Things to in Berlin when you're there

people dance to minimal techno on a restrained soundsystem by a river

check the line up for watergate in feb - it makes me weep
trentemoller
perlon incl. cassy
m.a.n.d.y
metope and basteroid

i guess the other thing is pretty obvious - panoramabar/berghain.

i didnt see anything except for clubs and the postcard exhibition in ostbahnhof, so cannot advise further

watergate could be open till about 6/7. eulberg was slated to play till 7 on sat night. berghains yr best bet for going to bed then goign there, which is what i did

i'll be in berlin for the first time EVAH in less than 48 hours. arriving on the 10th and leaving on the 18th. as this is my first time there (or, um, in europe in general), does anyone know of anything cool happening between those dates? i'm already planning on going to kompaktorama at berghain/panoramabar (these are one and the same, yeah?) if it means anything, the apartment i'm staying at is apparently about 40 feet from where the wall stood (according to my friend).

i'm so excited i can barely concentrate on the two papers i have to write before then! rnnnnnnk.

matt john and martinez are playing watergate on 10th, cassy is playing there on wed 15th

check out www.ostgut.de. that should do it. and pick up a copy of die tageszeitung and rip out the 'tazplan' for daily arts listings.

full a good agenda from the Berhain/Panoramaber (Ostgut)

cheers!

I'm not sure what to do clubbing wise. While I'll hapilly go out all hours, and would love to wake up, grab breakfast and then go clubbing, Madeline is less keen.

Are there any good, friendly, bars to catch good DJs between say 8pm-4am??? I'm not picky on the day.

Also, we're staying in Prenzlaur Berg this time - which we didn't really get out to much last time. Does anybody have any tips for good independent coffee shops, cafe's, pubs and restaurants?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

shitting it. feel like I'm gonna die of nerves & uselessness.

god knows why, I've been before. UGhh!

maybe later this year...

Claim to own a trainstation with trains that run to Cape Town? I can translate that for you if you like...

Anyone plan on being in Berlin anytime in the next month or so? I'm here in Prenzlauer Berg until mid August and am growing a bit tired of hanging with the same 4 people each day. Surely there's someone!

wow Berlin NEXT WEEK for me! so excited!

any things that i absolutely must do while there?

apart from eg stalk ellen allien obv

stalk Erik Digibeet!

if you can get to meunster there's a sculpture exhibition on that only happens once every 10 YEARS.. it seems like there may be associated events happening in berlin too?

http://www.skulptur-projekte.de/aktuell

that looks awesome! prob won't be able to get to muenster as is on other side of country though - hopefully the berlin stuff will be good though...

yeah i especially like this mysterious paragrah: "Djs, Drinks and Art Education: The velo lounge is a project for adolescents, students and apprentices. Young art guides and a purpose-built DJ-bike stopped in front of eleven artistic projects."

when i was there i noticed red bicycles parked everywhere - very sturdy, high-quality bikes - and it turned out one could call the phone number printed on them, give one's credit card information, and they'd give you the code to unlock the chain. the rates were very cheap.

when i was "there" --> "there" = berlin

oh no i think the velo lounge is in muenster :(

any things that i absolutely must do while there?

Visit Icebar Knut!

what i did was rent one of those red bikes and wander around prenzlauerberg, mitte, kreuzberg.. you could also check out super gay-friendly shöneberg. in general lex i think you will find the east most fun. i went to charlottenberg for a bit (in the west) and it was obviously wealthier, etc. but more boring. i also took a trip to wedding, just because it looked boring and i wanted to see the boring part of such a vibrant city. and yes - it was boring.

Find Scotch and Sofa, fantastic vibe. Tracer is spot on re. the bikes. I didn't use those ones but the fact that everywhere is within cycling distance and there are bikepaths makes it safe. Try to check out the Jewish Museum, the Altes Museum and the Berlin Gallery. Kreuzberg is great for brunch.

Tracer, everywhere in Berlin is gay friendly!

Clubs: I have heard amazing things about Watergate in Kreuzberg and Tresor (sp?) nearby that is meant to be good for dancing.

Man, I'd love to be going back. Was there only 3 weeks ago, brilliant city.

that's why i said "SUPER gay friendly"!!

tresor is gone :(

but maybe it has reopened in some other guise?

yeah re: the bikepaths, keep in mind that sometimes the bike paths go up onto the pavement, and can be designated only by differently-coloured bricks. i didn't know that and was standing on the pavement right in the bike path and was given INCREDIBLY dirty stares by bikers until i realised what i was doing. bikers' "rights" are taken pretty seriously there i guess!

mmm, i can't ride a bike though, so that's moot.

definitely want to go to the jewish museum, and berghain obv.

when i was emailing the dude at the bar we're staying at re: dates, he was like "ahhh, perfect, we're hosting a m_nus party on the sunday night". when i confirmed that we were leaving on monday night, he was like "no! no! the party is scheduled to go until tuesday!"

Yeah actually I regretted most not staying in a more attractive/happening neighborhood, so maybe you should do so. Why not just stay the extra couple of days in P-berg? It's fairly central and you can get everywhere from there.

stay somewhere by the canal in kreuzberg

The thing with Berlin is, it's a heavily decentralized city, where you should stay depends on what sort of things you want to do. The actual "central" area, around Alexanderplats and Unter den Linden, has some touristy things but otherwise there's not much to do there. Among the cooler, more multicultural areas with clubs, pubs, record stores, flea markets, etc, are Kreuzberg, Friedrichshain, and Prenzlauer Berg. So if you want that sort of action, Wilmersdorf is a bit far for there, and the U7 subway that stops near the hotel doesn't get you straight to the those areas either, you have to change subways at least once. But of course if you have time to ride the trains it's not that big of a hassle, you should get to most places worth a visit in 20-60 minutes.

When are you going to Berlin, Whiney? I'm traveling in Germany next month, most likely I'll be in Berlin from 15th to 18th of August.

In Berlin in just under two weeks! Fingers crossed they'll let us colonial types into Panoramabar/Watergate/etc for the Smalltown Supersound/Kompakt nights.

If you're going to Berghain/Panoramabar, be prepared to walk for a bit. It's technically in Friedrichshain, but it's in the middle of an old industrial area that's not near any public transport or anything. When we went there a few years ago, at some point we thought we're lost, as there was just this empty industrial lot with no lights or anything, but then we saw cars driving into the same direction we were heading, so we knew something was there.

Also, at the door they did a body search for everyone, which is quite rare in Germany, I think. Dunno if they'd had some problems with guns or knives or something... AFAIK Berlin is generally pretty safe for a city of that size.

Or maybe they do a body search in the bigger clubs, I dunno. That's the only time I've been to a club of that size in Berlin.

Claire Danes: Actress Discusses Berlin Techno Music Scene on 'Ellen'
Danes discusses her experience in a large multi-room club called Berghain, saying "it is amazing, it is the best place on earth."

wish i met claire daines in berghain, preferably while off my trolley on e and having a recuperating ice cream with ron trent playing and her also having an ice cream. entirely non-sexual wish.