Berlin
May 5, 2011

We have this rule at my apartment building in Los Angeles, too. :( — We have this rule at my apartment building in Los Angeles, too. 🙁

Berlin is the single most grafitti-soaked city I have ever been in. I keep expecting to see graffiti on restaurant menus. I swear I saw graffiti on a baby. The Berliners do seem to like their graffiti.

Had a terrific day following young Kevin the Tourguide’s advice on fun neighborhoods to explore. I went to three of them, all in old East Berlin.

Then I grabbed a bite and went on to more touristy stuff – I do have photos to get, after all.

"Remember when that Jewish family paid us to hide in our cellar? And then Papa turned them in anyway and we got to keep their stuff? That was great." "Ich stimme. Jews always had the BEST toys."

I revisited the Jewish Holocaust Memorial. It’s impressive yet a bit troubling that the city of Berlin didn’t seem the feel the need to erect one until – wait for it – 2003. Seriously? Wow.

Yeah, it took them until 2004 to build a memorial in Berlin to the Jews murdered by the Nazis.

I also found the easily-overlooked memorial to the homosexual victims of the Holocaust. Some people may not know that thousands of gay men were sent to the camps along with other targeted groups – Jews, gypsies, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and members of other “undesirable” groups. The memorial was unveiled in 2008. It’s underwhelming, but I’m still glad it’s there.

The Gay Holocaust Memorial may be underwhelming, but I'm glad it's there.

I then took a stroll down to the busy commercial district of Potstamerstrasse and saw the godawful boring 3D movie Thor. Jesus what a dull movie. But then, I think most supehero movies are dull, dull, dull. The list of comic book movies I like is rather small:

Superhero Movies That Don’t Make Me Gag

Superman (1978)

Superman II (1980)

Superman Returns (2006)

The Dark Knight (2008)

Spider-Man (2002)

Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Iron Man (2008)

After the movie I took a stroll through the Tiergarten to get pictures of the monumental angel statue Siegessäule (1873) that was featured in that beautiful but boring movie Wings of Desire.

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5 based on 163 user reviews.

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Vilnius/Frankfurt/Berlin
May 2, 2011

Distance Traveled Today: 1035

Total Distance Traveled: 9934

Obama Kills Osama

Well, it took nearly 10 years, but we finally go the son-of-a-bitch. I just wish I felt better about it .

Why couldn’t we have apprehended him? Why did we have to pounce, commando-style, guns blazing? Wouldn’t it have been better for us, better for the world, to put him on public trial? Incarcerate him? Did the administration think it would make the USA look weak if we didn’t murder him? I don’t really get it.

This magnificent golden angel figured prominently in the very beautiful but excruciatingly boring film "Wings of Desire."

I also feel a tiny bit guilty for taking a bit of partisan pleasure in the fact that this victory happened on Obama’s watch. Good for him. Along with the exasperated release of his birth certificate last week, it seems to be a pretty good month for the President.

Memorable Accomplishments of Barak Hussein Obama

Getting elected, even though he was a black dude named Hussein
Passing his compromised yet still important health bill
Getting Bin Laden

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I made a pretty costly mistake regarding the inter-Europe flights. The weight allowance for baggage is sharply less than it is for intercontinental flights, and I got slapped with pretty vicious fees on the Brussels to Vilnius and the Vilnius to Berlin flights. I got pretty steamed, but it’s really my fault for not doing better research. If I’d known it would be so expensive, I would have found a way to ship one of my large bags by train or something from Brussels to Berlin. I’ll be more careful next time.

Uh, yeah. Because it worked so well last time.

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As queasy as it made me to fly on the very day Osama’s death announced, my two short flights were easy and boring, as you want all flights to be.

I got to Berlin and my hotel just fine, but quickly realize I’d made a mistake thinking the hotel was in a “cool” part of the city. It’s called Courtyard City Center, so it was an honest mistake, I think. I mean, doesn’t that sound good? But it turns out the “city center” – called Mitte – is a boring, strictly business-only district with few amenities and very little charm. The hotel is very definitely a business, not tourist, hotel.

But that’s okay. I made my way to the subway and after a little struggle figured out how to purchase a week pass. Public transportation is fantastic in Berlin, and with this pass I can easily hop around the city to get to the good parts.

Theres a lot of sort-of "post-Fascist" monumental architecture around Potsdamer Platz

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5 based on 300 user reviews.