Berlin's famous tv tower. Photo (cc) flickr user Robby van Moor

Fernando is a British-Brazilian expatriate living in Berlin, Germany and working for iversity, whose work we’ve featured on Young Germany here.  In today’s guest post he’s here to tell us a little about his experiences in Germany and working for iversity.  Welcome Fernando!

Photo (c) Resident on Earth

The first time I was in Berlin, I left the city in the hush of the early morning hours. I awoke at the ungodly hour of 4 AM, slipped into a taxi, and sleepily watched the streets in the morning darkness on the way to the airport. Berlin was at the tail end of my first trip to Europe, and I didn’t want to go home. I felt my heart was being pulled out of me as I rode in that dark taxi speeding towards the airport. I had completely fallen in love with Europe.

ÖPNV (VBB) public transport in Berlin, Photo: www.berlin.de

„Entschuldigung, wo ist die S-Bahn Station?“
„It’s in the other side of the station; here it is the U-Bahn!”
„Oh! It’s not the same, good to know. Thanks”.

Just another example of my experiences in trying to find the right train and going to my destination. My average so far is two to three mistakes in each new journey by train or by any means of public transport in Germany for that matter.

I come from a small village with just around 6,000 residents. It’s located 20 kilometres from Nazareth, and yes it is “the” Nazareth from the Bible, although I’m not really sure exactly how far my village is from Nazareth, although I think about 20-30 minutes by car which seems around 20 kilometers to me.

Dortmund Hauptbahnhof, a typical German main station (Flickr: das_kine)

One of the first words that British schoolchildren who take German learn is Bahnhof, and very soon after, they are told about the prefix Haupt-: and, badda-bing, badda-bahnhof, you’ve got one of the most important words in the German language, a kind of key to the German soul.

What? A word which, translated, means “main station” – and this is supposed to open the treasure chest of the German psyche? Yes, you got it! Just give me a few minutes, and I’ll show you how.

Down, down, down, into the Berliner Unterwelt! Photo (cc) flickr user escpeapalumni

The meeting place was normal enough; if I hadn’t known what was going on beneath us and where we would spend the next hour and a half, I never would have guessed at what was just below the ground on which I stood.  Berlin’s Gesundbrunnen metro stop, both inside and outside, lacked the kind of dank, enthralling mystery that was waiting several stories beneath us in the Berliner Unterwelten.

Mikroskop (this room ends at the first line…just an optical illusion

First, I would like to point out that Berlin is known for its buoyant art scene. If its antiques at the beautiful Museumsinsel in Mitte, contemporary art at the infamous Hamburger Bahnhof, or even the historical Jewish Museum, Berlin embraces art with both arms wide open.

The Martin-Gropius-Bau belongs at the top of the list of must-see museums. Located in the center of the city just around the corner from Potsdamer Platz, the large old building hosts various exhibitions simultaneously; right now there are two. On the top floor you’ll find Frida Kahlo’s Retrospective, and on the ground floor is the impressive installation that had me in awe: Innen Stadt Außen by the Danish Artist Olafur Elissaon.

Asian carnival participants

Since my first Berlin-Blog post on Young-Germany.de, I’ve been excitedly waiting to write about one of Berlin’s particular events: the annual Karneval der Kulturen (Carnival of Cultures).

The Karneval der Kulturen stands out of the slew of cultural events held here, combining multiculturalism with international foods and music for a spectacular must-see highlight!