Berlinale

(2006)

Berlinale and the Europian Film Market (The Berlin trip): A trip provides us an "opportunity to take risks"; and since freedom can only be attained in the face of danger and since on a trip there’s always danger I have decided to accompany David to the Berlin Film Festival and Film Market. David needed to go to the Berlin Film Market to pitch his project, and this gave us the opportunity to travel together. Below is a very short chronology of the trip. 2-8-06 (W) The dream began. I flew down to LA arriving around 1:00 pm and David picked me up. We went to his place, and I had a short sleep. Shirley, our ride to the airport, was already there, so we talked a little. We needed to go back to the airport around 5 p.m. to fly to London on the red-eye. This was a 10-hour direct flight to London. In London, we had to change to British Airways for another 2-hour flight to Berlin. It was a long flight, but we managed. 2-9-06 (Th) We arrived in Berlin at Flughafen Tegel (Tegel Airport) around 6:00 p.m. very tiered, but OK. We were able to get to our hostel Sunflower on Helsingforser Strasse by public transportation. From the airport, we took the BVG X9 bus to Zoologisher Garten Bhf and from there the (S-Banh) S1 to Warschauer Str. and walked from there. It was cold and snowing. We were lucky we got a twin room with a balcony for 38 euro and we slept like logs until early the next morning. 2-10-06 (F) In the morning, we went to the Potsdamer Platz to check out the Festival and the Market. We discovered on the 9th floor of the Sony building a great cheap student cafeteria and it became our headquarters. David bought his ticket to the Film Market, and he spent the rest of the day there. I saw the open air museum of Topography of Terror (It was where the Gestapo, SS building used to be). It was next to the Film Market. After that, I went back to the hostel. The National Gallery was closed. David went to the Palace Theater where the Film Market was, and we split up. He came back to the hostel late. He had a hard time finding his way back.. Our first day was over. 2-11-06 (Sa) On our second day, we again went to Potsdamer Platz and went up to the student cafeteria. After we had breakfast, David went over to the Film Market, but he came back in an hour. We decided to go to the Jewish Museum and we spent the whole afternoon there. In the evening, we again had a hard time getting home. 2-12-06 (Su) David again spent the day at the European Film Market and made connection with someone from an American company called “Push”. I went to the Museum Island (where some of the greatest museums of the world are. I bought a combination ticket to three museums: Antinquitis, the National Gallery and the Pergaman Museum. I spent the whole day in these museums. In the evening, the most unusual thing happened. David and I found each other at the station by accident. Apparently we came home at the same time and we met at five o’clock at the Warschauer Strasse (S-Banh) train stop. How strange, I was thinking on the train, that it would be nice to see him when I get off the train, and by God he was there when I got off. To celebrate this, we had dinner at Yogi Snack, a Pakistani restaurant in our neighborhood. 2-13-06 (M) David went to meet someone from “Push” at the Hotel Marriot in the morning. Later on we met and spent the day together. First the Bauhouse Museum, and later the film museum in the Sony building oin Potsdamer Platz. 2-14-06 (Tu) We took a day trip to Potzdam which is about 40 minutes Saint Petersburg; but most importantly, this was the place for the meeting between Truman, Stalin and Churchill in June 1945 to determine the fate of Europe. In the evening, we had falafel again for 2 euros. 2-15-06 (W) This was our last day in Berlin, and we went to the Urania movie house to see a Festival film “The Road to Guantanemo.” Unfortunately I got a ticket on the U-Bahn ( the underground railway) which we had not traveled before. After the movie, we did some shopping for German chocolate. In the evening, we ate at the Falafel place again and I unfortunately left my red scarf there. 2-16-06 (Th) We left for London early in the morning and from London to LA in the afternoon and we were back in LA the same day. We got in around 5 p.m. and Sally was supposed to arrive at 6 p.m., so we stayed around to wait for her. But she was late and finally arrived around 8:00. We took the number 6 bus from the “C” lot to Shirley’s, and the dream has ended.

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To see a world in a grain of sand, / And a heaven in a wild flower, / Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, / And eternity in an hour. -William Blake, poet, engraver, and painter (1757- ~ • ~