BerlinMapAugust 6–10, 2009 I’d already been to Berlin numerous times, but this was the first time I noticed that the sidewalks aren’t paved with asphalt. Only tile, stone, brick and other things that are pleasing to the eye. Asphalt is restricted to surfaces for vehicles.  I was overcome with terrible nostalgia at the German Democratic Republic Museum when I saw a panel apartment building construction set. I had the exact same parts for a couple of floors when I was a kid.  They’ve reconstructed part of the Berlin Wall. And artists have re-painted their street art on the new, sturdier concrete panels.  In Kiev, parking areas are marked with “Parking Area Begins” and “Parking Area Ends” signs. In Berlin, everything’s much simpler and clearer: you can park on the left, you can’t park on the right. Most importantly, conveying this simple message doesn’t require a sign the size of a window.  It didn’t work out.  Road workers are putting down masking tape to paint an arrow. They look like honest-to-god Olympians. I wonder why our Russian municipal workers always look like some kind of losers.  It’s probably for the same reason that we don’t have bikes that can be picked up anywhere in the city and dropped off anywhere else (you pay for using the bike by cellphone).  All the restaurants put a few grains of rice in their salt shakers to absorb excess moisture. A tradition that Russia needs to adopt ASAP.  The main thing Germans will always have in abundance is tackiness, corniness and kitsch. Making and selling a lemon juicer in the form of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s head sticking out of a tub—that’s so German.  |
