More on the “redemption” theme

Here is the quote, MY quote, that I want to be buried with:

“Redemption is more important than forgiveness.“

And moreover: Forgiveness without redemption is meaningless. Forgiveness of persons who don´t ASK to be forgiven–this being the most trivial and cheapest form of redemption–isn´t saintly. It´s simply pathetic.

That entry about Berlin (which is still amazing and everything, although the bloom is a bit off the rose with the smoking thing, which while an improvement over Köln has really been getting on my nerves increasingly, espcecially when an asshole, a cute musclebear type but an asshole nonetheless, lights up not one but TWO Gauloises seriatim sitting next to me at a sushi bar the other day) has has me pondering this whole theme of redemption and why and how I am so very atttracted to it. I love movies where characters are redeemed. I loved the stage version of Tommy because evil cousin Kevin is redeemed in the end (not so in the film version). I love this. But unilateral “forgiveness,” especially when, say, the villain escapes by dying without any trace of attempted redemption? No.

Back to the regularly scheduled vacation, which is going superbly.

Ich liebe Berlin.

This is a completely amazing city.

I´m not sure how amply I can qualify this at this early point (Ive been here about 48 hours), but I´m going to tentatively name Berlin my favourite city. In the world.

Why? Let me count the ways:

-Excellent, abundant public transit.
-Beautiful architecture from the 16th century, to the ultramodern, to eve the commie blocks that are being refurbished; every block comprises a history lesson.
-Green, green, green. Green spaces abound. Parks everywhere.
-Multicultural as heck.
-Gay as all get-out.
-PLENTY of superb coffee places.
-Not smoke-free by NA standards, but damn good for Germany. Lots of smoke free spaces.
-Cheap! My outstanding dinner last night was 15€, but lunch at this salubrious fast-food place called China Box was all of 3€ and was so delicious I wanted to cry. 1€ is about C$1.37 as I type this. Even this internet cafe charges the normal rate of 1€ per hour here. In Luxembourg it was 4€ per hour.
-The food is tremendous. I´ve had some of the most superb pizza of my life already, stone baked with tomatoes and arugula. That 15€ last night was at a trendy place called Toca Rouge that does Asian fusion, and it was the most gorgeous dish (my main I mean) of five-spice beef and roasted sweet potato. It worked, it worked perfectly. I´m sure I´ll have more to say about the food but so far I am simply beside myself. It is superb.
-The weather is completely pleasant, about 14 now and brilliantly sunny. It rained yesterday but otherwise, for me, this is heaven.
-There is odious history here, too much in fact, but the fact that people here manage to be so forward looking and joyful- yes, joyful, not like the impression I had of people in Köln- is a testament to a potential in the human spirit that makes me feel great affection for our whole crazy species. I walked, WALKED, under the Brandenburger Tor yesterday and the sun was setting and poking through its arches. It was a special moment, because when I was last here (1981), it was behind Checkpoint Charlie and of course inaccessible. This was a powerful moment, powerful enough to bring tears to my eyes.

Redemption is the best part of the human story, and you see it here in spades.

Letzebuerg, which is to say Luxembourg

Luxembourg (City) , October 10. Really beautiful and laid back place here. But more expensive than Germany (as far as I can tell), so some fast recollections:

Very international place. In Germany, the vast majority of tourists (maybe not so in Berlin, we´ll see) are German, but here I´ve heard many languages (Portuguese, Italian, German, Russian, French of course since it´s one of the official ones here along with German and “Letzeburgisch,” etc etc). This is neat.

Really, really clean.

There are many, many nonsmoking places here. It´s not as good as Canada in this regard, not even close, but it´s way, way better than Köln. No comparison. My hotel is 100% smoke free.

Louder than I anticipated but my hotel is across from a high school.

They eat late, completely different from Germany. Last night was Nepalese (so-so) and I was the only customer at 6pm.

McDonald´s is insanely popular. Local chain next door (QuickBurger) is almost empty while McD is packed.

