Lucian Marin
Berlin Alexanderplatz
After my trip to Germany was over, I made myself a present: a compact camera, a Nikon P300. Then, while taking a low-light picture of some books, I noticed that our small library holds a special book. It is called Berlin Alexanderplatz and was written by Alfred Döblin. After this coincidence occurred, I decided that Berlin deserves an article in my journal. Why? Because Alexanderplatz is one of the nicest places in Berlin, and before I left the city I went back to Checkpoint Charlie, somewhere near Alexanderplatz, to buy some souvenirs.
Berlin is called the City of Stones and the City of Smoke by Jason Lutes in two of his comic books. I will use the same names to describe the Berlin I saw — the one I liked and, somehow, disliked.
The city of stones
This is the bright face of Berlin — the one that can make you think this big city can change your life once and for all. The truth is that it can change the way you see things.
From the impressive Fernsehturm, the TV tower, down to the architecture of each church and cathedral, Berlin has a lot to offer its visitors. There are lots of museums, but I didn’t have the chance to visit them because of the short time I stayed in the city. They all looked great from the outside; I still wonder what amazing things they were hiding inside. I could go on and describe everything I saw, but that wouldn’t be much fun.
The city of smoke
What I didn’t like about Berlin was maybe the American influence. Don’t get me wrong — I’m not against Americans, I’m against their influence in some parts of the world. What I wanted to see in Berlin was people coming from all parts of the world and getting along with each other. But I didn’t like the fact that all those people were embracing American culture instead of joining the German culture, which in fact has more to offer than the other one.
Walking down the streets of Berlin, I was amazed to notice Muslims, Jews, black people — and, going toward Alexanderplatz, very few people speaking German. I listened to people speaking French, Italian, Spanish, and lots of people speaking English. And I was thinking… how many Romanians live in Berlin?
I also took some pictures along the way — in fact, two collections posted on PicPlz: Berlin and German Countryside. For those pictures I used just a cellphone, a Sony Ericsson K800i, and I think I pushed it to its limits. That’s the reason I wanted to buy myself a real camera when I went back home.