Berlin gefält mir

First: HOM RAN. Go Sox. This is how you respond after I left my cap at Delicious Donuts in Berlin, where it was stolen in a probably anti-American-inspired move of hate? I’ll take it.

Next: Vilnius is completely nuts. I knew this already, of course, but I can’t stop taking photos, and you will all understand how bats it is. Punkris has already started with building up a catalog of surreptitiously photographed Lithuanian asses. I have a feeling that it’ll be a really big hit once the photos go online. Jonas and I had our first meal since Berlin today. We went to Čili Pica (Chili Pizza) for lunch. It’s nice to see how food tastes, since we’d forgotten. I’ve probably lost a half inch off my waist, but that’s what happens when you’re on a strict diet of beer. The pica was really good–I had the “Greek” pizza, which was with feta and 5 leaves of spinach on top. Jonas had something with ham–tai normaliai. One thing I didn’t do, however, unlike my Lithuanian fellow-eaters, was put ketchup all over the pizza. Instead, I sprinkled “Mexican Ketchup” on the pizza. Actually, that’s not true, either, but trust me when I say that in Lithuania, it’s possible to buy a Heinz product called “Mexican Ketchup.”

Postcards have started going out, too. It’s hard to find time to be witty and say interesting things, so I apologise in advance.

Every female in Vilnius is beautiful. I hate saying that, but it’s a true fact. It’s starting to get ridiculous. Photos I hope will prove this conclusively. The guys, on the other hand, are largely uninspiring, which makes for an odd combination. A lot of Ric Okasekitis seems to be taking hold.

I suppose I can now talk some more about Berlin. It’s very beautiful, and the Germans have a very strong sense of poignancy. At Checkpoint Charlie, there’s the standard tourist traps, etc., but there’s also a huge sign with two photos on either side. It’s the same model, and in one shot, he’s wearing a soviet army uniform. In the other, a US uniform. He looks a little scared, and not very confident, but he stares nevertheless, reminding us all that Berlin was once a fractured city. The Jewish Museum has a similar level of emotional value. I started sobbing before I even made it out of the basement. Libeskind has created a marvel there, and I’m rather certain that it’s next to impossible for Berlin to have a finer, more viscerally gripping museum. There could never be a similar museum in the US–we’re simply not mature enough to address horrors like the Holocaust in such an informed manner. We also went to the Topology of Terror exhibit by the old SS offices, and it, too, blew us away. Completely frank and open. Nothing like that could ever exist in the US, regarding our treatment of the Indians or anything. People would scream “PC!” and that would be that. But the Germans, they have an ingrained sense of reconcilliation that’s touching and inspiring. Funny thing is, too, that at every museum about Germany’s dodgy past we went to, the majority of people were Germans from other parts of the country. The JM, especially. Everyone there was speaking German. Astounding. I found some great postcards at the JM, too, and one is just of this note, handwritten:

Dein Christus ein Jude
Dein Auto ein Japaner
Deine Pizza italienisch
Deine Demokratie griechisch
Dein Kaffee brasilianisch
Dein Urlaub türkisch
Deine Zahlen arabisch
Deine Schrift lateinisch
Und Dein Nachbar nur ein Ausländer

No chills? There are other things about Berlin–quirks or what have you–that establish it as a formidable place of understanding. There’s a statue of a man shouting at the Brandenburg Gate from the West Berlin side, and around him is written something like “Ich gehe durch die Welt und ich rufe Freide Freide Freide.” And then the new addition to the Reichstag, the see-through dome, reminds one constantly that the Reichstag was burned in 1933 and bombed mercilessly by the Allies during WWII. The Berliner desire not to run away from history is totally amazing and, again, inspiring.

OK, the goosebumps are gone.

Here I get goosebumps from how western Vilnius is getting. Their renovations to Gedimio Prospektas are finished, and the strip is closed to cars for the summer. I feel like I’m in a west European capital in some parts of Vilnius, and that’s truly astounding, too. There’s still the silly Vilnius quirkiness, but in general, it’s maturing rather well.