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I have been spending lots of time these last few days trying to track my experiences in Berlin thus far using my Blackberry, connected to Twitter via Google Talk IM, because all my of my friends want me to journal my first experiences. So, you can read about my experience in reverse-chronological order below of stalk me real-time over at http://twitter.com/chrisabraham
Biked over to Mark's best friend's, Frank Merfort's, house for some lunch of pasta. He'll be my best German friend, too. Good morning, Twitterland! I am still on Eastern time whilst living la vida CET It is 6:55AM CET and there is only a hint of morning in the sky. Still night out, really. Guten Nacht Twitterland! I have just arrived at the station. 200m from bed! Berlis reminds me of the accessible city that DC used to be in the 80s The pedestrian bridge is frosted. My feet skitter. Icy. I hear train departures being called in the distance Walking over GORGEOUS pedestrian bridge linking the park adjascent to the Reichstad to the Hauptbahnhof. Sweet. So well-designed (for me) "DEM DEUTSCHEN VOLK" *Doing my Chris is awesomeness dance* Ah! I see the Reichstag! I am almost home! I am a bloody homing pigeon Call me a terrible tourist but I am in a giant "tent" made of the Sony Style store and CineStor IMAX. All blue and tenty I am lucky because the main railway station, Hauptbahnhof, near my flat, throws search lights all night long into the sky like a bat sig ... ... It is cold and foggy and damp in Berlin but a walking lifestyle gets you warmed-up There are lots and lots of street-walking prostitutes in Berlin. More obvious in the cold when most are at home Very foggy night in Berlin. Fog is cold and clammy and chilling Finally left the cafe-bar. Worked all day there. It is now almost Midnight CET. I have an hour walk home. @bronwen I hate to disappoint, but I am still all Werk and no play here in Berlin... just in a sexier city, is all. Still not a sexier man. I have hunkered down with a "lox and cream cheese" sandwich and coffee at SCHNEErot Cafe at Winterfelderstr 36: http://www.schneerot-bar.de/ Near Nollendorfplatz U-Bahn station. Heading back into Tiergarten. Still walking about. Now, to the cafe. To hit the wi-fi. MobTwittering via Google Talk on Blackberry Corner of Spreeweg and Grosser Stern. There are loads of "80s" haircuts. Lots of balding young men with long hair. Don't they see how thin their forelocks are? Berlin is a city of nerds: all math club, chess club, D&D, and metal-heads It is nice enough out here in Mitte, Berlin, to sit by the river in my coat and answer mail on the Blackberry. Berlin is blue, sunny, but the sun lays super-low in CET. Good -- brilliant -- photo light, however Okay. Did laundry, dishes, breakfast, now walking through Hauptbahnhof. Towards the cafe. To work a whole day. I seem to be over my illness today. That was quick. Very odd: chills, cold sweats, fever, cough, then done. I have not been Twittering about my fly Berlin life because I think I am flirting with being sick @susanreynolds Mark, my buddy, doesn't return until May, 2008! Does anyone have any advice on a 3G phone with a good digicam (no need for flash) that I would be stupid not to buy. Gonna check Flickr. @susanreynolds I can't take a photos, unfortunately, because I gave my Nikon s50 to my buddy for his trip to Mauritius. Oh well. @mosqueda My lovely e39 BMW 530i lives with my mom in Arlington... God, I would love to have that car here but I am 100% bike and foot. @trishussey I have not eaten a proper "Berliner" yet and I think I will go hunt for one tomorrow & eat it near where Kennedy spoke the line @hansdekker I was living with my friend Marlise Mensink and attending a Feminist Summer School and taking trips to Russia and Finland! @Josielle Yes, I am in Berlin and you're welcome to use "du" with me! All of you! No camera. Gave it to my mate who moved to Mauritius