Massive Fun in Berlin

Berlin was so engaging there wasn’t any time for me to think about a post. Now that I’m waiting for my flight to Brussels, here are some highlights:

Obviously I drank a lot of beer. This is at Brauhaus Lemke in Mitte.

• Exploring the different neighborhoods and parks. I really liked Mitte, Kreuzberg, and the area around the East Side Gallery. At night I went to a cool bar on the east side of town with a hip hop show that was so much fun!
• Cycling. I was able to get a bike thanks to the BikeSurf community, which provides shared bikes at a pay-what-you-want rate. Berlin is safe and friendly for bikers and as someone who cycles around at home, it felt really comforting and natural to zoom around all day.
• Food! I ate so much for so cheap. I had tons of coffee and a lot of Turkish food. You could go out for every meal and never get tired of your options. 
• Green space. Berlin has lots of parks around the city and ACTUAL trees. Amsterdam was making me feel claustrophobic with all the pavement. I noticed the difference in the atmosphere as soon as I arrived in Berlin. Viktoria Park is especially pretty and has a large hill offering a great view if the city. Just sitting in the grass there was so restoritive and badly needed after 3 days of running around. 

Sunset along the Spree

• The art was great and there are too many things to say about it for this post. The street art, the independent galleries, the public exhibitions and sculptures. The city changes visually everyday. And then there are all the museums I didn’t even set foot in.
• The people! Really friendly people were everywhere and very interested in chatting if it was possible (I don’t really know German). I had conversations with people from every continent and hearing what brought them to the city and why they like it was amazing. There were a lot of smiles and lots of laughter.

I think I will need to go back for more someday. 
Thanks for reading,

Ruby

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Steets of Los Angeles: A Wonderland of Public Art

Los Angeles is a wonderland of street art and state-commissioned public art pieces. The city hosts world-class art museums such as The Getty, LACMA and Hammer Museum. However, one could spend an entire weekend discovering public art treasures and the ever-changing street art scene (particularly around Alameda Street and the Arts District).

One of my favorite public art pieces from a recent trip to Los Angeles is this mural by internationally known Chicano artist Frank Ramero, created for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. “Going to the Olympics,” about 100 ft. in length, consists of five pastel cars driving against a background of hearts and trees.  It is located on Highway 101, near Alameda Street, and it brings incredible brightness and beauty to the dull concrete. This piece, along with many others along Highway 101, has an interesting history and was restored in 2013, just in time for the 30th anniversary of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Going to the Olympics by Frank Romero

Los Angeles is a must for any art lover.

Thank you for reading,

Ruby