Monday 27 June 2011

Christoper Street Day Parade: Out and About Berlin, Germany

park in berlinThis past Saturday I joined thousands of people in the streets of Berlin for the Christopher Street Day Parade. The CSD is held in memory of the first big uprising of LGBT people against police assaults that took place in New York's Christopher Street in the district of Greenwich Village on June 28, 1969. It was a great day to be a Berliner, men and women, gay and straight, of just about every nationality were represented. I had an amazing time.

christopher street day berlin
I started my day with the best intentions, meeting a couple of my Berlin friends for pre-gaming at Das Teehaus im Englischen Garten close to Bellevue S-bahn. There was a quaint stage where local students from the musicschule (music school) held a concert showcasing different cultures. We sipped on Prosecco in the sun and I tried a Rhubard and Prosecco cocktail, which was lovely. The organizers of the concert clearly did not consider that it was also the day of the parade because right in the middle of some calm Vietnamese music, a monster remix of Gloria Estefans, "The Rhythm is Going to Get You", destroyed whatever ambiance they were trying to create. The floats had finally hit Berlin Siegessäule, which is one of the best spots to watch the parade.

She was right, the rhythm did indeed get us and we made our way to the parade route. I hooked up with a fellow travel blogger, Adam of travelsofadam.com ! Adam met us a fellow couch surfer named Alex who was from Brazil. We armed ourselves with our drinks of choice andmade our way to Brandenburger Tor while dancing about Berlin behind some of the last floats.

I bumped into a few other international people that I met from the Internationals in Berlin Meetup group, peed in a cup because there were no toilets in sight ( I had tissues and hand sanitizer, no worries), and took pictures with a host of interesting and beautiful people. Adam almost died and I was almost eaten by lesbians in assless chaps. After all the drinking, dancing, and excitment we needed to rejuvinate, so we hopped in a cab and made the journey to Kreuzberg in search of great pizza. We landed around Schlesisches Tor at Heinz Minki, an almost hidden beer garden with a two dollar entry. The pizza lived up to it's reputation, the dinner conversation was great, a Texan, a Jersey Girl, a youngin from Rio, a Berlin native, and some clown on LSD straight from a Bangkok. He didn't add much to the conversation, we just thought he was funny. With a full belly and soar feet I was ready for my bed. My comrades continued on to Arena, a nearby electro club with a 15 Euro entry. I passed and made my way back to the west.

I love Berlin in the summer! G-rated pictures can be found on my facebook fan page

7 comments:

  1. Peed in a cup?! Girl, you gangsta! lol :p

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  2. Yep, sure did. I mean we had been drinking for a minute and hell, I had to go. I had on a skirt and I am not one for splatter, so I went right into the woods with all the other dudes and handled my business. it was a proper emergency. I got looks and inappropriate comments but what else is new :)LOL

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  3. Hi, thanks for your blog, I love it. It's nice to find an expat blog that doesn't complain about expenses or things not being like back home hehe. I am a native New Yorker and recently moved to Oslo, Norway. My husband and I will be going to Berlin in August, I absolutely can't wait. I enjoy your posts, I just found the blog today; your experience with the dickhead at the tax office wasn't surprising. But I think your thoughts echo those of many expats. Sometimes the best idea seems to be to pack up and go ... but we know we'll just leave again hehehe. Love from the norf, Celeste

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  4. @womeninstrangeplaces thanks for the feedback! i am enjoy writing my experiences both good and bad. i love berlin and overall i see myself staying here for a while. the day i stop learning, is when i will back it up and find a new place :P Berlin in August, hopefully we will still have great weather. let me know if you need any pointers on where to stay and stuff to see. I have written a few city guides informally but nothing official. tell me what you are interested in and i can hook you up

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  5. Oh cool thank you :) Yeah we'll gladly take advice on where to stay. I have a crush on the Park Inn chains but it's out of our price range this time around for Berlin. We're the semi-quiet alternative types, always love a good loud club, but most of all we're museum freaks. The closer to a museum the better. There were a few places in Charlottenburg I was looking at online but I wasn't sure how close they were to the fun. I really like the neighborhood the Hotel Otto is in, for example. My husband has been to Berlin once before; I definitely want to wander around, go to some good parties, etc. Thanks for any tips :) Celeste

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  6. Charlottenburg isnt really 'close' to fun. But fun is easily accessible due to the many s-bahns and ubahns stations. Museums are located at museum island and I highly recommend the Jewish museum. have you considered staying at serviced flats. there are people who short rent their apartments out while they travel. on my two visits to berlin before moving here i stayed in one of those. found it on craiglist. just be careful, if it looks too good to be true it is. lots of scams. sometimes cheaper than hotels and you can cook if you want, to save money that way.

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  7. Ah, thanks for the tip! We've thought about the flats option but I'm wary of it for the not-fun reasons you've mentioned. We don't mind the extra cost for a reliable lodging situation at a hotel. I've been reading about Museum Island, looks fantastic. Is there anything else you recommend off the tourist-track of sights? Thanks again :) C

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