Hotel breakfast is not as sumptious as what I had in Köln despite my hotel being much more expensive here, but it´s not bad.

Luxembourg is incredibly, desperately, brilliantly picturesque and built around bluffs. Fall colours are magnificent. The train ride here through the Eifel and along the Rhein and Mosel was like a vacation in itself.

I found an outstanding coffee place with fresh beans, latte art and espresso made with a La Marzocco Mistral. It´s called Cafe Knopes, and thank God I found it yesterday so I could enjoy it more than once.

Off to Berlin tomorrow, Ciao!

Kölsche Sachen

Colognian things.

This is a completely beautiful city, a live architectural museum, and I´ve loved a lot of it. My teeny tiny hotel room (so European!) is only steps from the Domplatz (Cathedral Square, a public space par excellence, completely packed with every age group… I wish we had this sort of thing in Canada… imagine Stephen Ave during Stampede, but every single day). I´m trying to take it all in, but there´s so much to SEE. So it´s great. I´ve been inside lots of churches and seen Roman ruins and eaten lots and lots of massive Döner Kebabs. The weather has been hervorragend, which is to say splendid, and as I say my experience here has been exactly what I hoped for.

I leave tomorrow for Luxembourg and the new challenge of being in a French-speaking place for just three days, so let me also say some things about Köln (and who knows, maybe this applies to Westphalia in general). First and foremost, the smoking situation is beyond disgusting. I remember complaining a LOT about the smoking in Buenos Aires, but at least there there were many big restos that had, sometimes, logically placed nonsmoking areas. Sometimes not, but escaping smoke seemed, and I can´t believe I am saying this about 2004 BsAs, to be easier than in Köln. See, aside from McDonald´s, I have not found a single nonsmoking AREA, never mind a nonsmoking resto. I´ll peer inside a little resto with five or six tables, closed windows, and there is an ashtray on every table. I´ve been lucky to have good weather and to be able to sit outside here and there, and since I´m here alone, eating in a stand-up Imbiss, preferably one serving delectable Turkish snacks, is not that horrible. But if the weather were bad… I don´t even want to imagine this vacation, seriously. Frankfurt was already smoke free for the most part and I didn´t think it would be THIS different here in Köln, and that part really, really, really, really sucks.

I met two cool Americans at the German-Roman Museum today, a man and woman the male half of which is also a prof and also on sabbatical, he from U of Illinois, and they said that Berlin wasn´t so bad smoking-wise. I hope this is true.

I also have to mention that there is a certain stereotypical German brusqueness that I see here that I didn´t notice in Frankfurt. For example, I tried to use the bathroom below the Domplatz, and like the public ones in Frankfurt Hbf, you have to pay to enter (this one was 50 cents- 1/100 Euro is a “cent”). I couldn´t get in because some poor man was having a hard time with the turnstile, and an unpleasant old crone who works there said “Blöd!” (”stupid!”) right in his face. I couldn´t believe this sort of impatient disrespect for tourists, but I´ve seen it elsewhere, especially when I struggle to figure the coins out. Maybe this sort of thing happens in Canada and the US too… I should pay closer attention.

Quickies from Frankfurt

…by which I mean a few quick noticings before this internet session turns into a pumpkin:

1. German bread completely and totally kicks ass. Every little sandwich kiosk at the Frankfurt train station is better than anything in Ottawa or the St Lawrence Market (which are the best examples of Canadian bread that come to mind).

2. Superautomatic espresso machines are EVERYWHERE.

3. When it´s a very humid 20c here, Germans wear what appear to be winter clothes. I guess they do this in October regardless of how uncomfortable it is. I am in shorts. I am therefore a weirdo. I did not, I think, bring enough shorts.

4. Frankfurt, and the rest of the places I visit I am sure, is very, very multicultural. I did not really expect this. I am happy to see this and eager to put my sociology hat on about this evolution.

All for now- I have a train to catch to Köln (horray for keyboards with umlauts!) in a couple of hours.