BERLIN STREET ART

Back in Berlin, and with a few days free before starting uni, I went along to a free walking tour that visits some of Berlin's street art. It is everywhere ~ walls, benches, train stations, abandoned buildings.. in short, anywhere and everywhere a paintbrush or spray can can reach. Most of the street art covering Berlin is illegally made, however a handful of them (the larger ones, usually) are commissioned - sometimes during street art festivals, or other art events that take place here in the city.

It was interesting to identify certain pieces with an artist. The astronaut below was done by Victor Ash, from a cherry picker. He divided the piece up into a grid and holding the square in his hand, used a spray can to paint the small section onto the wall, etc. Gives the effect of a stencil, but is actually hand painted. Impressive.

El Bocho and his "Little Lucy" series, all over Berlin, feature a cartoon girl killing her cat in miriad different ways. Eg ~ boiling it in soup, attaching it to a döner kebab spit, hanging it, etc. Sounds grim, but they are quite endearing/entertaining.

Yes, there is one token Banksy rat in Berlin. But apparently no others. Berlin is not the city to find Banksy, so it would seem...

^^

Street artist Blu: political street art "Brothers" unmasking each other / unmasking East & West Berlin (the E and W finger signs)

^^

This piece was painted by one man, standing on the ground the entire time with an extending paint brush. How did he manage to keep the lines so precise? I have no idea. Wow.

^^
Two of El Bocho's "Little Lucy" pieces.
1~ Drowning her cat / 2~ Döner kebab cat

KARNEVAL

Jana & I flew from Berlin to Bonn just in time for the start of Karneval - the annual week of festivities in Köln/Bonn to chase away Winter with bright costumes, German songs, happy spirits and a lot of Kölsch beer. Our costumes included princesses, peacocks, cats, Black Swan's and Little Red Riding Hood's, all with 10x more glitter than necessary.

After singing the same 10 songs for 5 days, I feel like I have prepared myself for studying in German. I also don't ever want to hear those songs again. Please.

Favourite Karneval drink: Klopfer. Little shots in different colours and flavours in tiny bottles.
1) Klopf two bottles together
2) Put the bottle cap on your nose
3) Shot

Viva Colonia!

MAUERPARK FLOHMARKT

Sunday afternoon spent at the Mauerpark Fleamarkets. Hundreds of stalls selling everything under the sun ~ art prints, maps, bikes, homemade honey, cutlery, and the berliner Jutebeutel (celeco bags). I bought one with zürück bleiben bitte printed across the from - words familiar to anyone who travels on the U-Bahn.

After browsing the stalls, we sat up on the hill listening to buskers and sipping on beer in the afternoon sun. I think I can definitely get used to this.

Tschüss

WOHNUNGSSUCHE

Bye-bye Budapest, hallo Berlin. After two weeks of traipsing around Europe, it was time to start organising Berlin.

First challenge: finding an apartment. Jana and I spent four days visiting apartments in a few of Berlin's districts. Some good, some average, some small, some expensive. A real mixed bag. Good news ~ we managed to find one that will be my home for the next 12 months, at least. As of next week, home is a shared apartment right off Bergmannstraße in Kreuzberg.
One very happy/excited Steph.

Second challenge: getting used to the U-Bahn. The map may seem confusing, but given half a day and the criss-crossing U- and S-Bahn's were a mystery no more. Pronouncing half the station names, on the other hand... Möckernbrücke, Schlesisches Tor and Gneisenaustraße, to name a few.

Wilkommen bei Deutschland!