Check point charlie

[darmstadt]

I've also never been a big fan of Berlin either, some of the people are very pretentious but there are some very interesting things about it. A while ago I stayed in the Holiday Inn in Berlin Mitte, originally in the East, which is a very mixed area. The hotel is actually owned by the bloke who owns the Babelsberg film studios so its full of film props. Just up the road as you come to the U-Bahn there is a currywurst stand which is always on TV as it reputedly the best one in Germany. But before you get to the U-bahn, just over the road there is a small building which has iron gates on it. This is the entrance to some of the tunnels below Berlin. They date back over 150 years and they're still finding new ones. A lot of it was a pneumatic dispatch system, some was used during the war and some was railway. Quite interesting.

The first time I went to Berlin was just after the wall came down when I met up with a load of old German punks from Kreuzberg where they taught me the art of 'chugging.' We bought 48 cans of cheap beer and sat on the top of a double decker slamming them and drinking them down in one, pretty crap really. The Zoobahnhof was interesting because everything was in German and Russian and it still acted as if it was back in the Iron Curtain days. If you like Jazz then go to Quasimodos, saw a great gig there with Fred Frith and if you like transvestites try the KitaKatClub.

[Bunk]

Don't take this the wrong way but I think Berlin is a great city for the younger crowd. Top nightclubs, big arty community, very trendy (and a bit pretentious). Probably not things you look for in a city.

[scooterscot]

Never really got Berlin, just not the place for me really, never thought that the area round Check Point Charlie there was that bad though but then I do live in Glasgow.

I'm no getting it either if I'm honest, it's dark history is everywhere you look. However the people make up for it they're very nice and approachable, I'm glad I'm here I'm glad I'm exposing myself to Berlin's history otherwise I may never have understood what really happened here.

[minestrone]

Never really got Berlin, just not the place for me really, never thought that the area round Check Point Charlie there was that bad though but then I do live in Glasgow.

[scooterscot]

Nice crop/cut job on your Brian avatar Scooterscot, which version of MS Paint did you use?

I used the Gimp of course... powerful and straightforward

[scooterscot]

There was a lot of roadworks around Gendarmenmarkt when I was last there. Kind of spoils the place a bit when there's metal fences all round the square

Here's what it looks like this evening

[Bunk]

Yeah its pretty crap and run down but go round the corner to the Gendarmentmarkt where theres a lot of nice food places and bars. Have you tried Berliner Weissbier with a 'schuss' yet?

There was a lot of roadworks around Gendarmenmarkt when I was last there. Kind of spoils the place a bit when there's metal fences all round the square

[darmstadt]

Yeah its pretty crap and run down but go round the corner to the Gendarmentmarkt where theres a lot of nice food places and bars. Have you tried Berliner Weissbier with a 'schuss' yet?

[Amiga500]

Nice crop/cut job on your Brian avatar Scooterscot, which version of MS Paint did you use?

[Churchill]

Glesga

Nedsville...

[Cliphead]

Glasgae...

Glesga

[threaded]

Some bits are rough, but there's some nice houses, and they've thrown up a few nice hotels in East Berlin in the last few years.

[Churchill]

It was more fun when they had real guns...

Them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them watching us watching them...

[cojak]

It was more fun when they had real guns...

[scooterscot]

It's like not how I thought it would be - feels like I've strayed into the east end of Glasgae...