Berlin – 01 June 2024
Some Observations
A lot of people smoke tobacco. In San Jose, I rarely see anyone smoking. Outside the train station, there are always at least a dozen people puffing away.
I was very confused where to buy tickets for the local U-Bahn and S-Bahn. The ticket machines are all marked with DB (Deutsche Bahn), the Germany-wide rail system. However, the screen has a button for BVG (Berliner Verkehrs∙betriebe—don’t ask me where the G comes from) that lets you buy the local tickets.
Pro tip: Take the S-Bahn in preference to a bus. Yesterday I was waiting for a bus back to the main train station. After waiting 15 minutes past the scheduled arrival time (and 5 minutes past another scheduled time), I re-evaluated. The street traffic was already horribly slow,so I figured the bus, even if it arrived, would take a long time in all that traffic. That solved the problem, as S-Bahn and U-Bahn are largely unaffected by street traffic.
Today’s Pictures
I decided to head northeast to the edge of the area where my ticket was valid; that was the Blankenburg stop. It turns out I took several pictures that seemed attractive at the time, but the result was not all that great. That means there aren’t a lot of pictures today.
When I boarded the train this morning, a small Dixieland band (trumpet, a couple of saxophones, and one other) started playing “Hello, Dolly.” A slightly drunk guy in a hat was dancing next to them. It was great fun; the band left the train a couple of stops later.
Blankenburg is a very much residential area. There are a couple of pictures from there, and then I walked back towards downtown until I got to the Pankow station (from which I took the S-Bahn back to Friedrichstraße).
You probably wouldn’t see windows like these in the US.
This sculpture looks a bit out of place, but I liked it.
The Election
No, as a matter of fact, I am not getting tired of seeing these posters.
This is the first time I saw a lot of posters from those bastards in AfD (a far-right party that would have felt right at home in 1933):
End the asylum chaos!
Our country first!
Protect women and girls!
Defend freedom!
Then there’s the FDP, which is a liberal party, whose slogan appears to be “Streitbar in Europa” (Controversial in Europe).
Business loves freedom just like you.
Europe lives by freedom. Not by guidelines.
Control migration. Otherwise the wrong people will do it.
And posters from other parties:
Decline or advancement?
Thwart Nazis’ plans.
Voting saves lives.
Various Signage
Leading off with what I think may be the best sticker ever.
That’s the Albert Schweitzer Stiftung (Foundation).
This company wants you to use “Poster instead of Screen” for advertising.
Vegetarian ravioli: “I’m veggie now”
This circus seems so totally wrong on every possible level. “For the little ones...the biggest”
Clever logo for a veterinary clinic.
Visit the Bureaucracy Museum. Before it is abolished.
Food
Miscellanea
