corner waiting for the green pedestrian light , they don't cross even if they've been standing for ages and there isn't any car in sight. The rule goes both ways. They don't stop for jaywalking pedestrians, and would run over you if you cross on the red light.The food is robust and sticks to your bones, made the old-fashion way with real butter and fat on the meat. We dined on various restaurants and cafes along the River Spree.Maya took us to her favorite cafe where we had desserts and coffee and played mahjong for one jai-alai, which Dobbs won. Maya requested a mahjong set for my pasalubong, and she wanted to play right away so she can refresh her memory of the game.She plans to introduce the game to her friends. In one cafe they had a ticker tape of the beer prices on view on TV screens so you can check how much your favorite beer is going by the glass. I sampled the traditional holiday menu of goose, venison, and duck, and various sausages,schnitzel,hot potato salad,candied and spiced apple sides,cabbage,and sauerkraut. We only drank beer, sampled lagers,and pilsners, and dark,and wheat beer as much as we can. I gained 3 pounds.The populace is handsome too in the U-bahn. We took 2 trains to get to Maya's flat for coffee and cakes, in the mixed section of the city.Heretofore we haven't met any ethnics or colored, except us. Their ethnics are Turks,and their story as minorities is the same as in America. We met 2 of Maya's roommates, Ian and Karen. Maya's building is a cooperative, and they are in the midst of renovation and painting in their individual unit.The roommates all have interesting resumes. Ian is a set designer and carpenter and built his bed platform himself, which is very funky in black,and his shelves are stacked steel laundry drums, very original and funkier still, and works very well in storing shirts and underwear and socks. Maya's space has tall windows which she draped in sheer gossamer, and she has good light to maintain her tropical indoor plants in good health. She's not living in squalor, mom. We had melt-in-your mouth cakes in different flavors with various berry fillings and chocolate and cream layers from Maya's favorite bakery and coffee in the dining area. Karen spread a blue cloth on the table and arranged votive candles and yellow autumn leaves she picked from the courtyard below in the center. We had lively conversation about the state of the world, why the holocaust happened, the minority issue in Germany, and America, the state of our schools, the unemployment in Germany and the European Union, about the job-nomads (my new favorite term) and entertainment junkies among the X-generation, and time just flew, and I was almost late for La Boheme at 7 PM at the Komische oper. Maya and Doobs have their own schedule to cruise the bars and check the rock and roll bands until 3 AM. I was more miserable with my cough and headache after the opera,I didn't feel like having dinner and I had to beg for aspirin from the concierge. I had potato and sausage soup in the lobby and a wheat beer, then packed , scheduled a wake-up call at 4 AM and went to bed. Our return flight is at 7:10 AM.