GUTEN TAG!

Alright ladies a gents, we have the blog to end all blogs for you today! Natalie and I took a bit of a trip to Berlin this past weekend to check out one of my favorite bands perform on Saturday night. Tickets for Jack's Mannequin were only 9 euros so we had to go and they definitely did not disappoint! For those of you who don't know who Jack's is (and I'm sure there are plenty), they are a sort of alternative, piano rock group from California. Lead singer Andrew McMahon, is the former front man of another band called Something Corporate, which is equally as phenominal! He began Jack's as a side project in 2004 but was later diagnosed with acute lymphatic cancer. He began his treatment just as the bands first album, Everything in Transit was released and continued to write songs from the new album, The Glass Passenger. Thankfully, Andrew has made a full recovery and continues to inspire with his music! He has also begun the Dear Jack Foundation (http://www.dearjackfoundation.com/) which helps to fund cancer research and more specifically The Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation (www.pcrf-kids.com), The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (www.leukemia.org). If you have a second, please check out the links, Andrew is not only an amazing musician but an incredible human being who's strength is inspiration for us all.

Now, on with the story!

We left Paris in the wee hours of Saturday morning and were greeted by crickets chirping at the Orly airport. So, what does one do when waiting for a flight on little to no sleep... BLOW BUBBLES!


After about an hour and a half of having the annoying children from H-E double hockey sticks kicking the back of our seats, we arrived in the grey skies of Berlin!

BONUS VIDEO: Guten tag Deutschland!

Oh joy, a new city to get lost in... Sidenote: why are German words so frickin' long!

The tunnel to Narnia!
A quite, contemplative moment.... that's rare!
A naked lady statue in Europe... that's not rare!
The cool thing about Berlin is that when they decide to paint on a building, they don't hold back! We definitely came across some pretty wicked stuff!

We decided to try our first hostel experience and were delighted to find out that we were in fact actually staying in Switzerland... two countries for the price of one!

BONUS VIDEO: Checking in

Still can't believe it's happening!

Not only did the concert happen, but I have to say it was one of the greatest moments of my life. Music is such huge part of my existence on this earth and to be able to see Andrew and Jack's perform in Berlin was such an overwhelming experience... I have no words.

BONUS VIDEO: Here's a small snippet of the concert, sorry for the bad audio! if you want to check out more of Jack's Mannequin go here: http://www.myspace.com/jacksmannequin

If you like Jack's, do yourself a huge favor and check out Something Corporate too:
Something Corporate- Konstantine


After a crazy and overwhelming night out, we had a big day planned on Sunday to see as much of Berlin as we could handle!

We started the day at the The Fernsehturm or TV tower... look up, look way up and I'll call Rusty!

The tower itself was built by the GDR government of East Berlin but it was nicknamed by the western world as 'The Pope's Revenge' because when the sun shines on the Fernsehturm's tiled stainless steel dome, the reflection usually appears in the form of a cross. This effect was neither predicted nor desired by the atheist foundations of the Communist government, and their ongoing suppression of church institutions in East Germany.

Fountain in front of the Red Town Hall

More contemplation with the Berlin Cathedral over yonder
Close up of the Cathedral
Smoky the Bear?

Actually, the bear has been the symbol for the city of Berlin for more than 700 years. It was first used on official correspondance in 1280 and is still part of the city's coat of arms. When Berlin was divided there were two different bears on two different coats of arms. Nobody really knows for sure why the bear was chosen as the city mascot but probably because the German word for it "Bär" is quite close to the sound of the word Berlin.

The Bradenburg Gate

When the Revolutions of 1989 occurred and the Berlin Wall collapsed, the Gate symbolized freedom and the desire to unify the city of Berlin. On December 22, 1989, the Brandenburg Gate re-opened when Helmut Kohl the West German chancellor, walked through to be greeted by Hans Modrow, the East German prime minister.

These guys were the most frightening things we had ever seen! Just look at their eyes... soul less!
The Reichstag
The Holocaust Memorial

The memorial consists of a 19,000 square meter site covered with 2,711 concrete slabs arranged in a grid pattern on a sloping field. Eisenman, the architect stated that the memorial was designed to produce an uneasy, confusing atmosphere, and the whole sculpture aims to represent a supposedly ordered system that has lost touch with human reason.

We decided to finish the day at the Wall Museum by Checkpoint Charlie. The museum itself has so much information and has collected a lot of artifacts from the time while the wall was up. It was hard to believe that in our lifetime the city was still divided and only in 1989 was it torn down and all of Berlin was finally free.

After we arrived back at the hostel, we were plesantly surprised that we had the entire country of Switzerland to ourselves. So we partied like rockstars and hit the hay so we could get up and check out what is left of the wall at the East Side Gallery. The Gallery consists of approximately 106 paintings by artists from all over the world, painted on the east side of the Berlin Wall. It is possibly the largest open air gallery in the world. The first painting was started in December 1989 immediately after the fall of the wall.

Hey Denise, if we would have known you were visiting we would have looked you up... PS don't get caught with the spray can in your hand or red fingers!

Finally, we thought that in order for you to fully understand Berlin, you needed to know that apparently they have a love for random signs... we found some strange ones everywhere we went and here's what we think they mean:

No New York Yankee ball caps on the metro?... Other teams are perfectly welcome

You can in fact send a message in a bottle out of this metro car window?

No playing kickball, driving, or owning a house of any sort?

Beware, this zone has air vents that may cause skirts to fly up ala 'Marilyn Monroe'
Screw you Mr. Big and Tall... we're large and in charge here in Germany!

This one is for you Kent!

Apparently you must only do first aid on this seat of the metro!

Of course, there are the funny little traffic lights that Berlin has become famous for called Ampelmännchen, which means little traffic men. The Ampelmännchen is a beloved symbol in Eastern Germany, and is one of the sole features of communist East Germany to survive. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Ampelmännchen acquired cult status and became a popular souvenir item in the tourism business.
Well, that about does it for our weekend in Berlin. If you ever get a chance to visit, we definitely recommend it for it's cool, laid back vibe and of course the amazing selection of quality beer for a couple euros a pint! C'est incroyable!

STAY TUNED: My parentals are arriving tomorrow... that's right, you don't want to miss Lyle and Laurie in a foreign land, I guarantee it will be good times all around!