For some reason my wanderings in Berlin brought me again and again to Friedrichstraße. I guess I feel somehow drawn by the big bookstore Dussmann and therefore happen to circle around this area whenever the circumstances permit it. Although this time the reason for my being in the area was not the bookstore itself, the bookstore is certainly one of my favourite places in Berlin. The others include: Café Chagall also in the vicinity of Friedrichstraße, the Martin-Gropius-Bau, which is probably my favourite and most frequently visited museum in Berlin and of course the English language cinema in the Sony Centre at Potsdamer Platz. In summer I also like wandering the flea markets, the Strandbar at the Bode Museum and a few other odd places here and there, but ultimately it strikes me that it’s mostly the tourist spots I like about Berlin. I guess I never really found a proper connection to a somewhat “more real” life in Berlin. It’s no surprise when one lives in a neighbourhood as uninviting as Wedding. I was much happier when I lived in Moabit, but of course one only realises such things in retrospect. The dark and gloomy winters are also part of the problem of living in Berlin. Half of the year seems to disappear in darkness and cold there and I can’t count how often Berlin made me long for a more tropical climate in which seasons don’t make that much of a difference. Did I really spend almost 3 years living a tourist existence? I guess not, since my health and in part the weather interfered even in that, but on the whole it seems a rather fitting description of my life in Berlin. I guess it’s time to pack my bags and move on.
All pictures taken with: Olympus Pen E-PL3 and Panasonic Lumix 20mm f/1.7 ASPH.
© Lilly Schwartz 2014
Strangely enough this situation was much more harmless than the picture looks. He was only pestering her like a little sister and when he stopped she just stayed there with him as if nothing happened, laughing and joking. Maybe they were really relatives or classmates or something like that.
© Lilly Schwartz 2014
© Lilly Schwartz 2014
© Lilly Schwartz 2014
Yep, sometimes everyone notices.
© Lilly Schwartz 2014
© Lilly Schwartz 2014
I love how some people completely ignore that bikes are not permitted on the subway.
© Lilly Schwartz 2014
Looks like ballet to me!
© Lilly Schwartz 2014
© Lilly Schwartz 2014
A rather fitting picture of Berlin. Even 25 years after the reunification Berlin is still one big building site. I doubt that they will ever finish their mission of ultimate uglification, although obviously they are always making good progress on that front. The most beautiful neighbourhoods are still those that escaped complete destruction during the war and the architectural atrocities in the wake of the reuinification.
© Lilly Schwartz 2014
Somehow I can’t imagine how the position of those feet on the left translates into a comfortable carrying position. Very strange.
© Lilly Schwartz 2014
The signs say: “For more beer, for wine. At least we are honest.”
© Lilly Schwartz 2014
I enjoy taking pictures of people in shop windows, especially when there are mannequins with real people next to them.
© Lilly Schwartz 2014
A little bit of her nose still shows. Probably not on purpose.
© Lilly Schwartz 2014
It says: “Border experiences. Everyday life of the division of Germany”.