What to see in Berlin, Berlin blog

The Love Parade was organized as a peaceful, political demonstration in 1989, a couple of months before the demolition of the Berlin Wall. Its message was peace and international understanding through love and music. It originated out of the electronic underground music scene and still today it is one of the biggest and most recognized electronic music events in the world.

A lot of people not only from Germany but abroad come to the Love Parade every year to express themselves. Many people show off exhibitionistic tendencies and get very creative with outfits.

Until 2003 the parade was always held in Berlin. In 2004 and 2005 there was no parade because the organizers weren’t able to come up with the necessary funds. In 2006 the parade made a comeback, however already the following year other problems occurred and the parade had to move from Berlin to the Ruhr-Area. Even though this didn’t hurt the popularity of the event, the Love Parade continues to be plagued by legal issues and many fans of the original Love Parade miss Berlin in the equation.

This year the city of Berlin does not want to do without a little Love Parade flair so the idea of the B-Parade came up. It is basically a replacement to the Love Parade. Even though there no official date has been set yet, it will be a 2 day event in July. It’s expected to be like the Love Parade, just on a smaller scale. It seems that the planning of the event is quite difficult (which essentially is the reason why the Love Parade had to move in the first place) but the organizers try to keep everyone updated on the latest news via Facebook http://www.facebook.com/group

My suggestion is to check out this new happening in the birth place of the Love Parade. It’s going to be a long weekend so be sure to rent apartments in Berlin to get some rest.

Kissing, from Old English cyssan “to kiss”, describes the action of touching something with the lips by contracting and spreading them, and id the action that makes up 80% of sex. According to Sigmund Freud’s, the mouth is the first place where we sense sexual desire.

Kissing clearly expresses emotions or feelings and combines three senses: taste, smell and touch to produce strong emotional reactions.

Then, 10 little known things about kisses that will let you know why you like to kiss your partner so much:

1.According to the Kamasutra there are 30 different ways of kissing, from kissing inclined, tilted, panting, to ignite the flame, nominal, to butterfly kisses (where eyelashes caress the lips) and the list goes on.

2. During kiss your brain releases oxytocin, the hormone that influences love and orgasm.

3. Studies show that a three minute kiss can burn 15 calories.

4. Kisses improve breath because they increase the secretion of saliva which in turn drains the mouth of the dead cells and bacteria.

5. The experts say that the effect of the chemical processes during passionate kissing can be compared with an overdose of amphetamines.

6. Men are twice as likely as women to sleep with someone who kisses wrong.

7. In the middle Ages a man was forced to marry the woman he kissed.

8. A passionate kiss uses 34 facial muscles.

9. During a kiss the body produces chemicals that protect against infection.

10. A kiss is composed of 60% water, 0.4% salt, 0.7% fat, 0.7% proteins and many bacteria.

Enjoy a weekend of passionate kissing, Rent Apartments in Berlin and show your partner how well you have mastered the art of kissing.

Gay Pride 2010 in Berlin

You surely know that the German capital is one of the most welcoming capitals for members of the LGBT community. Whatever your sexual orientation, Berlin is the ideal place to you feel like a fish in water. And of course, the Gay Pride March here is celebrated on a large scale: June 19th, the heart of the city will beat in rainbows. If you do not know the fascinating faces of Berlin nor the “gay” universe, take this extraordinary chance to get to know them better. You won’t regret taking a chance to be a part of this huge event beneath the suns rays.

“Be an angel and get your wings”

For this 32nd edition, of course you can wear what you please, but have some fun and get inspired by this year’s angelic theme! Surely you have the imagination to put together something amazing, which goes beyond angels and demons … This year, there are a few changes to the itinerary the route for parade floats; the route is as follows: Joachimsthaler Street / Kurfürstendamm – Wittenbergplatz – Nollendorfplatz – Einemstreet – Lützowplatz – Klingelhöfer Street – Hofjägerallee – Siegessäule – June 17th – Brandenburger Tor. The Kick-off is at 13h!

Other Events

A little history, because we love to keep you in the know: in Berlin, the first pride parade began in 1979 with a tiny parade of about 100 people. Today, thousands of people come each June to celebrate, and also throughout the year … On June 16, join the Zoo night party that begins at 19h (Gay Night at the Zoo), it should be a smash and there are more than 55 bands invited.

On June 17, climb aboard one of the boats that float on the Spree River There will be one reserved for the girls too … There will be Djs and drag queens and everything ends with a huge barbecue party, and the hippest new music. If you like to dance swing, tango, foxtrot or cha-cha-cha, come out to enjoy the concerts that have been organized.

And if you are still around in July, get out for the Come Together Cup … Check out more information, because some of these events require a ticket. For an intimate, affordable stay, don’t hesitate to rent apartments in Berlin.

The name is inspired by the dangerous game of Russian roulette, but since this game takes place via the Internet, it’s not quite so life-threatening. The weapon in this case is not a gun, but a web cam. The chatroulette service was invented by Andrey Ternovskiy, a Russian high school student who used to play hooky from school to spend more time in front of the computer. He wrote a few lines of code with the idea of meeting new people because he was tired of talking with the same old folks via skype and wanted to do something a little more challenging. He bought his domain Chatroulette.com, for the grand sum of $ 7, and opened the site in November of 2009. In less than a month, had attracted 50,000 new users, and today has about 1.5 million users.

