New Year's in Berlin
Berlin claims to have the largest New Year's party in the world--supposedly over a million people. We were invited to hang out with Martin's friends from poker night, so we stayed with them all evening.
They had these small grill things (Raclette) and a bunch of raw food that was kind of like a do-it-yourself buffet. Beef, pork, weisswurst, cheeses, bread, vegetables--it was quite the cornucopia.
There is an interesting metallurgical tradition in Germany that we participated in. They bought a number of small, soft metal objects in the shapes of bears, mushrooms, and other objects. You put the object in a spoon, and then put the spoon over a flame. After it's melted, you toss it into a bucket of water, and the resulting shape tells your fortune for the coming year.
In Germany (and Europe in general), drinking is Kosher in public. So for the rest of the evening, our comrades were rarely without a bottle in hand. We're on the train here, and they were passing around some champagne and other libations.
After getting off the train, we walked to the Reichstag, which is the seat of the German Parliament. All around the building, within a few feet, people were lighting off all kinds of firecrackers, rockets, and various other things that go boom. It was an amazing sight, although a little hard on the ears. Could you imagine drinking and lighting off fireworks on the steps of the congressional building in DC? During our stay in Europe it became increasingly obvious that "Land of the Free" is more talk than walk.
It was quite the throng of people. At one point, we tried to move closer to some of the main stages, but there were just too many people. It literally felt like being in a sea of people.
The Brandenburger Tor is one of the old city gates to Berlin, built in 1791 that has been preserved. We were there in the aftermath of New Year's. Leaving the party, there were firework carcasses and broken bottles strewn everywhere, but by the next morning most had already been cleaned up.
They had these small grill things (Raclette) and a bunch of raw food that was kind of like a do-it-yourself buffet. Beef, pork, weisswurst, cheeses, bread, vegetables--it was quite the cornucopia.
There is an interesting metallurgical tradition in Germany that we participated in. They bought a number of small, soft metal objects in the shapes of bears, mushrooms, and other objects. You put the object in a spoon, and then put the spoon over a flame. After it's melted, you toss it into a bucket of water, and the resulting shape tells your fortune for the coming year.
In Germany (and Europe in general), drinking is Kosher in public. So for the rest of the evening, our comrades were rarely without a bottle in hand. We're on the train here, and they were passing around some champagne and other libations.
After getting off the train, we walked to the Reichstag, which is the seat of the German Parliament. All around the building, within a few feet, people were lighting off all kinds of firecrackers, rockets, and various other things that go boom. It was an amazing sight, although a little hard on the ears. Could you imagine drinking and lighting off fireworks on the steps of the congressional building in DC? During our stay in Europe it became increasingly obvious that "Land of the Free" is more talk than walk.
It was quite the throng of people. At one point, we tried to move closer to some of the main stages, but there were just too many people. It literally felt like being in a sea of people.
The Brandenburger Tor is one of the old city gates to Berlin, built in 1791 that has been preserved. We were there in the aftermath of New Year's. Leaving the party, there were firework carcasses and broken bottles strewn everywhere, but by the next morning most had already been cleaned up.
posted by Einsteinium at
11:38 AM
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