In Berlin
Monday, Nov. 19, 2018 - 8:23 pm.

Andrew and I had an amazing week in Berlin. We forgot about everything, and simply spent our days walking, sightseeing, eating good food, taking pictures, musing about Bowie, enjoying being together. We're good travel companions to each other, that also does wonders.

Just a quick recap: 

Monday: We spent the day traveling. It's only a two-hour flight from Manchester to Berlin, but our city doesn't have an airport, so we left our house at 8 am, and arrived to our destination at nearly 5 pm. Our AirBnB host was running late, also, but we passed the time at a nice coffee house around the corner from the apartment we were renting. The place was very comfortable. Transportation was easy, too, we bought one ticket for the whole week to take buses and trains, and everything is well-connected. 

Tuesday: We visited the German Parliament, and we had currywurst on a boat as we sailed up and down the river. We made quick stops by Checkpoint Charlie, the monument to "the murdered Jews in Europe" (I don't quite like that name), and a part of the wall called Topography of Terror. I learned that Julian Lennon had been at the monument hours later than us, and U2 was playing in the city that night. I'm not a fan of U2, but my friend Virginia is. U2 is for her what Aerosmith is for me (also, she encouraged me to follow the Path of Bowie by telling me where to start with his discography). 

Wednesday: Bowie day! In the morning, we visited his old apartment building, but the café a few steps from his house didn't open until in the afternoon. We saw the exterior of Hansa Studios, and by then Andrew and I found ourselves still with the whole day ahead because our journey took much less time than anticipated. So we went to the zoo! And the aquarium! We had never been to such places together, and while I don't entirely agree with the concept of zoos, they're also awesome, and they remind me of good old days in Houston with my family, so I was happy and nostalgic.

We finished that day by returning to Bowie's café (OK, it's not his, but you can see him there with Iggy Pop in a photo, when he's celebrating his 30th birthday). The place was beautiful and cozy and I didn't want to leave. Bowie was playing non-stop. There were no more than 10 tables, each with a tulip in a vase. It was a bit dark inside, and on the walls hung Bowie photos, and a giant Ziggy-era painting, and a poster of the David Bowie Is exhibition from its Berlin days. There was no one there when Andrew and I walked in, except the bartender and an old lady, who was drinking and smoking at the bar. They both were just chatting and having a laugh. Later on, an older, visibly queer man joined them. I was there for only an hour, but I'll miss that place for the rest of my life. 

Thursday: It was our 3rd wedding anniversary (or 4th? I'm sorry, I can't count, but I think it's the 3rd). Andrew got fancy and wanted us to have a meal at the revolving restaurant on top of the highest building in the city and parts of Europe. He couldn't get us a dinner reservation, but, true to our style as individuals and as a couple, he scored a reservation for breakfast. After that, we went to see what remains of the wall in the East Side Gallery, and then we visited a huge monument/remembrance park dedicated to Russian soldiers. There was this cool, huge-ass statue of a soldier holding an equally huge-ass sword, cradling a child, and standing over a broken swastiska. Hell yeah, fuck the nazis, now and forever. We finished our day by having sushi because why not.   

Friday: Our last day was to hit Museum Island. And yet we only managed to visit two museums, so much to see, Jesus Christ.  

Saturday: We spent the day traveling back home. 

After such a lovely time, I'm trying to get back into the groove of the PhD, it's time to go on full-on writing mode. I started panicking today, however, because it doesn't look like I'll finish my thesis by my self-imposed deadline. I wanted to cry all day as I tried to make some progress. Then four pm arrived, Andrew said we had to go (for we had agreed we'd finish our work today at that time), and I slowly unplugged from it all. I'll get back to it tomorrow and maaaybe it'll seem less monstrous. 

Non-travel stuff: 

- Before leaving for Berlin, I replied to Joseph telling him what had happened to me in these last 10 years. He replied "wow!", and then said he didn't understand the bisexuality part and a mention I made about how seeing sexual abuse victims in therapy (i.e. me being the therapist) helped me work out some conflicts of my own. He was very vague about what he did not understand, so I just said it didn't matter, all that mattered was that Steven Tyler called me a sexy beast. Now Joseph and I follow each other on Instagram, but I won't look at his feed. Don't want to or need to. I'm done. 

- I'm taking yet another look at my manuscript before sending it to another publishing house. I wasn't going to, but I'm glad I did, because once again I caught quite a few mistakes. Also, this time, I've hired my friend Virginia, who works freelance, because I can only get so far with the text if I'm the sole reader. I'm all about paying intellectual labor accordingly, but since I can't afford paying for a revision of the whole thing, nor I can take advantage of her "you're my friend, pay what you want" policy, I've only sent her a part of the manuscript. I'm sure her feedback will point me in the right direction, anyway. 

Speaking of which, I shall go and continue proofreading it. Overall, I LOVE what I've written. Bye. 

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