The interesting thing is that chatroulette gives you a chance to chat with someone random, may be a person who would never have known otherwise. The downside, of course, is that it could be a person you do not even want to meet. According to a recent study, people who appeared in the chat window, 89% were male, and only 11% were women. On the other hand, 1 of 8 chats opened with someone possibly offensive on the screen, typically a teen masturbating.

You might go to the site looking for your better half, but you are much more likely to come across someone who believes that the best way to communicate with a stranger is to flash them his equipment. Of course, if you open the window and there is a caveman with a sign that says “Show me your tits,” you just have to push “next” and your next guest pops up. You might just go through a session of 50 mini “conversations” in the space of 15 minutes. If you think the digital age is sheer madness, why not rent apartments in Berlin to enjoy its great international community, and its fantastic nightlife? Surely you’ll meet someone interesting.

Save the date! On June 11, the sixth Berlin contemporary art Biennial will open, and run until the 8th of August. The event and its exhibitions will be held at various locations and galleries in Berlin, and the headquarters will be the KW Institute for Contemporary Art. The previous Biennial was a great success and attracted 100,000 visitors. Over fifty artists will participate in this edition, and more than half of the exhibits have been created specifically for the event.

One of the current trends of contemporary art is the concept of the Curator as artist. If an exhibit is, say, more than just an art collection, and represents its own artistic happening, of course that happening has its author. Kathrin Rhomberg will curate the biennial, and is well known in the world of contemporary art for her innovative exhibitions, and especially for her work with Manifesta, the itinerant biennial of Pan-European art.
For the Berlin Biennial, instead of establishing a theoretical base that unifies the event outright, she suggested some questions: Do you believe in reality? Why is reality always positioned as the “other”? How does contemporary art deal with reality? She has established the Biennial as an opportune time to explore the cracks in reality, and the moments when self-deception can be painful. Through art, the fictitious weapons promoted by popular culture will be questioned. There will be group exhibits, solo shows and a historical exhibition, as well as projects and workshops

Featured exhibitors include photographer Michael Schmidt, and a retrospective on Adolph Menzel (1815-1905) has been organized to contextualize the Biennial. There will be more, but of course the best way to find out is to be there. Rent apartments in Berlin to be at the centre of artistic action and see the future of art.

In the ring the boxers pounded hard: left hook, uppercut, a punch flies by. They avoid moving from side to side of the ring, and concentrate despite the deafening roar of the crowd. Suddenly, a gong sounds and the contenders get down from the ring, off come the gloves and on go the thick protective headphones to shut out the noise. They immediately sit in front of a chessboard. After a few minutes of absolute concentration, the gong sounds again and again the fists … Let me introduce you a surreal sport sure to inspire some talking: “chess boxing”.

The origin of the sport is surprising: it was first imagined by neither a boxer nor a chess player but in … A comic book! In the graphic novel Froid Équateur, the artist and filmmaker Enki Bilal, depicted a mash-up of boxing and chess between the same contestants. The Dutch artist Iepe Rubingh took off with idea, which attracted him because it combined his two greatest passions, and so he decided to organize the first meetings in chess boxing history. Albeit with a variation on what Bilal had imagined: there are short alternating rounds of chess and boxing, instead of having one confrontation after another. Each round lasts three or four minutes, and each player has a limit twelve total minutes in the game of chess.

Chess boxing requires both physical fitness and remarkable chess ability, as rounds can be won by a Knock-out or points (in boxing) as well as checkmate or finishing ahead of your opponent in chess… It’s hard to imagine the enormous difficulty that pausing half boxing match, with the blood full of adrenaline and body exhausted by the effort, only to have to think in the strategic subtleties and complex tactics typical of competitive chess. Who knows if any of the blows received during the rounds of boxing boxer serve as sudden inspiration for some brilliant chess idea …

The World Chess Boxing Organisation (WCBO) was created early in the decade. The organization coordinates chess boxing events are throughout the world. The first European Championship was held in Berlin in October 2005 in one of the most important clubs in world chess boxing, in the heart of Gormannstrasse. So if you would like to know more about this sport, you just have to rent apartments in Berlin and pass by the Chess Boxing Club. Take your boxing gloves and your box of chess pieces, and don’t forget to have fun!

Some say that curiosity killed the cat, while others venture about like Alice in Wonderland, and live out wild adventures which fill their lives with colour

Like Alice, who hasn’t once found themselves in the place they least expected.
One long night in a place known for its long nights, I unwittingly stumbled upon a fox on an old back street, while it seemed a bit strange to me a small wild creature would appear out of nowhere, nothing is strange in the wild cement paradise that Berlin affords us.

In that moment, I began an adventure, following a wild animal through the city without knowing where it was going or why.

