Postcards from Berlin 6 - Over the Wall

We started day three with a little shopping as I wanted to visit a stationary shop recommended by a website that the gorgeous Stephanie Levy ,a Berlin based artist, alerted me to. The area this shop was in had other interesting shops. bakeries and restaurants, and we returned there in the evening for a lovely meal at Mr Vuong which took us right back to our trip to Vietnam last year.

I loved the flowers painted on this wall

and the sparkly paper tied on to this fence

and I couldn't resist taking a photo of this guy - he looked so cool!

An antiques store had some interesting bits and bobs including these cut out figures for if you can't afford your own staff!

After lunch at the Barn (recommended ) the weather closed in and the brollies came out. Highly suitable for a trip to Starsi HQ. When we got out of the underground at our destination the buildings were grimmer than any others we had seen in Berlin, grey blocks of concrete. The site covered by the EastGerman secret police HQ was huge and when we went in we could see exactly why they needed so much space.

The museum documents the extreme nature of the police state in the GDR. Something like 1 in 3 citizens were under surveillance via pot plant, watering can and other ingenious methodologies for secreting cameras in the most unlikely places. there were huge numbers of police informants. The Stasi seemed to have been much more thorough than their colleagues in the KGB, perhaps because the population was more contained.

There were propaganda posters aplenty which reminded me of the ones we saw in Vietnam last year - there was clearly a communist vernacular in poster art!

Bringing all this to life is the office of Erich Mielke head of the Stasi from 1957 to 1989. His dress uniform still hangs in the cupboard and it seems eerily ready for use, as does the boardroom

In all it was a very sobering experience and made me realise how much we take our democratic freedoms for granted.

Take care and see you next time!

Postcards from Berlin 5 - A Wild Goose chase

After our visit to the East Side Gallery and our lunch in the sunshine, we headed off on foot to find Tacheles. Described in our guide book (the Rough Guide to Berlin) thus, ' a taste of Berlin artists' squatter culture is offered in the multi story counter-cultural workshop' the whole thing looked fascinating .

First stop was Hackeschen Hofe 'a series of elegant early twentieth century courtyards with stylish cafes and boutiques' (Rough Guide)

There are some fun shops including one specialising in Ampelmann ( the little chap from the East German crossing signs) nostalgia.I loved the pink saddle protectors on these bikes!

Next stop was a small art gallery where we had a look round and stopped for a coffee - there was an interesting line in taxidermy in the coffee shop

We continued up the street thinking that according to the map we should be able to spot our destination by now, but all we could see was a rather desolate abandoned building which was showing every indication that it was about to be pulled down. It couldn't be? could it? it was!

The now-abandoned and somewhat forlorn Tacheles building stared out at us and we stared back. After the first initial disappointment we spotted some items of interest

A sculpture here

some graffiti there - and finally the proof positive that we were in the right place although sadly we had missed the party! in all it was a bit of a wild goose chase

Postcards from Berlin 4 - On the East Side

On the second day of our visit the weather was as good, possibly even better than, the day before. Perfect for visiting the East Side Gallery.

The gallery is a 1.3 Km stretch of the Berlin Wall covered with political and satirical murals first painted in 1989 just after the wall fell. Time and weather took its toll so that the original artists were invited back to repaint their work for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall in 2009.

Despite notices asking them not to, individuals have added their own graffiti to the murals which unfortunately is mostly of the 'I woz 'ere' or 'Jonny loves Jane' variety, that doesn't add anything to the original works. I have not included the works where, as in this one, I felt the graffiti really detracted from them.

I thought long hard about how best to share the feel of the art on the wall with you and came to the conclusion that the best thing to do was to create a vimeo video. Watch it full screen - it really makes a difference to the experience!

East Side Gallery from Barbara Evans on Vimeo.

Photo Heart Connection March

“God’s in his Heaven -
Alls alright with the world”

— Robert Browning

The year's at the spring
And day's at the morn;
Morning's at seven;
The hillside's dew-pearled;
The lark's on the wing;
The snail's on the thorn:
God's in His heaven—
All's right with the world!

Extract from Pippa Passes by Robert Browning

This poem sums up what I feel about this month's Photo Heart Connection. As regular readers of my blog will know I have just returned from a short break in Berlin where we had a fabulous time. There was, however, one defining moment when everything came together to produce a sparking moment of joy and happiness.

I am currently taking James Baraz's course 'Awakening Joy'. A part of this is increasing your ability to recognise and savour joy in the present moment and just such a moment occurred during our trip. We had visited the East Side Gallery of the Berllin Wall ( pictures coming soon) and then stopped for lunch in the Hackescher Markt, a square containing a number of open air cafes and restaurants. We choose one, sat down to peruse the menu and I ordered a glass of Gruner Veltllinger, a wine I really like that not readily available outside Austria and Germany. So we sat there in the warm spring sunshine (you know, the first day when sitting outside is not any kind of ordeal because of the cold wind) in a square full of buzzing happy people and a busker began playing the trumpet (an instrument I love), and I just thought 'It really doesn't get any better then this!'

