Category Archives: Something Else

Photos From My Phone – April

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At the end of March I finally got around to upgrading my iPhone 3GS to an iPhone 5 and as a result I’ve been taking a lot more photos with my phone whilst I’m out and about in Berlin.

It was at the start of April that I really started to notice the sweet machines on the walls of the city.

Sweet Machine in Berlin

The ease of taking photos with my iPhone meant that I captured more of the interesting patterns in the city’s architecture like these coloured blinds contrasted against the concrete of a Kreuzberg building…

Colour Blinds in Berlin

…and a Plattenbau near Alexanderplatz.

Plattenbau at Alexanderplatz in Berlin

And I snapped scenes that caught my eye like these girls walking under the artwork in the U-Bahnhof at Schloßstrasse.

Artwork at U-Bhf Schloßstrasse in Berlin

A great new food event – Street Food Thursday at Markthalle IX – started in April in Berlin and means there’s more time to enjoy the incredible sandwiches, like this Beef Brisket, at Big Stuff Smoked BBQ…

A Beef Brisket at Big Stuff Smoked BBQ in Markthalle IX Berlin

…which I followed up with cocktails at Würgeengel.

Daiquiri at Würgeengel - a Berlin Cocktail Bar

I spotted this cheeky monkey on my way to take pictures of one of the huge black & white portraits in JR’s Wrinkles of the City project in Berlin.

Cheeky Monkey - Street Art by Unknown Artist in Berlin

As well as the JR exhibition at Galerie Henrik Springmann I would also highly recommend the Olympus OM-D Photography Playground at the Opernwerkstätten.  I took lots of photos of this wonderful installation by Korean artist, Jongmoon Choi.

Olympus OM-D Photography Playground in Berlin

Another consequence of taking more phone photos is that I have become more fond of Instagram and the breathtaking photos of Miss Underground inspired me to look for empty spaces in the Berlin U-Bahn like the exit at U-Bhf Klosterstrasse.

U-Bhf Klosterstrasse in Berlin

And finally, sunset season is well and truly underway in Berlin.  Seeing the pink skies out of my window I grabbed my phone and captured this sunset over Mauerpark from my balcony.

Berlin sunset over Mauerpark from my balcony

If you’d like to keep up with my continued exploration of Berlin in real-time follow me on Instagram.

The 1 Reason I Don’t Miss Berlin – GEMA

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GEMA Blocked Video message from a YouTube video

GEMA (Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs) is the music artists representative group in Germany and the iron fist with which it rules the music industry is the only thing I don’t miss about Berlin.

Anyone who has spent any time in Germany will have experienced the frustration of trying to watch a video on YouTube only to find out ‘GEMA has not granted the respective music publishing rights’.

Even videos uploaded by the artists themselves are often blocked.

A hatred of GEMA is universal and protests about increases in performance fees have been frequent in 2012.

GEMA Protest at Kulturbrauerei Berlin

Reasons Why I Miss Berlin #1 – Anything Goes (Pony on the S-Bahn)

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Pony on the Berlin S-Bahn train (screenshot from YouTube video)

I haven’t even been away from Berlin 48 Hours yet and I already miss the city. Where else would someone take their pony on the train?

Pony on the Berlin S-Bahn

Reports that a ticket inspector spotted the pony and told the owner ‘Hay, you canter ride with that on here’ are as yet unconfirmed.

Berliners it seems are almost immune to the idiosyncrasies of their fellow citizens.  Amongst other notable things I’ve seen on the U/S-Bahn in Berlin that no-one has batted an eyelid at: a man with a Fridge/Freezer balanced on a shopping trolley; a man sat in an armchair; a man dressed in stockings, suspenders, a top hat and tails.

Photos From My Phone – November

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Another new series on andBerlin, Photos From My Phone, is a monthly round up of some of the things I’ve seen and done in Berlin, many of which I won’t have blogged about.

If you follow me on Twitter or Like my page on Facebook you may have seen some of these snaps before.

So here’s a taste of what I got up to in November:

I saw this Street Art with some bears attacking the Fernsehturm by Bimer after brunch with friends at Café Aroma.

Bears vs Fernsehturm - Street Art by Bimer in Berlin

I took a quick snap of the Fernsehturm at night from Alexanderplatz.

The Berlin Fernsehturm (TV Tower) at Night from Alexanderplatz

I saw this graffiti – Wem Gehört die Stadt (Who owns the city) when I went for a burger at Burger de Ville.

Wem Gehört Die Stadt - Graffiti by Unknown Artist in Berlin

I went for some very tasty cocktails at Reingold.

Spirit Bottles at Reingold a cocktail bar in Berlin

A Daiquiri at Reingold in Berlin

And then onto a party at Adam’s (from Travels of Adam) apartment, where I saw this sticker on one of the doors in his building (it translates as sexist shit shit).

Sexistische Kackscheisse (Sexist Shit Shit) - Sticker in a Berlin apartment building

I spotted this picture of the Tempelhofer Berg, a proposed mountain on the site of the Tempelhof Airport whilst enjoying a great night out with friends at Rock n Roll Bingo at White Trash Fast Food.

A picture of the proposed Tempelhofer Berg (Tempelhof Mountain) at White Trash Fast Food

I went to see a friend of a friend, Thimo Sander, play guitar with German band Plan B at Postbahnhof in Berlin.

Thimo Sander playing guitar with Plan B at Postbahnhof in Berlin

Christmas Market season in Berlin started and I went to Schmankerl-Hüttn (twice), an Austrian ski chalet themed bar at the Winterwelt am Potsdamer Platz to listen to German Schlager, dance on the benches and drink beer and Jägermeister.

Queueing to go into Schmankerl-Huettn at Winterwelt am Potsdamer Platz in Berlin

I hope there will be another couple of trips to Schmankerl-Hüttn and other great nights out in Berlin on the cards in December.