The Love Empire
Well the holidays are here, and I think we've been more busy than when we were at uni! It's got a lot to do with the weather, with one beautiful 35 degree day followed by another! Rain? Snow? Cold? These words have fallen out of my vocabulary.
So on Saturday last week, the famous Love Parade was held again, after a two-or-so year absence, in Berlin. It was just surreal; imagine the mardi gras in Sydney, and then multiply it by 50! Thousands and thousands of people were gathered along Strasse des 17. Juni, the main road in Berlin Mitte that links the Zoo train station, the Siegerseule and Brandenburger Tor, with the Siegessaeule being the main attraction; around the monument stood about 6 stages, with huge speakers blasting out (crap) dance music. On top of every traffic light and lamp post stood ravers, sucking lollipops and dancing wildly! It really was something to behold!
The biggest thing that happened this week though, for me anyway, was that I just by accident found out that the Cat Empire was playing in Berlin! I found out on Sunday that they were playing on Monday! So on Monday we gathered a few people together and headed into Berlin for some Cat Empire action! Tickets were hard to come by, but the extra effort paid off in the end; the concert was just amazing. It was sold out in the end, with hundreds of people waiting hopefully outside the venue for tickets, but to no avail.
Because the place was so full, and it had been another 35 degree day, the three fans in the whole building had a lot of trouble keeping us cool. I think it's the hottest I've ever been; by the end we were completely drenched in sweat and I was able to squeeze liquid out of my skirt as if I'd just jumped into a swimming pool. The band themselves said it was the hottest gig they'd ever played! It certainly didn't affect their performance though... it really blew me away!
The Cat Empire has a cool tour blog; they describe the Berlin gig there, and there are a couple of photos, the sort where Luke and I went, oh yeah! We walked past that huge mural of Ronaldino! and yeah, that Berlin hip-hop crew busking outside the venue was really cool! Also, see if you can see Katherine and Mark in the photo of the crowd. Unfortunately the rest of us are just off to the left hand side of the photo =P
Luke and I spent Tuesday and Wednesday both recovering, and planning our next adventure; a day kayaking, picnicing and swimming with Claudi, her friend Christian, and my new Spanish flatmate Patricia and her boyfriend Ishmael. We left at 9am on Thursday morning, biking to the peninsula in the middle of Potsdam called Hermanswerda, where we hired out three 2 man kayaks and set off paddling around the city. About an hour later, we found a nice quite little beach, where we stopped off, had a swim and had a gormet picnic, baking in the 38 degree sun! Then we paddled back to Hermanswerda, put the boats back, then ran back down the wharf and jumped off the end, kodak moment style! It was so much fun; we felt like carefree kids again!
We rode to Christian's place to watch the Tour de France and have a little rest, before heading off again, this time to another lake in Potsdam, Heiligen See, where we had another swim at 9pm! We had a beer there, then headed home, tired but well and truely happy. I think it was the best day I've had here so far. A whole day of adventure and laughs with good friends... it was exhilarating, I really felt alive!
So to last night, and we had our last international student 'grill'. All the international students we met at the initial German course almost five months ago are preparing to go home...the time has gone so fast. It's strange to think that we've been here five months already; it feels so much shorter than that. Things are changing; the summer's arrived in full swing, our friends are going home, Katherine and her boyfriend Mark are galavanting around the Greek Islands, and Luke and I are leaving in less than a week on our mammoth trip around Europe.
We've done so much already, and still have so much to look forward too... what a life! I hope this blog finds you all (whoever you are!) well back at home, and that you're enjoying the Australian winter.
Photos of our latest adventures can be found here.
Bis naechstes Mal,
Ciao
So on Saturday last week, the famous Love Parade was held again, after a two-or-so year absence, in Berlin. It was just surreal; imagine the mardi gras in Sydney, and then multiply it by 50! Thousands and thousands of people were gathered along Strasse des 17. Juni, the main road in Berlin Mitte that links the Zoo train station, the Siegerseule and Brandenburger Tor, with the Siegessaeule being the main attraction; around the monument stood about 6 stages, with huge speakers blasting out (crap) dance music. On top of every traffic light and lamp post stood ravers, sucking lollipops and dancing wildly! It really was something to behold!
The biggest thing that happened this week though, for me anyway, was that I just by accident found out that the Cat Empire was playing in Berlin! I found out on Sunday that they were playing on Monday! So on Monday we gathered a few people together and headed into Berlin for some Cat Empire action! Tickets were hard to come by, but the extra effort paid off in the end; the concert was just amazing. It was sold out in the end, with hundreds of people waiting hopefully outside the venue for tickets, but to no avail.
Because the place was so full, and it had been another 35 degree day, the three fans in the whole building had a lot of trouble keeping us cool. I think it's the hottest I've ever been; by the end we were completely drenched in sweat and I was able to squeeze liquid out of my skirt as if I'd just jumped into a swimming pool. The band themselves said it was the hottest gig they'd ever played! It certainly didn't affect their performance though... it really blew me away!
The Cat Empire has a cool tour blog; they describe the Berlin gig there, and there are a couple of photos, the sort where Luke and I went, oh yeah! We walked past that huge mural of Ronaldino! and yeah, that Berlin hip-hop crew busking outside the venue was really cool! Also, see if you can see Katherine and Mark in the photo of the crowd. Unfortunately the rest of us are just off to the left hand side of the photo =P
Luke and I spent Tuesday and Wednesday both recovering, and planning our next adventure; a day kayaking, picnicing and swimming with Claudi, her friend Christian, and my new Spanish flatmate Patricia and her boyfriend Ishmael. We left at 9am on Thursday morning, biking to the peninsula in the middle of Potsdam called Hermanswerda, where we hired out three 2 man kayaks and set off paddling around the city. About an hour later, we found a nice quite little beach, where we stopped off, had a swim and had a gormet picnic, baking in the 38 degree sun! Then we paddled back to Hermanswerda, put the boats back, then ran back down the wharf and jumped off the end, kodak moment style! It was so much fun; we felt like carefree kids again!
We rode to Christian's place to watch the Tour de France and have a little rest, before heading off again, this time to another lake in Potsdam, Heiligen See, where we had another swim at 9pm! We had a beer there, then headed home, tired but well and truely happy. I think it was the best day I've had here so far. A whole day of adventure and laughs with good friends... it was exhilarating, I really felt alive!
So to last night, and we had our last international student 'grill'. All the international students we met at the initial German course almost five months ago are preparing to go home...the time has gone so fast. It's strange to think that we've been here five months already; it feels so much shorter than that. Things are changing; the summer's arrived in full swing, our friends are going home, Katherine and her boyfriend Mark are galavanting around the Greek Islands, and Luke and I are leaving in less than a week on our mammoth trip around Europe.
We've done so much already, and still have so much to look forward too... what a life! I hope this blog finds you all (whoever you are!) well back at home, and that you're enjoying the Australian winter.
Photos of our latest adventures can be found here.
Bis naechstes Mal,
Ciao
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