Berlin

As mentioned (fairly heavily) on Twitter recently, Danielle and I visited Berlin with my parents two weeks ago. I know this post is once more not about my work, which is a rule I made when I started this blog, but I really haven't stuck to that because my life is so incredibly interesting and posting up pictures about one of my favourite cities is an opportunity too good to miss.

This visit to Berlin was my sixth time there but it was the first trip since about three years ago. I actually shot a short there in March 2008 but sadly the rushes are still sat on a hard drive as I just haven't had the time to edit it. When finished (release date is looking to be at some point during late 2015) it's going to be nothing but an homage to Berlin with picture and sound all done by me.

My first trip to Berlin was in February 2006 and happened a little by chance. For my final degree piece at university I made a sound and moving image installation based around nostalgia and childhood and needed a huge amount of 'nice' footage. One idea I had was to shoot from an aircraft and so looked to book the cheapest flight possible. At the time flights with Easyjet were ridiculously cheap, without extra fees for baggage and credit cards, and so a return flight to Berlin for just under a week was only £21. I went with my very good friend Jeremy and we spent most of the time drinking and eating very cheap (€1) Doner Kebabs but still managed to see a huge amount of the city and so fell in love with it.

Every trip there has been amazing but oddly they have always been during the winter months and so I don't actually know what the city is like during the summer. I'm sure it's equally beautiful but something about grey, cloudy skies and cold weather goes very well with the city. Especially the East part.

I think that's enough self indulgence from me but if you have never visited Berlin I couldn't recommend it enough. The people are incredibly kind and can speak English much better than many people here. The architecture is incredible and shows so much of the city's history. There's so much to see in terms of art, music and film and German food and drink is absolutely amazing. Even with this as my sixth trip I could go back now and not repeat any experiences I've already had as there is so much to this incredible city.

This is some strudel from one of the most amazing cafes in Berlin. It's called 'Cafe Einstein' and although is a little expensive has an amazing interior and feels like a Bavarian palace.

This was a little Russian bar/cafe in Prenzlauer Berg that served amazing food. It was run by just one woman who was serving behind the bar and also cooking the food. She couldn't speak any English and just a little Russian which fortunately my mother speaks. We didn't quite know what we ordered but it was delicious.

To finish; some audio. This is a recording on a U2 U-Bahn train to Alexanderplatz. Make sure you use headphones.