paris vs. berlin = evie's dilemma

It started yesterday at the Berlin Wall, with the Tribe... and continued today at Tacheles...

Beautiful people indeed. I cannot even begin to really dive into the feeling of being back in Berlin, 1 year (to the day) later. I would not have been able to put money on the fact that I would be back with 18 members of a newly formed travel group that I started on Facebook. Not nope!

Yet, and still, it is beyond amazing. I have been good at sucking tears in this go round, but they are there. They are so fuc%ing there. This is trip number two, so vastly different from number one, yet just as influential. Instead of a beach there is a city. A breathing city with life. One thing I told Thomas last vear was that I needed to do a Paris and Berlin trip back to back to see where my heart lies more in regards to a 6 month out of the year move. This past week I did that, and Berlin stole the show. I relate to this city, I do not just stare at its beauty.

Paris, as much as I love it, makes me feel like living in a glass house. Berlin, makes me want to drink beer and throw glass bottles at someone's house.

more my speed...

with as many countries as I have been to in Europe, I still have so many more to go, but Berlin... yea. You rock my world. Thanks. 

Tacheles: Berlin's artist sanctuary...

It was one of the reasons I needed to visit Berlin.

I have now traveled to the Taj Mahal, Angkor Wat Ruins, and the Berlin Wall itself. Yet, I would have to say, in my artistic mind, Tacheles should be put on the list of World Wonders. Luckily enough, we were able to shoot this piece of art history while in Germany. Through a guided tour we were told about the history of this place, and its current fight with the local government to keep the place open. Not unlike certain plights artists have in NYC, there is a give and take going on between artists, and the business of art.

The 'Support Tacheles' movement is one I take extremely serious now, as I've walked through its walls myself. More is to come, in the Nomad•ness episode, but this is a short snippet giving you a peek into what it was like on the inside  of this fortress. Shouts out to the staff at Tacheles, especially Linda, for allowing our cameras inside.

As the sticker says, I support Tacheles! You should too. Some history on the building is below, but if you can please DONATE to their cause. This building is too important to be turned into hotels and apartments...DONATE HERE!

***

“Tacheles” is an old Jewish word meaning to disclose, to reveal or to speak clearly. The slang meaning of the word was bringing to an end.

The Art-Centre Tacheles is situated in a ruin in Berlin Mitte. Located in former East Berlin, the area was a Jewish quarter in the past and has now become a meeting point for people interested in arts and culture and for those who think they are.

After the Berlin Wall came down in November 1989, a subculture which had its main focus on autonomy, spontaneity and improvisation arose in the former East Berlin areas Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg and Friedrichshain. Artists and individualists from all over the world used the plurality of available free spaces to put alternative lifestyles to the test.