I have been home for over an hour Fuck. I live in fucking Berlin. Fuck. Wait, I had doner kebabs back in 96 when I lived in Utrcht, Nederlands I have stopped for my very first doner kebab since I went to college in the UK The electronics store "Saturn" makes Radio Shack look like nothing. What an amazing source! Arrived at the "Cosmonaut"/"Sputnik"-inspired "World Clock" sculpture. Very "futuristic" Arrived in Alexanderplatz. Lots of people. Very German city. Very alive. Unlike DC where downtown is touristy: Berlin is Berliners The Berlin TV tower, in this low-cloud climate, is sinister. And also obviously phallic I am standing underneath the Berlin TV/radio tower. Massive. Impressive. A little evil. Menacing Every once in a while the streets of Berlin smell like "porta potty." But not urine like NYC. @mmcallen if we were all naked all the time I am sure people would be generally more fit. :) @mmcallen During the summer, I think that all Germans actually are naked The Radisson/SAS hotel bar is crowned with an entire aquarium. Surreal. Bizarre. Rooms open up to fish. Inside the aquarium, a lift rais ... ... Berlin is going smoke-free in Jan 2008 Taking a break in the Radisson/SAS for some water, some coffee, and a bit of scotch. Stumbled upon a shuttered carnival called "Berliner Weihnachtmarkt" Told I should try Currywurst. Just had one at Opernpalais Cafe. Delicious but not my bag. Maybe not the best place. Good to try. Berlin ... ... Standing before the Deutsche Staatsoper. Bugatti Veyron 16.4: W16 engine. 1001hp. 250mph/407 km/hr. Blue and black duotone. Suede dash At the Bentley dealership at Friedrichstrasse & Unter den Linden: a real Bugatti Veyron. Much smaller than I though a 250 mph car might be. Now the voice in my head is Coast-to-Coast AM podcast. Or, maybe aliens. I am on the broad boulevard of Under den Linden. Broad, glistening, touristic, new money. Former East. I am walking under the steely haze of Central European Time (CET) I walk along with buds in my ears. Garrison Keillor the voice in my head: Writer's Almanac podcast. Life is too short and love too precious to save kisses for the bedroom. Men and women shamelessly kiss in the street in Berlin. I love Berlin. I love this show of affection. Why not? German women have inassailable cheekbones I cannot see the radio tower across the city: there is fog in Berlin Poem excerpt: "even minor prophets can have major revelations." Who was it? Finally out of the house. Heading towards Hauptbahnhof. Then maybe to Alexander Platz Wow, it says it is 43F -- perfectly balmy here.. must get out ASAP... Berlin is more interesting than bloody SEO Okay, time to showe and head out into overcast, 1 degree Celcius Winter, and have one heck of a nice walk through Tiergarten It looks like it should be loads of fun today, even though it has dropped from 36F to 34F. Oh well. I am tough. But I will be getting loads of walking in, I hope to. Since I have had such a stellar breakfast of liverwurst, lox, bread, meusli, butte ... ... I am finished with breakfast now. I plan to look for a 'Dutch bike' and I will bring my laptop along and maybe get a 1/2 day of work in ... ... Boiling eggs for later. Sipping coffee from my orange DeLonghi Nespresso. Cool bit 'o kit @brendajos In my defense I am GMT +1 so I am awoke at 11AM Time to git up, make some espresso, and eat traditional breakfast: brot, kase, butter, muesli, milch, etc! Good morning Twitterland More from M, "I'm here and have internet working on my phone at least. Now I have to get it working on my machines so I can get working." From M, "I made it. Delays in Paris and a difficult, inexperienced immigration guy who made my entry take a couple hours." @PaytonGlass Well, it was 36F today and overcast with a light drizzle that periodically turned into a flurry of snow. Follow My Twitters to Stalk Me in Berlin http://tinyurl.com/24xnee @Josielle No Bugatti, no autobahn, just a wax jacket and