Berlin - Up Early

Getting the Festival Rolling
I'd managed to secure a handful of tickets via the internet from Singapore but I wanted to pick up a few more.  So, I jumped on the train and headed over to Potsdamer Platz.

I nearly fainted when I saw the line.  Pops, you thought the Sarasota FF lines were long, but it's all relative.  I waited about an hour and managed to get the one movie I wanted.

Back out on Potsdamer Platz I stopped mid-step to check out the pink pipes.  I have no idea what they're for.  They criss-cross the city.

With a bit of time to kill, I headed to East Berlin.  The subways rely on honesty and the occasional ticket check.  You buy a ticket, validate it in a machine and then board.  No turnstiles.  I got a day pass.

Out on Karl Marx Allee, the wind was whipping and putting a damper on my walk.  The temperature was around 11 degrees but with the wind I'm sure we were down into the negatives.  I had to pop into a store every half block just to keep from freezing into an ice cube.

According to the papers, parts of East Berlin are still cheap enough for the artists.  I saw plenty of street art.  I took this shot because I liked the mural of the rats scampering up the building.

By early afternoon it was time for my first movie in the Friedrichstadt Palast, an ornate jewel from another era.  The French movie was, well, typically French.  Strange from beginning to end.