Travelled to Glasgow to see Jack! We have been online friends for years and years at this point thanks to a chance mutual connection that I don't keep up with nearly as well. The only other time we've met in person before was when we were both serendipitously in Amsterdam. It is a marvel we have spent no actual time together ... until now!!!
When I visited, Jack and Matthew were three weeks moved into their new flat. I love the process of settling. It's fascinating to see a place in the limbo between empty and lived in; between being a place and being your place. Spaces half carved out. Things finding their shelves one at a time. We cooked and walked and listened to jazz and I got the 2nd best sandwich of my life from Meadow Road.
A Glasgow diary entry, abridged:
Matthew is playing piano-- some jazz something. He's reached a point he can't seem to get exactly right, so he's going over it again and again, a curious upward melody, shifting slightly each time towards resolution. Jack is poking around for a misplaced stack of posters and preparing to move the bed. "I'm actually so confused," she says. Rumble rustle rustle. Whistling from Matthew, singing from Jack. They both move and speak quickly, with music. There is so much love here. Sitting on the desk is a fresh made to dry boquet from Ali down the street, one perfect orchid in the center. Rooibos tea and a stack of borrowed books. After the flatwarming party there are three new rings on the coffee table. Proof of life.
Going to Berlin in November was my first true solo trip. And dude.... I LOVE solo travelling!!!! I think I am so built for it. I showed up with next to no plan and became the most streamlined version of myself (in the best way). That is how I ended up going to three shows in three days, among many other things. So here's my whole trip start to finish:
First night got italian food at 11pm. Late night restaurants should be everywhere all the time. Then checked out the club circuit near my hostel which was a big circle of many clubs in what looked kind of like a huge skatepark bowl. I tried getting into one club (too expensive) then another (too long of a line) then decided I was content to call it a night after some peoplewatching-- the ground was frozen over so everyone was slipping and sliding on their way from spot to spot.
The next morning I went on a looong walk through Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg to Neukölln. I had a delicious breakfast (if there is one thing about me I love when breakfast is a special activity so I savored this). I tried on one billion of the most beautiful and expensive dresses I have ever seen. I had a sneezing fit in Sound Metaphors. I saw the East Side Gallery! And went to a very cool bookstore and flipped through zines for the better part of an hour.
Afterwards I went to Madame Claude. I sat alone in the bar very esoterically and wrote in my journal and slowly realized that they made the room look like everything is upside down. I can't overstate my whimsy at this discovery. I thought it was just one coffee table on the ceiling and then I kept looking and seeing more and more... upside down kitchen.... upside down bar over the right side up bar... so silly and cool. First act of the night was SHEGO FOXX (abletongaze). The second band was filling in so I can't for the life of me remember their name (+ they're not on the poster) and I am full of WOE about this!! They had a saxophonist, a vocalist, and guitarist and probably seven keyboards and/or samplers between them and they were WILD !!!! They cleared the room but the eight of us who stayed got them to do an encore. The vocalist had the most beautiful smile I've ever seen. And now they are merely ghosts in my memory...
From Madame Claude I took the bus to 90mil. Speaking of the bus I took one billion public transport in Berlin and did not get ticketed once (sheer luck). 90mil is in a warehouse next to a few nearly identical (in the dark, anyway) warehouses and I went to the wrong one at first and busted my ass slipping on ice. I actually yelled out loud "oh FUCK!" and a couple laughed at me. Karmic retribution for the previous night. 90mil was warm and light and containing two nearly opposite vibes-- an event room chock full of smoke, and a cozy sitting room with a bar and homemade dinner. I was quickly adopted by two very sweet, very touchy people on a date. It did not occur to me that maybe they were flirting with me (or using me to flirt with each other?) until they started making out with FEROCITY after the first set (rapper, drummer, computer, one guy running around between all of them, awesome). So alas my adoptees were busy and I had to dance for myself.
Eventually one of my hostel roommates and some of her friends came to meet me there and we danced into the night !! Literally !!! My phone was one breath to death the whole time. Nevertheless we decided to try to get into KitKatClub.... on a Saturday.... very bad idea. They did not like the look of us one bit. Guy took one look at my shoes and said "you think you're getting in here with Converse?" so I went promptly back to my hostel and to sleep.
Second day: went one billion museums! I saw the Bröhan (art deco/noveau), the Scharf-Gerstenberg Collection (surrealism!!!!!!), and the Alte Nationalgalerie (19th century european fine art mostly). My favorite pieces of art I saw all day were probably Max Klinger's Fantasies About a Found Glove dedicated to the Lady Who Lost It, and Earthware (Dreaming of a Deer Kiss 01) by Katja Novitskova.
That evening I got to see dear Emma play a sold out show at Pratchtwerk! Almost everyone at the show (including me) travelled to see her. It was just amazing. Watching someone so purely in their element is the greatest privilege of all. Stolen green room treats include one banana, two cups of gingerale, one truck sticker, and uncountable star-shaped hole punches. It was so nice to end my trip with a familiar face :)
When I woke up in the morning to go back home, there was snow on the ground. Thus concludes my Berlin adventure!
