Corey Webb: Blog

You can totally drink your beer in the street here at age 16. You can take it in the train too. What have the states done to me? Definitely not tempt me by prolonging the legal age by 5 years thus making the whole deal more dangerous and, in many ways, moreso encouraged through rebellion. I feel giddy about this place. I must be in Berlin.

Our couch surfing host is wonderful. She doesn't hide anything and is a force not to be trifled with. Luckily, I think she likes us. Her name is Sylvia and I dig her because she is dedicated to sharing her city with us, both history and nightlife. The remains of the wall, the east-side gallery, the Brandenberg gate, the breathtaking holocaust memorial, the tallest building in Europe, and so on. It's all fascinating stuff. She quizes us, which is sometimes frustrating but I am really getting involved with this city (which is neat because my god-brother's stepbrother used to live here and he is now an up-and-coming composer). Also, she is helping film our video and has come to accept Josee Manes! On another note, I've watched the sunrise three days in a row now.

Sylvia's flatmate, Jan (Yon), took us on the local tour - skate park, park, a cool little bridge to play music on, and another park. The weather has been absolutely stunning and warm. Tidbit: apparently southern Germany is pretty catholic, but the north is mostly agnostic. A large group of agnostic people in the same place... does this exist in other places? I must find out.

On the other hand, we are somewhat stuck here for the moment. The Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull has grounded pretty much everyone is Europe this weekend so the trains are jammed full and suddenly the EUrail pass is not so strong. So our plan is up in the air - we may go to Budapest, Switzerland, or back to Paris... or we may split up and travel alone for a bit. As long as I'm in Barcelona by the 27th to fly to London so I can fly back home on the 28th, all is well... assuming that planes will be in the air at all. It would be nice to make my graduation date... maybe I miss home a little bit.

So yeah, back to Berlin. I stopped by parliament to make a plea to the chancellor in hopes that she'll pass some volcano legislation in my stead, but my charm wasn't enough to meet with her. So Tim & I went and played guitar in a park.