Bitty Berlin

A little bit of Berlin.

October’s Oktoberfest

It’s October. That means that the annual celebration of beer and pretzels in Munich just ended.

Many probably imagine huge beer mugs and smiling happy people. I saw a lot of that. I also saw a lot of this:

Support

The Erotic Side of Oktoberfest

The Tragic Side of Oktoberfest

Isolation

Gross!

A little sleepy

There was also a bit of fine fashion on display:

Wolfgang poses in his sleep. He's a natural.

Quite a poncho

Butts Abound

Obligatory Thick Socks

Mr. Fun

Not to say there is no fun to be had:

The Devil's Wheel

Catch Oktoberfest next year from September 18th – October 3rd. Prost!

Mannequin Madness

I like finding mannequins in random places.

I'm a stranger.

Today in Germany

A glimpse of what the folks in Germany are up to today..

"I am an ass"

An advertisement (?) or warning against getting a yellow card on the public transportation system.

“I am an ass”

Nesting time?

Patiently waiting..with socks

Off to the market

All alone

Back of the tram

Someone’s dwelling

Another abandoned building

Another dry fountain

Let’s do colorful patchwork on the place

Lost moments from Berlin

Big head

We were walking to a bar and passed this huge window – it was for a funeral home – someone said, “That’s a big ass angel head.”.

Philistines

Would you want to see that  every time you came home?

Dermatologist tested

Actual body food

The triple ball action you’re seeing is mashed potatoes.

Görlitz

Baby monster thing

Old school

City center..?

Sadly, another dead East German city. Feels like a ghost town.

Schnee = Snow

Fortress. Königstein.

Fortress on the hill

Not far from the Sächsische Schweiz is the fortress Königstein. To get to the top of the mountain we took an old school bus for about 20 minutes. At the top there are a lot of tourist standing around for tours or waiting to buy tickets. They give you the option of taking a glass elevator made into the side of the mountain (for a fee) or the walking up. I chose to take the elevator – the cashier told me the view on the walk up is very nice – for some reason she convinced me by just saying that and we walked up.

Guarding a fortress might not be too bad

The fortress used to be used as a state prison – and it’s pretty solid, so it was also where money and artwork from the Zwinger in Dresden were stored & protected.

I guess it’s a nice daytrip if you have a tourguide – because then they let you see this room that was used for receptions and royal occassions and there’s a table that rises from the kitchen below which is inside of a larger encircling table. Hard to explain, but interesting to see nonetheless.

Sexy Schweiz

I’m not talking about the sexy Swiss people..

Just living

I’m talking abouta really cool region in Saxony called the “Saxony Switzerland” – die Sächsische Schweiz.

die Elbe

You can take a regional train up there and hike around, have an ice cream,  paddle a boat down the river Elbe, or bike down. It’s beautiful and mystical if it’s foggy out – and refreshingly pretty on a clear, sunshining day.

Climb that..

There are all kinds of local restaurants serving up German dishes and smaller stands with quicker hand held foods like currywurst, french fries, ice cream, and plain old wurst. Yum.

Radeberg!

The unfiltered variety

This week we took the group to the Radeberger brewery in guess which city..Radeberg.

Radeberger boasts that their beer, a pilsner, is the first pils to be exclusively brewed in Germany. They exported for awhile, but stopped and they now focus on the German market.

I think Radeberger is a little too bitter – but on their tour they let you try their unfiltered pils which is only available at one restaurant in Radeberg and the brewery itself. The unfiltered isn’t as bitter, but isn’t as crystal clear as the filtered. I mention this because they pride themselves on the crystal clearness and flawlessness of their beer.

It's a beer disco!

At the end of the tour you sit in a sterile white room that looks like it could be the operating room of choice for an anal serial killer. Even the beer assistant that pours everyone a sample wears a long black leather apron. That combined with the ever-present scowl make them look more like butchers. Creepy butchers.

Filtered

Back to the beer and the tour.

Our tour guide was Constanze. She’s about 40 with long blonde hair pulled up into a professional bun. Her front tooth is ‘pierced’ with a tiny diamond stud (for some reason a popular style/accessory in East Germany). She clearly fake bakes.  Constanze has been my tour guide the few times I’ve brought groups here. Her script never changes, she tells the same dead jokes to the hungover students. For example,  “Now I show you where we hide the beer from you.”.

Hard at work

The city Radeberg doesn’t have much to it except for the Radeberger brewery. The town feels like it revolves around Radeberger. The babies there are raised on unfiltered Radeberger.

Round & Round