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You hear so much these days about Berlin being so cool and ‘the place to be’ that some Berliners tell you that they are starting to feel fed up (which is somehow understandable, even if you are a cool person, wouldn’t you also ask people to stop telling you that all the time?). It is probably also due to the “Berliner Schnauze” (Berlin snout), a term used to express that Berliners tend to be upfront when speaking their mind.

I moved to Berlin in August 2014. There are museums, historical sites and galleries all around. You can tell that this city saw monarchy, fascism and socialism and there are a lot of interesting places to go to if you want to find out more about the history of this city and Germany in general. If you like the old stuff (antique pieces, I should say) you will want to see the Pergamon Museum. If you are interested in modern art, you will definitely like the Neue Nationalgalerie a lot, just to give you two examples. Berlin has inspired a lot of musicians (David Bowie and Iggy Pop, for example, who spent a couple of intense years here) and it still is very much a music city with lots of clubs for all kinds of music.

Berlin is known for its “Kieze” (which could be translated as neighbourhoods), meaning that there is a strong sense of belonging and identity in each part of the town. You will hear people from Charlottenburg (in the western part of the town) say: “I have never been to Pankow (in the Eastern part of the town), why should I go there?” So the Kieze are like little towns in their own right. Talking about East and West, although it has become less of an issue in recent years, you could drop me anywhere in Berlin and I would normally still be able to tell you if it is the East or the West.

It might be interesting to know that, although Berlin is Germany’s political centre and the capital, it is not its economic centre, unlike Paris or London. This might be the reason why Klaus Wowereit, the mayor of Berlin, once said that Berlin was “poor, but sexy”. It is true that there are many other cities in Germany which are performing better or which are more important in economic terms (Frankfurt, Munich…). German history and the system of federalism it brought about also accounts for the fact that Berlin is not the one and only cultural or print media centre in Germany, there are other cities to compete with.

Having said that, Berlin has a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ that is very appealing. Unlike other German cities it still seems to be under construction all the time and you never know where this journey will take you, in regards to architecture, arts or society. So Berlin might be considered an avant garde place in many respects. This, of course, is just my point of view. Ask for instance a businessman from Munich and he might tell you that Berlin, in his opinion, is just a place where things don’t work out the way they should. As an example of Berlin’s ‘chaos’ he could go on and mention Berlin Brandenburg airport, which should have been opened in 2010, but has not due to poor planning and management.

Another thing, which might be of interest, is that Berlin is still quite cheap when it comes to housing, going out or public transport. A day ticket, for instance, which you can use for trams, buses, local trains and underground all over Berlin is 6,70 EURO, so a bit more than £5. Most restaurants and pubs are not too expensive either and there is a large variety to choose from.

Written by Edgar Meier

Edited by Alicja Zajdel
Photo courtesy of BLS

Beksiński’s own death was also tragic, which seems like a strange coincidence given the nature of his work, when he was murdered in his flat in Warsaw on 21st February 2005. During his life he created many works, which are now scattered across different museums, the main one being in his hometown, Sanok. According to some recent plans, all of his works might be moved to a new museum in Warsaw. Although I will be very sad to see my hometown lose such a valuable museum, perhaps a larger collection in Warsaw will attract more visitors and all of his works will be exhibited together, giving the viewer a chance to admire the whole of his creativity.

To see more of Beksiński’s works: http://imgur.com/a/vdLZg#22 

All biographical information was taken from the recently published biography of Beksiński and his son, a popular radio presenter and music journalist: ‘Beksińscy’ by Magdalena Grzebałkowska.
Written by Alicja Zajdel
Photos courtesy of Google Images

And is not intent upon arriving 
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching 

Dan Kieran is a travel writer, one who does not go on planes, preferring slow travelling instead. But he admits that his slow travel began as a result of his fear of flying. The author’s views on travelling, and also his own travels, are inspired by many prominent travellers and travel writers, among others Laurie Lee, Paul Theroux, Bruce Chatwin, Thomas Nugent,  H V Morton, Stefan Zweig, Jay Griffiths, Satish Kumar.

The book is divided into 7 chapters, each covering a different travel-related idea. It all begins with the concept of travelling, instead of ‘just arriving’. As Robert Louis Stevenson said: To travel is hopefully a better thing than to arrive. These days with fast moving aeroplanes, we try to get to the place as fast as possible, as if the aim of the travel was more important than the whole experience of travelling; from planning, getting to the place, exploring the place and getting to know its people. The author gives us plenty of examples of such slow travels he accomplished, like travelling by train from Venice to Prague (in fourteen hours in 1994), from London to Warsaw (10 years later), or by a vintage electric milk float across Britain (with maximum speed of 15 miles per hour). 

Another interesting point Dan Kieran makes is that while travelling we should not rely on maps and travel guides in the form they are available today, as they control our travels instead of giving us the freedom to truly experience the place. As opposed to “Baedeker’s Guide to Great Britain” (by Karl Baedeker), which can guide us through our slow travels without assuming that we will only stay in one place (available on openlibrary.org). In relation to the above, Dan Kieran quotes a poem by Czech poet Miroslav Holub Brief Thoughts on Maps which I believe reflects Dan Kieran’s attitude to the named travelling tools: 

Brief Thoughts on Maps 
The young lieutenant of a small Hungarian detachment in the Alp
sent a reconnaissance unit out onto the icy wasteland.
It began to snow
immediately,
snowed for two days and the unit
did not return.
The lieutenant suffered:
he had dispatched
his own people to death.

