The Kely Saga

The next visitor to grace me with their presence was the one and only Mr. Banadyga!!!

Kely's first night out in Berlin was possibly one of the best chances for him to experience the local Berlin Minimal Wave scene.  I took him to the King Kong Klub to see Bloodygrave & Die Lust! and Lebanon Hanover knowing he would not be let down by these 2 incredible synth bands...  and he was not!

Then 2 nights later Anne and I brought him to Kunsthaus 54 to listen to some fantastic DJs at Resurrection/Ceremonies.  Thanks for the Canadiana that was played!  ;)

I took Kely on a WWII architecture tour of Berlin over the next few days.  Templehof Airport, the Bendlerblock, Olympiastadion and the bunker at Gesundbrunnen U-Bahn Station.

The Bendlerblock was built between 1911 and 1914 for the Imperial German Navy Offices.  During the Weimar Republic it served as the seat of the Reichswehr command and the Ministry of Defence.  Since 1993, it is used by the German Federal Ministry of Defence.  It was also the headquarters of the Wehrmacht officers (Stauffenberg being one of them) who enacted the July 20 plot "Valkyrie" against Hitler.  These officers were shot in the courtyard of the Bendlerblock and today you can visit the Memorial to the German Resistance.

Swastika motif in the parquet floor.

Stairwell up to the Bendlerblock exhibition.

This is the Shell Haus built in 1931.  We passed it by on the way to the Bendlerblock.

 The Olympiastadion was designed by Werner March in 1936. Berlin hosted the 1936 Summer Olympic Games and the Nazis used this opportunity to achieve national and international prestige. All anti-semantic signs and graffiti were removed overnight and the media stopped the persecution of Jews for the duration of the Games.  Canada was even once a medalist for these Games.

"Greeked" swastika on replica bell.

Bullet hole on other side of the bell.

Kely and I were able to take a tour of the Gesundbrunnen U-Bahn Station bunker through the Berliner Unterwelten Association.  It is one of only a few bunkers in Berlin remaining.  The tour really gave you a clear understanding of how it would have looked, smelled and felt to be inside the bunker while an Allied air raid was in progress.  *Not* for those suffering from claustrophobia.  The tour guides are a wealth of information, and in good humour too considering the subject.  Photography ist verboten inside so I only have some of the actual entrance points from the outside, in the stairwell of Gesundbrunnen U-Bahn.

Potsdam/Schloss Sanssousi was one of our last destination.  "Sanssouci" means "without a care".  This Rococo summer palace was built in 1745 for Frederick the Great, King of Prussia. It is considered the German rival to Versailles (MUCH smaller in comparison by size, but grandeur, pomp and flamboyancy... definitely an equal).

I'd like to give special thanks to Kely for spoiling me rotten!!!  You are a dear friend and I will cherish  and never forget our time spent together in Deutschland.

September and October were very special months for me in Berlin because I had so many people from home come to visit.  Jack & Lyle (well actually from Londontown, but Jack is from Vancity), Bruce & Maddy, Momma & Dad'n, Rachel, Kely and Michael Venus!

Little did I know that only a few weeks later I'd be re-united with yet another dear Canadian friend who I hadn't seen in a year because she herself is living life in another country, or rather on a boat...  sailing The Seven Seas...  my gypsy pirate sister.