We spent the three days before Christmas exploring Berlin, where we followed in the footsteps of Christopher Isherwood, sampled spiced glühwein, and crawled under the Berlin Wall. To me, a German Christmas is exactly as it should be. Compare my previous, springtime, visit to the city by clicking HERE. Click HERE to see last year's Christmas. |
![]() |
![]() |
As always, Nick and I wanted to present each other with travel bingo cards to make our trip more exciting. We were in too much of a rush at home, so we did things the modern way by logging onto our own Been-Go site at Luton airport, creating tailor made cards for Berlin, then photographing the computer screen. It worked, and our cards were a hit. See the grid below for some of the things we had to find and cross off. |
![]() A golden statue |
![]() A juggler |
![]() Cabaret reference |
![]() Men holding hands |
![]() Homer Simpson |
![]() Cute cop |
FREE | ![]() Barbed wire |
![]() Homoerotic painting |
![]() Wooden toy |
![]() Pink triangle |
![]() Madonna |
![]() Skinhead |
![]() TV tower in snowglobe |
![]() Drink in Potsdamerplatz |
![]() |
|
![]() The first of 60 Christmas markets in the city, at Potsdamerplatz |
![]() And the first of many cute men captured on film. |
![]() The second. |
![]() A couple of uniformed men. |
![]() This chocolate covered ball of pastry scraps wasn't nearly as tasty as it looks. |
![]() Queer-Grizzly, by Ingrid Rafael |
![]() Riding Bikes, 1998, by Robert Rauchenberg. 1998 is the year we met. |
![]() Nick stands outside Christopher Isherwood's old address. |
![]() Isherwood's writing was the basis for the musical, Cabaret. |
![]() I played Herr Schultz in Cabaret in 2000, singing about a pineapple. My Jewish character lived in Nollendorfplatz, now the "gay village" of Berlin. |
![]() This sculpture was on the cover of our excellent gay guidebook, Out Around Berlin. |
![]() A modern Santa sculpture. |
![]() The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church |
![]() Mosaic ceiling in the half-ruined church |
![]() The modern tower of the church, with its blue stained glass. |
![]() This cute employee had just reprimanded a woman for eating ice cream in the church. |
![]() |
|
![]() On Friday, we took the train to nearby Potsdam, where we spent the day at the Brandenburg palace of Sanssouci and the Christmas market. |
|
![]() Nick at one of the train stops en route to Potsdam |
![]() A studious man in the Potsdam station. |
![]() A magnificent gazebo at the Sanssouci palace |
![]() The China House |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() I don't know what these guys are up to... |
![]() Atop the Dragon House, now a café |
![]() Once this guy knew he had our attention, he sprang to life and started chopping wood. The smell of testosterone filled the air. |
![]() A traditional puppet show charmed the German children. |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() Gingerbread cookies to rival my own. |
![]() Scrumptious donut-like snacks. |
![]() Scrumptious Potsdam man |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
|
![]() |
|
![]() We returned to Berlin for nocturnal explorations |
|
![]() |
|
![]() A giant version of the Christmas pyramid we bought |
![]() The whole premise of this photo is to capture the guy in the back. |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() Nick purchases a tiger's eye for his lucky pot plant at home. |
![]() Outside the Brandenburg Gate |
![]() Under den Linden, the famous avenue leading to the Brandenburg Gate |
|
![]() |
![]() Inside the Reichstag |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() This is Berlin's main train station. The glass panels produce much of its energy, exemplifying Germany's excellent resourcefulness. |
|
![]() A model of Rome's Bocca della Verita. |
![]() Click HERE or HERE to see us playing with the real thing! |
![]() The next day, Saturday, we stared our explorations in former East Germany. |
|
![]() The East Berlin Ampelmann was created in 1961 by traffic psychologist Karl Peglau. He theorised that people would respond better to the traffic signals if they were presented by a friendly character, instead of meaningless coloured lights. |
![]() The stretch of still standing Wall known as the East Gallery |
![]() You can see West Germany through the crack in the wall |
![]() A friendly graffiti sea serpent |
![]() More modern graffiti featuring a nostalgic Trabant car |
![]() Graffiti artists still cover the Wall, layer upon layer |
![]() Ironically, we got trapped behind the Wall and had to crawl out. |
![]() German efficiency |
![]() Robbie Williams is always a part of our travels. |
![]() Berlin's Schwules (Gay) Museum is the only one of its kind in the world. |
![]() We saw an exhibition of Luchino Visconti's work, including his film, Death in Venice. |
![]() The museum has an excellent collection, tracing the history of homosexuality, including Nazi persecution. It really highlights how far things have come in the last few years. Now about marriage... |
![]() The Red Town Hall |
![]() Nick noticed the funny licence plate of the car I used to prop my camera on for the previous photo. |
![]() I saw this bear displaynear Nikolaskirche last time I visited Berlin. |
![]() The Fernsehturm (TV tower) at night |
Back home, we had our usual lovely Christmas together.
![]() |
|
![]() This year's tree was a bit wonky and fell over on the night we returned, but it's still a delightful reminder of all the places we've been (we buy an ornament at each of our travel destinations). |
![]() Great minds: we bought each other Derren Brown's new book as a surprise gift. ![]() Click HERE to see the (somewhat naughty) contents of our Christmas stockings |
![]() Our Christmas dinner was unusual this year. We watched a TV competition between British chefs and decided to cook Bryn Williams' Welsh Roast goose, caramelised Brussels sprouts and peach and sage sauce. |
![]() For dessert, Nick made Richard Corrigan's Christmas pudding souffle with Irish whisky ice cream. We used my homemade pudding. |
![]() Endlessly fascinating, we bought this traditional Christmas pyramid in Germany. |
![]() On Christmas morning, we went to Boscombe beach. |
![]() Our very own German nutcracker |