kieken in berlin

On the door of my flat hangs a postcard with the skyline of Berlin and the text: "Du kiekst hier, ick wohn hier". I guess it's some kind of old/dialectical German and I suppose it's kind of laughing with the tourists. Glad I "wohn" here too :)




Last week I did some "kieking" in Berlin after visiting the Alte Nationalgalerie. You know, the one I wanted to visit when I accidentally wound up between the Roman and Greek pots and helmets in the Altes Museum.
The AN is pretty cool, even though only two of the three floors are open to the public (still lots of renovation works going on). Lots of nice statues and paintings - some cool impressionism as well.

This is Berlin as well, even in the touristic heart of the city (picture taken on my way from the Museuminsel to Unter den Linden. Some kind of old subway entrance or an old pedestrian passage. Very cool, actually :)




Huge Bionade advertisement on the front of the Humboldt University on the Bebelplatz. Bionade is a big softdrink brand here - and it tastes actually very good. It's pretty expensive though. Funny thing: it's not simply "made", but brewed, with the same production methods like beer which results in a delicate, natural taste. If you want to look hip and organic in Germany, you drink bionade. I stumbled on this newspaper article, which tells me that dr. Oetker has bought a major share in bionade and wants to take it international. Maybe it'll show up in our supermarkets in Belgium soon as well.

An iconic sight of Berlin - the Fernseheturm from the Bebelplatz, with the corner of the Deutsche Staatsoper on the right. The tower is one of the main skyline items of Berlin, and a very practical landmark as it's right next to Alexanderplatz. Can't ever get lost in Berlin.



The inside of the entrance to the Staatsbibliothek. Also lots of renovation work going on here. Stones were pockmarked with bullet- and shrapnel holes, as are many of the historical buildings there.











Inside of a free art gallery, the Temporäre Kunsthalle Berlin. Was, erm, interesting :) The gallery is located on the grounds of the old Palast der Republik. On Google maps, you can still see the demolishing going on, now all that remains is a big grass field with wooden walking paths and some parts of the foundation. There is also some information about the history of the PdR like the asbestos contamination and about the plans to build a replica of the former Berlin Stadtschloss, which was situated there.

Picture of some remnants of the PdR foundations, with the Temporäre Kunsthalle Berlin on the background and part of an information board on the front.










Berliner Dom with yet again the Fernseheturm. Hard not to get that one on picture :)







Crappy picture quality? Yup, I leave my trusty old Canon A95 at home most of the time, as it is simply too heavy and cumbersome to carry around all the time. And besides, I don't like the tourist look. So my two megapixel Nokia 6300 it is. I like the gritty, washed-off-color pictures. Kind of fits Berlin. And actually the quality of the pictures doesn't matter that much, it's what is on it that counts.
You must've noticed I use google maps a lot. That's because it is properly awesome! It has very high-resolution satellite images and a precise naming of streets, places and landmarks for Berlin and I use it all the time to check out a place before I'm going there. Now if only they had the street level view here too, I'd never have to leave the apartment. Hmm.