Berlin slow days

I have many days scheduled in Berlin and it is timed perfectly because I am pretty burned out on traveling. Originally I thought I would do day trips from Berlin but instead I want to take this time leisurely. This will be the last time during my travels I’ll have time to relax. I fly home in a month and the final weeks are very rushed.

So I plan just a few things a day in Berlin for now. Today I take my time leaving the hotel especially because there is rain. I start with a nice Vietnamese lunch.

I head down to the art deco shopping complex called Hackesche Hofe and wander in and out of some stores. I buy a couple small bottles of local alcohol and some weird marshmallow candies that remind me of circus peanuts from my childhood.

Nearby at the alternative art alley Haus Schwarzenberg I wait for the very weird MonsterKabinett to open so I can buy tickets for their show. While I wait I head to a nearby bar where I get in trouble for taking pictures. Apparently there is a sign up front and they are very adamant about it. It’s a cool bar, just don’t take any pictures unless you want to get scolded like a little child. The drink is pretty strong so that’s a bonus.

Finally they start selling tickets for MonsterKabinett and a mime-looking guy (minus the makeup) gathers us up for our tour. He is animated and takes us down to a basement art gallery slash performance location and interacts with weird looking robots. This is all choreographed to loud and strange music. The finale is a monster robot rock concert in a mirrored room. It isn’t that expensive so if you like weird stuff I say go. There are no pictures inside, many break the rules of course – I didn’t because I didn’t want to be scolded again. You’ll probably not forget the experience for a while since it’s so bizarre. I have a photo below from their website.

I take some more pictures of the area and find a nice Italian restaurant where I devour some really good truffle pasta.

I waited to the last minute to try to get tickets to the Pergamon museum, one of the nightly recommended museums in Berlin. Unfortunately they are all sold out for the day I want to go. What is available is tickets to Das Pergamon Panarama, also highly recommended. The Pergamon museum is a museum of the city in Turkey that was excavated and moved to a a museum in Berlin (one of the few times they actually had permission to do so). It is a fascinating exhibit in that it is fairly well preserved. Most of the museum is undergoing a major renovation and some major exhibits are unable at this time. Seeing the Panorama version seems like a good alternative. There are some parts of the Pergamon in this museum like statues and some of the walls but the appeal is the immersive Panorama art created by Yadegar Asisi. The beautiful colors and sounds show live during a day in the city. You watch as the art goes from day to night to day again.

Original Pergamon museum and models on how it looks

Light is added to show movement and to show how color was present before it faded in time.

More images around town

Next I’m heading to a food market across town….

Turkish food

I had many different food items in Turkey during my time there that I thought it would be appropriate to have a post dedicated to food items.

Fermented carrot juice is not as good as I thought it would be.

Dinner on a rooftop bar

Vegetable plate

Raki is an anise drink like Sambucca or Ouzo.

Stuffed bread and some sort of dried fruit pudding at Topkapi Palace

Manti

In Cappadoccia

Old Cappadocia Cafe & Restaurant

The bread dipped in that spice and oil is heavenly

Turkish ice cream is sweet, creamy, stretchy and sticky at the same time.

Turkish delight

That time when I should have used google translate and did not I end up eating a raw meat sandwich. Luckily I did not die.

Random Istanbul

In case you haven’t figured it out these posts are many months old. It has been impossible to keep up daily with my travels. And most of the time the internet is terrible. I am playing catch up with stuff back home or trying to sort through and save travel photos. What I write is from what I remember of my travels and if I am lucky, excerpts from notes I took.

For this post I am back in Istanbul. I planned this return as a “catch all I missed before” plus get some chill time before I head to Egypt. I am heading to Egypt and Jordan for a couple weeks on a fast paced group tour. I purposely planned this downtime prior.

The time was spent pretty well; besides the poor internet I was able to catch up on some things, I bought a couple articles of clothing that would be more Middle East appropriate, and I made one more shipment home (boy is it expensive!).

The following pictures are some of the attractions I stopped at.

Basilica Cistern

My new hotel is off Istiklal Street. It is a busy area but less mentally demanding then staying in the Sulthanhmet area. I mean in the Sultanhmet area I always had to be on guard. In my new location it was more chill: I got way less male attention and shop owners were not aggressive. If I go back to Istanbul I will stay in this area or on the Asian side (as my new Turkish friend recommended).

Balloon watching

My hotel is close to the top of the hill in Goreme. A short walk uphill (and a small “admission” charge) is the place to be for sunsets and to watch the balloons fly in the morning.

Today I wake up before sunrise and walk up the hill to catch the balloons. I think I am too early because I have to wait a while for the balloons to rise. I do get a picture of the sun starting to rise through.

Off in the instance I can see some balloons inflating. A short while later they are in the air.

It is beautiful to see.

Some get very close to the observation hill. At times it looks like they can be touched.

Here is a fun video showing how close they got.

Cappadocia Red Tour

A couple days after my not so great green tour I take the Cappadocia Red Tour. I thought I may have overreacted a couple days ago but after taking the red tour with a different vendor I know I am correct in my opinion. The red tour is well organized and the guide is very personable. His name is Sonny and he made our day sunny.

First stop is a view of Uchisar Castle.

Next is Goreme Open Air Museum

A favorite of mine in the Open Air Museum is the Dark Church. It is a separate ticketed option but well worth it in my opinion. The artwork inside is very nice (no photos allowed).

Love Valley

I have no idea why they call it that. <sarcasm>

Avanos pottery demonstration

The pottery is nice but it is way too early to start weighing my backpack down so I forgo any purchases.

Then we stopped at lunch. I don’t remember what I ate but I had to try all the desserts on the buffet.

Before we went back out sightseeing we stopped for a silk demonstration. It is interesting to learn how silk items are made.

Aaaannd the demonstration of the rugs. Some are nice enough to tempt me but they are so expensive. I just can’t purchase one….especially with no job and no permanent place to stay.