But the third day the unit came back.
Where had they been? How had they made their way?
Yes, they said, we considered ourselves
lost and waited for the end. And then one of us
found a map in his pocket. That calmed us down.
We pitched camp, lasted out the snowstorm and then with the map
we discovered our bearings.
And here we are.

The lieutenant borrowed this remarkable map
and had a good look at it. It was not a map of the Alps
but of the Pyrenees. 

Dan Kieran also explores other travel-related topics, such as the notion of time, nature, neuroscience or language. I found particularly interesting an extract on language, where the author outlines his thoughts on the idea of understanding a concept without having a word for it. He gives an example of the Hebrew word ‘tzedakah’ which means both ‘charity’ and ‘justice’ and there is no direct translation of it in English. The author argues that because ‘charity’ and ‘justice’ represent two different concepts for a native English-speaker, it might be impossible for him/her to understand the word on its own. And then we read the possible ‘solution’ in the form of travelling and having the time to notice the unfamiliar which enriches our understanding of the world. 

Travelling does not have one name, e.g. can be accomplished for our own benefit, or devoted to others. Dan Kieran mentions Rupert Isaacson’s story, who travelled on horseback across Mongolia with his family to heal his son’s autism. Rupert and his wife embarked upon this journey as an act of love towards their son. Isaacson’s story reminds me of American novelist Ann Hood’s travel to Chimayo, New Mexico. She flew with her 10-week old daughter from Boston to Chimayo seeking a miracle cure (healing dirt) for her father diagnosed with an inoperable lung cancer. After her visit to Chimayo miracles happened, although life once again showed that it does not follow a plan, but is rather an unpredictable sequence of events.

I do not know if you are tempted to start slow travelling, but after reading the book, I know I am. It will take some time to get used to the idea of spending around 10 hours on the train(s) to get from London to Madrid instead of 2h30 on the plane, but then maybe my understanding of the notion of travel will be deeper and more meaningful. After all it will be a very different experience from the traditional ‘holiday-making’.  

At the training, we mainly focused on teaching adults, as all participants were involved in adult education. We had 4 sessions per day and they were packed with interesting and thought provoking seminars and tutorials. I must admit that I enjoyed the course very much and I found its content fascinating and extremely relevant. 

 Photos courtesy of Kinga Macalla  

There are many myths and legends about the Balkans. The best way to decide which of them are true is, of course, to visit the region yourself. Since I am studying the Serbian language, I have been to Serbia several times. Most recently I stayed in Belgrade for half a year and I had there one of the best times of my life.

During the first few days I felt overwhelmed by the big city. On the other hand, however, I had a lot of interesting things to do. One of them was completing my thesis on Borislav Pekić’s short story cycle titled Novi Jerusalem -Gothic Chronicle. I visited the Belgrade University and spoke to literature professors, who had helped me to choose the right resources. I almost met the wife of the writer but unfortunately she fell sick. I wish Novi Jerusalem was translated into other languages. So far I can strongly recommend translations of his other books and one of the stories from Novi Jerusalem, which you can find on Borislav Pekić’s blog: http://www.borislavpekic.com/search/label/English.

One month after my arrival, I started an internship in the Polish Embassy in Belgrade. I began my days with reading enormous piles of newspapers as I was writing reports about the current political situation in Serbia. More often, however, I was supporting the cultural department and writing articles about the Polish culture for the embassy’s website. During this time the Embassy organised a promotion of one of Olga Tokarczuk’s books. It was an exciting event for me, as I used to attend her classes which I really enjoyed. She is also one of the best known Polish writers.

 My stay in Belgrade wouldn’t be as enjoyable, if I haven’t had met so many wonderful people. They made me like the city more. I joined a German-Serbian Club and some of the meetings took place outdoors, for example in a nice park called Tašmajdan. This is how I discovered some parks of the city and another green place in Belgrade: an island on the river called Ada Ciganlija, where I liked to swim and spend sunny afternoons. After a day spent on the island I liked to go out in the neighbourhood Savamalawhere my favourite cultural centre was situated: KC GRAD,which hosts lots of different events and parties. Sometimes we went out to Jazz Club Čekaonica, located on the top of a huge building, BIGZ, one of the biggest publishing houses in former Yugoslavia. I also liked to visit Bitef Teatar which is located in a reconstructed evangelic German church and it’s a great place for all modern theatre lovers. In may, when my stay was coming to an end and some of my friends visited me, we spent whole evenings on one bench, in the garden of the charming Ružica church, on famous fortress Kalemegdan. We also loved hidden bars, which were really difficult to find, but it was worth the effort. If you happen to find yourself in Belgrade, try to find The Federal Association of Globe Trotters. And if you suffer from Yugo-nostalgia,Muzej Istorije Jugoslavije is the place to be.

During the three months of my internship I went on numerous trips. Countless rides to nearby villages and towns like lovely Inđija will always stay in my memory. The most exciting  trip though was an excursion to Istanbul, where I flew for five days in the beginning of May. Although I went there alone, I didn’t feel lonely. My hosts from Couchsurfing were excellent guides, cooks and entertainers. Several days spent in the sunny, wonderful and magical city were the best holidays I could imagine. My stay in Belgrade was definitely a great experience. It is slowly time to plan another trip to the region. 

Written by Alicja Zajdel