berlin, du bist wunderschön

Bundestag

On the occasion of the travel industry trend merchants announcing that Germany has surpassed France as the preferred European tourist destination, I thought it was a good reason to hold a photo roundup from our vacation last week to the capital. 

Brandenburger Tor

While we were waiting to buy tickets to the observation deck of the fantastically retro-futuristic Fernsehturm at Alexanderplatz, there was a graphic display on how the TV tower compared to other tall structures with a view from around the world. 

Weltzeituhr, Alexanderplatz

All the listed sites from the Empire State Building to the Tokyo Sky Tree were charter members of some International Society for Tall Towers, which I though was some strange, bureaucratic and self-referential device (like the Institute for Wine Drinkery for one particular grocery store chain, which of course only recommends the store brands the chain sells and rates no outside vintages),

Fernsehturm with Neptunbrunnen

and that is what I think of these tourist rating bureaus. 

I am very glad that more people are appreciating Germany,

Siegessäule

though it is admittedly skewed a bit this year for Bavaria with the once a decade pilgrimmage to Oberammergau for the Passion Play this past Spring, but Berlin is not Paris or London and Paris and London is not Berlin, especially considering the affordable accessibility one has to all these fine things.

Gendarmenmarkt with Konzerthaus and Französische Dom

Berliner Olympic Stadium

Ishtar Gate on Museum Island

general zod

There is a certain cachet to arch-villains that the cadre of contemporary but quaking megalomaniacal leaders have failed to capture. I don't know if there is an annual gathering of the truly rotten and demonized heads of state, Leader and Guide of the Revolution, Dear Leader, Baby Doc, Protector of the People, Fidei Defensor, to coordinate and plan outright--or if such a summit falls under the guise of another. These bad guys are readily identifiable, like any well-drawn nemesis, and certainly have the tragic flaw of hubris. This much they are capitalizing on, not that the struggles and triumphs all around the world are some comic book adventure, but they, for one, do not admit to an equally matched opponent--which makes the revolution all the more impressive with the accumulated efforts of the people a more sturdy support than any super hero--and because or despite of this imbalance, these stubborn dictators are not the ultimate fonts of evil either.

Greed and rank hypocrisy of course punctuated their long reigns, but the source and inspiration and allowance surely lay elsewhere, just as the people draw their line in the sand, came to their tipping-point, not solely when this steady-state oppression became suddenly intolerable but also when outside pressures and influences made day-to-day existence even more of a struggle, exposure--the sieves of information, financial inversion that brought too much down on the markets, souks and bazaars. No outstanding credit is due, however.

princess kay of the milky way

There are many quaint and wonderful things that share the same constellation as the Dells in Wisconsin, including, hopefully the fortitude to not relent to corporate sponsored politics that would undermine the power and influence of workers' unions. Anything public and institutionalized, of course, can betray a spotted record, both in reality and in guided perceptions, and the produce of State employees is just as much exposed to scrutiny as the careless custody of funds and the plastic accounting of sophistry. Fighting for the venue to voice one's concerns is a bit more abstract than the actual workers' rights that might be later entertained, but this distinction is not lost on those who have stood with them, the solidarity of the region and the world and the politicians who have flagged due caution in fiscal-planning. Toppling entrenched and moribund regimes is a clear focus of rage and frustration, and though right to bargain and right to strike may be dressed down, dismissively--living in Europe, union actions and impetus are well-integrated components of any business and governance--that distinction is not lost either on those bravely fighting against bald and unmasked antagonists.

ich habe noch einen koffer in berlin

We are on vacation for the long weekend, and this time to the capital, to explore the strata of this multilayered, storied city.  Stay tuned to our little trave blog for upcoming developments.  For now, we have arrived in a shabby-chic hotel in the quarter of old Moabit, just beyond the buildings of parliment.  This area, bizarrely, was originally settled by French Hugonauts fleeing religious persecution.  One of their first enterprises after arriving was a venture for silk cultivation, but the Chinese white mulberry tree would not grow in the sandy soil of Berlin, which are the only trees that silkworms will spin their cocoons on, so they had to find another way to support their new community.