Spring Fever and Wanderlust

May has gone by in a flash. From the very first day of the month, there was always something going on. The first of May meant a huge street demonstration in Kreuzberg, our neighboring barrio. I was told it was going to be big and crazy, and it did not disappoint. It's easy to get the impression walking around Berlin, that it's gotten pretty polished lately. There are posh boutiques and cafes in even the most traditionally modest neighborhoods, even in my neighborhood, Neukölln, which traditionally doesn't have anything you could call a "scene". Rent prices are rising fast. These days you have to look a little harder to rent a room in a shared flat for less than 200 EUR a month (including utilities naturally). Even beer prices are skyrocketing, well above 2.50 EUR for a half liter in some bars and clubs! With these sorts of developments as well as the gentrification of Kreuzberg and the former Eastern districts, it's easy to think Berlin is fast loosing it's poor, punk edge.

The First of May celebrations, however, convinced me that Berlin is still keeping it weird. Berlin's very handsome and openly gay mayor Klaus Wowereit infamously stated that Berlin is "Poor but Sexy". May Day proved him right, my goodness there are a lot of good looking young people in Berlin! Of course, I only took pictures of the weird ones, who were out in full force. As far the part about being poor is concerned, my roommate confirmed that when she told me that she, earning net 1,500 EUR a month, belongs to the highest earning 20% of Berlin's population. That doesn't seem to keep the population down too much though, because at least for the moment, life remains dirt cheap in Berlin.

So, while I did not see the open warfare which I have been told often breaks out on May Day here, I did see a wild group of people, lots of near altercations, and many many many riot police. I was told that there were up to 8,000 police on duty, including a special Anti-Konflikt team. It was strange to see people pushing their baby strollers past the groups of police in full riot gear. As we did not care to see for sure if violence would indeed break out, we did as all nice kids on May Day, and got the heck out of there before nightfall. Here are some pictures of the scene for your enjoyment.

The Scene on Kottbusser Tor. Imagine loud socialist hip-hop in Spanish (the language of left in Europe it seems) to complete the scene.

Lots more people on Oranienstr. Less militant and more curious onlookers.

Aren't they lovely?

Barely managing to stay upright, and looking good doing it.

I nice little line-up, Anti-Konflikt Team on the job.

Now that you've had a taste of down and dirty Berlin on May Day, I'll write about a different sort of German experience. Train travel in Germany is notoriously expensive. A two hour trip which would cost you 4 Euros in Italy, costs 100 Euros in Germany. There's one little exception to this rule, the Schönes Wochenende Ticket, a wonderful ticket for a poor student (or TA) and four of her friends which allows her to travel as much as she wants in Germany on a Saturday or Sunday for only 35 Euros. Split between five that makes for pretty cheap travel. One catch is you've got to use regional trains, which more than double the time your journey takes. No problem for us though, we're in no hurry. On this past occasion, we set out for a little place called Quedlingburg, which is a town so old, not a building in the place stands up straight. Some of the houses were so narrow, people with a more generous modern girth would have a hard time turning around in them. I'll spare you too much more talk about it, and just get to the pictures...





My final adventure this month was also the greatest. When Alex came to visit, I planned a surprise for his birthday: a trip to Italy. I got a good deal on tickets to Pisa (cheaper than a German train), and since that was near the area I'd been farming in a couple years ago, I knew a couple places to go. I decided to revisit Cinque Terre where I had lost my camera on my first Italy trip, and to visit Lucca, a place I'd never been. I got Alex to pack his bags for a 6 day trip to Hamburg, but when I got him there I gave him the tickets and we flew to Italy the next day. It was all very exciting. I think again, the pictures say it best.

Pisa

Lucca

Aren't they just so Italian?

Cinque Terre

Riomaggiore, the town we stayed in on our last night