sturdy boots. Well, also a used bike and lots and lots of fahrrad-friendly streets @ghbrett German, Berlin, is amazing. I already have dinner parties to attend. And, work starts for me at 3PM since I am GMT +1: 9AM EST @bronwen How is German migration going? Well, I am registered and have a cute immigration lawyer named "Sabine" who is going to help me stay BBC World Service is 90.1 FM in Berlin: English! I brought Prosecco and they had salmon with a shrimp sauce and rice. Claudia was sick but so funny. Met their boy Shopped at Hauptbahnhof for dinner but Frank and Claudia invited me for dinner at their home. Hauptbahnhof has every sory you need and it is across the street from my flat. Cool Walking along the river. Walking along a broad parh. Tourist boad groaning along Walking through the Tiergarten to return home. Very dark and spooky but safe. I am also a scary man, myself A whole day of work at the cafe. Now, home. Lehrter Strasse! After Indian, drinking coffee and working from SCHNEErot cafe: Winterfelderstr. 36, 10781 Berlin Dogs are allowed INSIDE restaurants in Berlin -- I *love* that Eating at an Indian restaurant called Amrit in trendy part of Berlin. Food is cheap here At corner of Einemstrasse and Lutzowplatz I think I am in the middle of Berlin's "Embassy Row". Lots of prickly fences At the corner of Tiergartenstrasse and Hildebrandstrasse I might consider buying a Dutch bike today: join the masses. "Bitte die Tur wegen Kaninchenplage geschlossen halten!" The heavy iron gate around the rose garden is to protects against a "plague of bunnies" Tiergarten is dog-friendly: off leash. No culture of picking up poop so watch your step Trees in Berlin are mostly barren. The snow has turned to light rain There are winding paths and mirror creeks carving up Tiergarten. Pedestrian bridges and no road noise Berliners like being naked as oft as possible all summer long. Saunas are not single-sex, neither spas. Or pools. Tiergarten isn't the only park. Berlin has many forests and lakes and ponds: all clean and swimmable Like Central Park, Tiergarten is developed with cafes, little gardens, restaurants, sports spaces Tiergarten is an expansive park. Similar to Central park but larger. Used to be a hunting preserve. Walking past the Reichstag (sp?) and heading into Tiergarten. Snowing! Mark is off to Mauritius. We're off to the airport. I will be solo in Berlin in 20 mins! I have a Sierra Wireless MC8775 HSDPA card in my Lenovo (ATT) and want it UNLOCKED! Does anyone know about SIM unlock codes? It is weird to sleep from 4AM-11AM -- mirroring GMT -5 All-Work Sarurday in Berlin http://tinyurl.com/2el7pk Is all good here in Berlin. It just snowed a little So, now I can Blackberry Globally! Just set up my Blackberry for unlimited Data in Europe! Still up and it is 4:30 AM GMT +1 A Registered Resident of Berlin http://tinyurl.com/27d9rv Living a Neu Life in Berlin http://tinyurl.com/259vrf At a cafe waiting to order. Ordering Wiener Schnitzel because I am still a tourist Just met with my German immigration lawyer. Had drinks with Oren Michels in Berlin I love being in Europe -- I get to spend a morning doing things and it is 9AM in NYC at 3PM in Berlin Dropped bikes off for repair. On U-Bahn heading back to Hauptbahnhof @cc_chapman very good experience so far @cc_chapman Alles Klar. Doing well here. Even shitholes have good cheap food. U-Bahn and S-Bahn. Just finished a very huge Spanish breakfast in a cafe in Prenzlauer Berg in Berlin I am still in Berlin. Got a bank account. Today, registration I got to see my very first Bugatti Veyron in person in a Bugatti dealership here in Berlin. Sweet little cruise missile. Awake at 6 AM Berlin time. Behind at work. Adjusting to Berlin life. Bizarre I plan to blog about my experiences on cabraham.com I am taking my first walkabout in Berlin today I am moved to Berlin! Minus all of my checked luggage
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