Re-re-re-building Berlin

For those of us that thought New York is the only city that keeps tearing things down to build them back up again, Berlin’s an excellent example. Berlin seems to have been a construction site for the last 200 years (if not more), having grown much more rapidly than other European capitals and essentially exploded with [...]

Podcasts

I am a new convert to the world of podcasting. I use a website called Mediafly, on which you can select the podcasts you want to download, and then it automatically synchronizes them to your mp3 player through a client provided by the site. I know iTunes works similarly, but I am trying to prove [...]

My wards

Ulrike’s balcony, with plants
Originally uploaded by thenewyorker

I thought I would post a picture of the little guys I’m living with right now. I am taking care of my friends plans while she’s away. They’re very quiet, easy-going and without many demands.

The Classics in Berlin

After the production of Tartuffe which I mentioned earlier, I saw The Cherry Orchard at the Schaubuehne last night. It wasn’t necessarily a great production, but it reminded me how little classic theatre we see in New York, where we spent most of our time watching plays that look very similar to what we get on [...]

Tartuffe at the Deutsches Theater

Tartuffe has been fairly popular recently, with religious fanaticism being such a current issue. (And unlike Voltaire’s Mahomet, you can still do it with immunity). Ironically, this production does little to emphasize the contemporary relevance. Its Tartuffe, Robert Gallinowsksi, is neither charismatic nor… fanatical enough to constitute a real menace.
It is the weakness of Orgon, [...]

Fahrschein bitte!

In New York, as in London, Paris, and Chicago, there are turnstiles at the entrance and exit of each subway station. Berlin functions on an honor system: you buy your ticket right on the platform, but you don’t actually need one to board a train. There is a small army of U-Bahn employees, however, that [...]

What happened to Die Drei?

Volkspark Friedrichshain
Originally uploaded by xiuh

Yesterday, I came back to Berlin after only four months to find out that my favorite cafe is closed. You can imagine the disappointment. I spent so many afternoons there each time I was in Berlin. And their breakfast was just a great idea: Instead of preset combinations, they gave you [...]