Postcards from Berlin 3 - from Stadt to Platz

On our way back from Potsdam and Sansouci we had to change from the Schnell Bahn to the U Bahn at Potsdamer Platz. This is not, as you might be forgiven for thinking, in Potsdam but in the centre of Berlin. Heavily bombed in the war, Potsdamer Platz was then bisected by the Berlin Wall although the only reminder of this now is a discrete sign on the ground.

When the wall came down a huge empty space was left in the centre of the city and this was quickly snapped up by firms such as Sony, DaimlerChrysler and A&T. Many of the buildings are considered iconic especially the Sony Centre. As we emerged into the platz on a fine March evening the light was ideal for photographing these buildings and getting a second wind we rushed round with the camera.

Click on the picture below ( multiple times) to view the gallery

What I love most about these pictures is the light and the reflections - so happy we arrived there at just the right time

Postcards from Berlin 2 - I should (ro) Coco

Day two. The weather forecast was set fair so we seized the opportunity for a fresh air experience and set off for Potsdam and the Palace of Sanssouci. the trip involved a 45 minute journey on the S Bahn and I have to say that the Berlin public transport system is just wonderful - so easy to get around. When we arrived a Potsdam the station was modern light and airy with great florists - I particularly liked these arrangements in jars.

Next it was off on the bus to Sanssouci where we were greeted by a flautist emulating the flute playing of Fredrick the Great who built the palace.

Fredrick commissioned the palace in 1745 because he wanted a place to live outside Berlin that was 'without worries" or 'sans souci'. It was to be a refuge from government and court life where he would spend time with music, literature and friends such as Voltaire. For this reason, although architecturally grand, it is a small palace with a mere dozen or so rooms.

Time to join the guided tour or rather tour with handsets for the different languages. Unfortunately they were the sort of handsets you have to hand hold which made listening to the commentary and taking pictures a bit of a challenge - but hey, I managed after a fashion.

This is a detail from one of my favourite rooms. I'm not usually very keen on too much gold but I really liked the gold and white here especially the spider's web

It worked for me in this room too. As you might imagine from the musical theme, concerts were often held here and the whole palace was bright and light

This room had a bit of a jungle theme going on and was, I think, the room (kept missing bits of the commentary due to taking photos) that Fredrick had redecorated as an insult to Voltaire after they fell out.

The last thing you see as you exit the tour is this portrait Fredrick the Great by Andy Warhol. It is based on one displayed in one of the rooms which unfortunately I didn't especially notice.

Back out in the garden it was time to explore the park and I have to say my absolute favourite things were these little pavilions,

first glimpsed through the trees

then come upon in their full glory. It took us ages to work out what these grey boxes dotted all over the gardens were, but we eventually twigged that they are winter sculpture protectors!

Next it was off for a walk round the gardens - Sanssouci is built on a hill on what was a vineyard. The vines are still there and make an impressive picture from the bottom of the hill. I used my iPhone and the XnSketch app to take this photo

Our walk through the grounds took us past the Chinese Tea Pavillion, unfortunately not open until May but a joy to behold.

It was decorated with gilded figures that carried on the musical theme from the house

Even the ducks were mandarin!

There is much more to see and do in Potsdam than we achieved in a fairly short day ( this break was not designed to include early starts each morning!) more palaces to visit, lakes and of course the town itself - I think it's Auf Weidersehen not goodbye!

Postcards from Berlin 1 - Willkommen

We have just returned from a five night break in Berlin, in some ways the most mysterious of European capital cities. It is a city where the traditional rubs shoulders with the avant guard, where art is king and above all it is a city that has to live with its past.

This is our second visit to Berlin. The first with our then 12 year old son was around 10 years ago. On that occasion we scurried around making sure we ticked off all the major sites: the Reichstag, the Jewish Museum, Checkpoint Charlie, the Pergamon Museum etc. This trip was to be less frenetic with time for art galleries, a trip out to Potsdam, and other attractions. with a main focus on the galleries. This however was not exactly what Berlin had in store for us.

The visit started according to plan. We had to get up incredibly early to catch our 6.30 flight from Gatwick, so after checking into our hotel we set off to have lunch in the food hall at the biggest and possibly the best department store in Europe, KaDeWe, which was just a short walk from our hotel.

Lunch at the grill counter was delicious and we felt up for a tiny bit of sightseeing despite our early start, so we visited the nearby Kaiser Wilhelm Gedachniskirche. Destroyed by British bombers in 1943 this crumbling ruin serves as a reminder of the destruction caused by war. Presumably it had gone one crumble too far as the scaffolding was up and we were unable to visit the remains of the nave as we had done previously.

The centre tower is the original church, at the front is the new campanile- not sure about the spire!

The new modern chapel with its stunning blue stained glass was open to the public however.

The floor was impressive too

When we came out of the church it was raining and we were feeling pretty whacked so we decided to go back to the hotel. Once there, that was it, and, unusually for us, we didn't even venture out for dinner!