On The Streets of Berlin: Part Three

I know that many of you faithful blog readers were left in suspense with my last "On The Streets of Berlin" post. I promised to make my two-part series into a three-parter. So even though I touched on the highlights and landmark sights on the previous two posts, I will take this current opportunity to touch on the minutiae - The dear, the queer, and everything in the middle.

It's true. Berlin is very gay. So says my friend Adam who lives there now. Their mayor is gay (as is the mayor of Paris) and the travel guides associate a whole borough of the city as a gay haven. I went to a gay cafe one night. It was Elvis-inspired, in fact, all-American with a 50's jukebox soda joint motif. Well, I guess if anything is gay, it's got to be the 50's double-entendre hush hush homosexuality of 50's Middle America.

Dicki Miami, who my CMU friends also know as Richard Florida (once taught at Carnegie Mellon), wrote a book that incorporated the finding that gay cities are often more artistic, community-based, tech-savvy, environmentally-conscious, and cool than the rest of 'em towns. If the percentage of gays and lesbians in a city is directly proportionate to its coolness factor, then Berlin is as cold as an iceberg (I know, I know, they say this about their personalities too). And environmentally conscious. And eclectic! This is a coffee shop mecca, especially in the Kreutzberg area where I frequently ventured.

Another reason for the city's diversity is the large population of Turks. The reason is that may left Turkey for Germany in the 50s and 60s for the excellent job market. The Turks stayed and their population grew, and its probably the largest in a city outside of Turkey. And one of the legacies of this Turkish migration? Doner kabob! I didn't get to try it, but it's a Turkish version of kabob that is extremely popular there. I wonder, how many Germans would pick doner kabob over bratwurst and sauerkraut as their meal of choice?


Berlin is also a city of many fashion styles including lots of punk, granola, alternative, ska, and even Neo-Nazi chic (scary, I know) The hairstyles are particularly diverse. Although I wouldn't necessarily call a multi-colored mullet a thing of "coolness", the attempt to pull it off is definitely worthy of admiration.

I didn't go out at night to clubs in Berlin. I did, however, do karaoke. And boy, do the German youth in Berlin love karaoke. The set-up was box-hopping with four different karaoke rooms open to the public. Antonia, Adam and I settled in one for the evening, where we got cozy with a group of karaoke-regulars. Adam and I did some Salt and Peppa and Adam took his turn solo on Hall and Oats' "Rich Girl" and INXS' "The Devil Inside". We had a good time, but I knew the night was done when the drunk Germans started doing encores and I heard "Let's Get Physical" one too many times.

There are other things I did in Berlin that I haven't mentioned in this "Berlin" series. Like the unbelievable food department in the KaDeWe department store - the largest department store on the continent. Or the delicious muesli breakfast I had at the organic cafe next to Antonia's apartment. Or the kitschy traffic lights that demarcate former East Germany from the West. I originally thought a whole week in Berlin was a long time. It turns out that it was...but it was worth it. Lots of history, lots to do , and well, lots of attitude. Dufde wa?