First Full Day in Berlin

a symphony on stage stands to address the crowd's applause at the end of their show
Ricoh GRIII X

Slept in, as expected. We had quite a day planned so there was no time for dillying or dallying, no. We showered up and popped over to a cafe a couple of doors down. The coffee was OK.

We then walked over the Spree river via the Spreebrücke Bahnhof Friedrichstraße, a bridge underneath the Friedrichstraße train station . We were headed to Ama’s Cafe for brunch. The food was good. I had a salmon and avocado bagel with a coffee. The coffee was kinda meh.

We decided now would be a good time to hit a grocery store before taking on the rest of our itinerary for the day. There was an Aldi on the way back. I absolutely had to grab one of these cute, tiny shopping buggies.

looking down at a small shopping buggy containing some drinks and a bag of chips
35mm Summicron ASPH / Leica M10-P

Dropped off groceries, and then it was time to visit the Schwules Museum , an LGBT museum located just north of Schöneberg. The current exhibit covers the history of sex work in Berlin. I think the rest of the gallery towards the back of the space is their permanent collection, but I could be wrong. Some very interesting pieces.

a man and woman sitting on a small bench watching a projected art film
35mm Summicron ASPH / Leica M10-P

I don’t know how I forgot to mention this in my offline journal, but we made it over to this Japanese denim shop, DC4 . I’ve never set foot in a place like this. The space alone was really cool. I’ve been a bit of a denim head for many years. I knew of every brand they carried, but it was so cool to see some of these pieces in person. I wasn’t planning on buying anything, but I saw this really cool t-shirt from Samurai Jeans that was extremely heavy weight for a t-shirt. It was made from their own cotton fields in Japan. Very slubby in texture. I love it. The guy running the shop was very polite and informative. I will be back, for sure.

multiple pairs of jeans hanging across the wall of a denim shop. some pairs on shelves, and some on the floor
iPhone 14 Pro

I spent too much time at DC4, so we had to quickly head back to the apartment to get ready for the Nürnberger Symphony at the Berlin Philharmonic . Stunning venue. Inside and out. A wonderful experience and is something that Mitch and I probably wouldn’t have done on our own, so I’m glad Brian and Jeremie wanted to go. I was not supposed to take that photo, so 🤫.

a large, marble stair case going up from a fancy hotel lobby
Ricoh GRIII X

To end the night we went to The Lounge inside of the Ritz-Carlton. We were not aware it was inside of the hotel until we got there. I’m glad I was dressed up a little. Otherwise I would have felt very out of place. They had some wonderful mocktails on the menu. The two that I had were so delicious. A mango chili something something, and a berry lemonade.

A very good first day.

  • sun pours through the window of a rustic cafe, spilling onto flowers on the window sill and cutlery on a table
  • a cover of a vintage Berlin gay magazine: Berlin from Behind
  • a shelf with various corked bottles and a small bottle of poppers that reads 'dumb bitch juice'
  • a small note on a gallery wall that reads: 'Poppers - I first got into poppers at work and now they are my drug of choice. I had this French client who always showed up to my flat immaculately dressed on a Monday afternoon. He liked to listen to Edith Piaf, huff poppers and get fisted. I'd be there, elbow-deep in his hairy ass, thinking 'what is my life?!' I've since introduced them to a lot of straight clients. You have to be careful though. I once passed the bottle to a client, looked over and he was drinking them!'
  • a still from an art film where a man replaced his eyes with anuses. he is in a threesome with two other men
  • a simple store front of a clothing shop reads 'riveted garments - DC4 - genuine quality'
  • a fancy beverage in a stemmed glass with chili powder dusted on the right side
  • a mixed drink in a tall glass with berries and mint leaves
  • a ferrari sports car parked on the street
  • reflection of four men in a mirrored elevator