May Day 2012

This years May 1st was relatively peaceful, certainly it was on Oranienstrasse anyway. It was about 8 square blocks of closed roads with live music in the street. Great vibe and atmosphere. Local store owners setup temporary bar's out front of their stores, beer or mixed drinks for a fairly decent price. To those in Vancouver, dream on....

Wow, once again Berlin shows how a street party should happen. More photo's at the Flickr site.

Tschüss

The Krampnitz Base

Quentin Tarantino filmed "Inglorious Basterds" here and "Enemy at the Gate" was also partially shot here as well. Like so many sites in Berlin, the Russians took it over and scrubbed any hint of Nazi past off. Although there are bits here and there that suggest otherwise. Its a huge place and worth another look, perhaps when the weather is warmer as it was -7 when we went.

Yup, its a cold day.

I'm not sure if this is set dressing from Tarantino or original, either way quite impressive

This room really felt like a set. Tarantino could be just around the corner.

Cheers
Andy

Back to the brewery

I'm working on a design project right now and while researching "found materials" I revisited the abandoned brewery that I found here. Amazing place that needs much more time to explore.

I managed to find a room with some kind of brewing vat.

beer, joyous beer...

Triple glazing!

A different location but also showing some signs of use.

All for now
Andy

Winter turns to Spring

Winters grip is relaxing, springs embrace is here finally. I was warned that the winters here can be very cold, last year it was below 0 for months apparently. So I expected the worst but this year Berlin was spared the really cold days for all but about 2 weeks. Quite frankly I'm a little disappointed...

However when it does get cold it gets COLD.

Beauty and the beast.

Kollwitzplatz

Walking on a frozen lake.

The ice forms in layers and as the water level drops over a few weeks, interesting things happen.

The end is in sight, spring has sprung.

Andy

Random sights around the city

If I forget to bring a camera on any given day I know I'll miss something great... Fortunately I do remember sometimes:

Quite the entrance to this place.

At the end of U7 is an amazing ode to Art Deco. Spandau Ubahn station.

Hauptbahnhof, (main station), 5 stories deep. 3 layers of trains plus 2 shopping levels. Fritz Lang could have shot on location here.

Coffee shop with great artwork throughout.

A great example of the days when even a small bridge was deserving of curves and elegance.

Christmas in the main station mall.

That's all for now...
Andy