This town always figures out a way to keep the party going. This weekend, it was due to CULTURE! Yes, in honor of culture, we would drink lots of caprihinas instead of beer! (Okay, that's probably an exaggeration. I doubt that any delicious, sugary cocktail ever wins over a cold, frosty one in this town). Anyway, I had found out from my German teacher the other day that there would be cultural festivities throughout Kreuzberg and Neukölln all weekend. Again, I am amazed how often Roomie and I are right smack dab in the thick of things. This was pretty darn clear when around noon yesterday, my work was interrupted by drumming, singing, and cheering from the street below. Apparently, there was a parade starting just down the street. I wish we had gone (check out the pic's from last year!) but we had heard there were festivities going on all day so we waited for our friends and headed to Hallesches Tor instead. On our way, we came across a troupe of young ladies wearing what appeared to be hot pink, stone studded bikinis paired with black hose and feathery headdresses. One of my friends referred to them as belly dancers. My mind, on the other hand, was thinking more along the lines of Las Vegas showgirl.
Once we reached the festival at Hallesches Tor, we secured a few drinks, took stock of what we might eat later (cone of french fries or veggie kabobs?), and then stretched out in a nice sunny patch of grass. Unfortunately, within minutes, a "magic show" decided to set up next to us. I could not for the life of me understand the "magic" or the humor of this show which was being put on by the following players: a hobo looking dude playing a cello, a sexy assistant type wearing shiny, rust colored spandex pants paired with a silver bustier and a big, yellow flower in her hair, and a clownish looking "magician" whose best trick seemed to be stuffing a ridiculous amount of kitchen scrubbies into his mouth. Considering the disturbed expression on my roomie's face, I don't think any sort of German translation would have made this act less wacko.
Then there were the stilt people (see above photo). Wearing all white, they wandered around, pantomiming the loss of a little, white bird. Now that in itself could be kind of beautiful. However, when one of the stilt people has long gloves/fingers a la Edward Scissorhands and another (whom I affectionately refer to as "Tube Guy") maniacally fingers the long white tubes flowing from his shoulder blades (???), you've got to wonder if at any moment, rifles are gonna appear from under those robes.
But aside from creepiness and the non-magical/non-humorous factor, who doesn't enjoy being amused in a park on a sunny afternoon?
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