Swing in Berlin

Last night I went to Claerchen's Ballhaus, where rumor had it there's swing dancing every Wednesday.

Turns out the rumors are right! (Yay, internet!)

I was hemming and hawing for a while before working up the energy to venture out from my hotel, but I'm glad I did. It turns out that lindy hop is pretty much universal. Claerchen's is actually a restaurant too so when I walked in, there was a dance floor surrounded by full tables. However, there were some people lining up against the steps to the stage, and they sure looked like lindy hoppers to me.

I went to join them, and sure enough, pairs of people starting drifting away from the wall and onto the dance floor. I managed to get a few dances in, and there was even a short introductory lesson (in German) and a jam circle. Unfortunately, I couldn't stay long since I had another early morning session at the conference, but I got an invitation to the Friday night open-air dancing at the Strandbar, weather permitting.

I'll have to see if I'm up for it after my daytrip to Potsdam, but it was wonderful to see that lindy hoppers are super friendly around the world too!

The outside of Claerchen's, with a view of its cool beer garden.

Packing beer

It turns out that if you've just finished a conference, there are a ton of poster tubes laying around. I realized today that poster tubes are a wonderful way to pack breakable items - such as the German beer you bought for your husband. Unfortunately, they are too long to fit in a suitcase...

Sawing through a poster tube with a hotel butter knife. Keeping it classy at the Hilton Berlin! You can also see my failed attempt to fit the beer into a Chipslatten can (too short).

Worst dinner ever

The result of my trip to the mega-food market on the top floor of KaDeWe. On the left you see "Chipsletten", a Pringles knock-off. It's actually tastier than Pringles in my book, with spot on flavor but a slightly "meatier" chip texture that's more substantial to eat. The problem comes when you pick a flavor like "Creme fraiche" (sour cream) and combine it with the drink on the right, flavored "melonenlimonade" or melon. Either one on their own would be fine, but together they are not a harmonious flavor combination.

I'm working up the energy to leave my hotel room for a real dinner but it's not looking too promising.

Berlin: Ancient History and Modern Wursts

After hitting up the maze-like conference center and making sure I got my bearings for my 7 am session tomorrow morning, I got to go see some of Berlin.

I knew that I absolutely wanted to go see the Pergammon museum - and I was right, it was so worth it! Amazing archeological reconstructions that were just stunning. And HUGE!

The Pergammon altar, for which the museum is named. I wish I'd taken a picture of the friezes lining the walls of the room, which used to wrap around the outside of the altar, and depict the battle between the gods and the giants.

Oh well, that's what the internet is for:

(Not my photo). One of my favorites, it's got a lion gnawing on some chump's arm.

The Isthar gate was also jaw-droppingly beautiful and huge. Those ancient Babylonians really knew how to strike fear in the hearts of their visitors. This reconstructed gate was actually the SMALLER one. Crazy.

In other news, I had Pfifferlingscremesuppchen mit Knoblauchcroutons for lunch (try saying that three times fast!), and a vegan currywurst for dinner. Currywursts of the meaty sort are a Berlin specialty, and consist of a fried sausage covered with curry. I had to take two trains to find a vegan version, but it was worth it!

Gross generalizations about Berliners based on roughly 24 hours spent here:

• Everybody drives Mercedes, BMWs, and Audis. The cabs are Mercedes. Not as many VWs an I would have thought. Are Chevrolets then the luxury car here?
• My cab driver from the airport played sweet 80s techno remixes the whole drive into Berlin. I like to think this what all Berliners listen to all the time.
• German security guards are very serious about their business. I was told about five times between two museums that I was doing something wrong (coats have to be checked, no going out the same way you came in, don't sit like that on the bench, don't put your foot on the rail, no flash photography [that one was my fault, I didn't think to check my camera's settings first. Ok, they were all my fault, but still]) 

While it was nice going to the museums today, I'm glad I'm taking two days after the conference is over to do a proper job getting to know Berlin. I'm super jetlagged, and it was nice to go back to my hotel at a reasonable hour without worrying about trying to pack a few more hours of sightseeing in. Especially since I have that darn 7 am session tomorrow morning!