My pursuit was not easy, sometimes I doubted if I was really following along or just scaring it away, and at some point I wondered if it was really a good idea. I could have ended up in a place that wasn’t so easy to get out of. But there was no time to think, and so I followed it without hesitation, eager to see where its path would lead.
Suddenly we came to a large portico, and the fox vanished into the bushes along a small path leading up to a grand entrance, and left me stopped in my tracks gazing up at the sign, surprised to see that the pursuit had led me to an excellent jazz bar with a unique style.

Ironic, funny, – but really- who but a fox, the caricature of 50´s jazz symbolism, would take me to the place where I would listen to one of the best jazz performance I have ever seen in my life? Though I must admit that this style is not my first choice in the music world, this creature, perhaps a reincarnated spirit showed me the beauty of the inspired sounds of this musical movement.

I spent the night enjoying the most exquisite art, delighting in every moment, and was transported to a time when jazz fusion made history, in a city full of history.
So why don’t you decide what type of person you are, and live your own adventure. If you rent apartments in Berlin, who knows where the fox will take you? ….

The German capital just recently inaugurated an retrospective dedicated to legendary Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907-1954), one of the most controversial and mythic figures of this central American country, and one of the most relevant representatives of feminist art in the early 20th century.

Kahlo lived through and era full of radical social and political changes, which conditioned both her personal and artistic life. She crossed paths with such figures as Leon Trotsky (who lived in her house from 1937 until1939) or the photographer Tina Modotti. However the encounter which most marked her life was meeting Diego de Rivera, another very important figure in Mexican art.

Frida Kahlo´s art embarked Surrealism, symbolism, Stridentism and expressionism, and included many elements influenced by Maya and Aztec art. This exhibit (which runs from April 30th until august 9th 2010) in the Martin Gropius Bau in Berlin has created quite a stir, because there will be 90 never seen before drawings, as well as the last works she completed before her death in 1954. There are a total of 150 works borrowed from both private collections and museums in Mexico and the US.

Personal photos lent by the artist’s family round out the exhibit, giving visitors a chance to take a closer look at the artist and get beyond the myths. This exceptional event has also bee the impetus for a series of films, conferences and lectures about the artist in Martin Gropius Bau as well as in other places. The world of film has always been fascinated with Kahlo, whom for many is a very enigmatic artist. Eisenstein’s film “¡Qué viva México!” will also be screened.

The German capital is famous for its culture, and this exhibit promises to be one of the most important events of the year. Come to Berlin to bask in the glow of the arts and rediscover one of the most important figures of 20th century art. If you need to take a rest after the cultural marathon, there’s nothing better than renting apartments in Berlin, for the best quality at the best price.

Not long ago, an erotic book for blind people was presented in Great Britain by Lisa J. Murphy, a Canadian photographer certified in Tactile Graphics. The book is called “Tactile Minds” and collects 17 images in a 3-D format accompanied by erotic texts written in Braille. The Volume is destined to be read by blind people. For 150 pounds sensual pleasure even for those who can not enjoy colours. If you are only interested in the diagrams you can also buy them separately.

According to its author Lisa Murphy, the idea of the book came as a response to a need felt in the publishing industry. In an interview she explained that “there is no book for blind people” so in order to fill this “gap” she thought of turning this brand new idea into reality. She added that “only Playboy had such a magazine between 1970 and 1985, but without pictures”.

Eroticism and originality in one

The book is 100% Murphy’s work as she photographed, sculpted, thermoformed and published the volume herself. The plastic pages reveal images that give both men and women the possibility to touch bodies presented in different positions.

Readers may enjoy touching the picture of a naked man dressed as a bunny rabbit. They can even touch his penis (the paper penis, of course) and the hearts that compose the background of the image.

Some pictures offer the chance to touch women with perfect breasts. Some kneeling, some leaning against the wall, some turned to one side so you can only touch one breast (what a pity!), some dancing and pointing out the sky and some even letting you touch their vagina. The images put women in a very seductive “light”.

Because of its simple spiral binding, the book is very easy to read, allowing you to touch the diagrams on a flat surface. If you take your lover to Berlin and rent apartments, you can also lay them flat, and caress their sculptural curves. Blind or not, you´ll have a good time.

The face you want to give to these images is up to your imagination, as in all the pictures the face is covered by a mask.

Blind people who buy this book may prefer to experience touching a man’s pubic hair or a sensual, naked woman wearing high heel shoes, the sensation is up to them .

Rent Apartments in Berlin and when you pass by a bookstore don’t forget to take a look at this erotic masterpiece.

Wladimir Iljitsch Uljanow, known to most of us as Lenin, was one of the most influential politicians of Soviet comunism . He was responsible for the founding of the Soviet Union and the October Revolution of 1917. His political activity and ideology was very polarizing. At first, fighting for the emancipation of the working class he found many followers, but once in power his extreme ideals were no longer supported by the general public. The revolutionary turned into a dictator and found himself in and out of exile. Still, even after his death in 1924, he remains a historical Russian icon.

Several monuments were built in his memory and his honor in Russia, other Soviet Republics and other Communist states including former Eastern Germany.

One of them stood almost 20 meters tall in Berlin. Created by Russian artist Nicolai Tomsky it was placed on the Leninplatz which is known today as the Platz der Vereinten Nationen. But soon after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 many of the Lenin statues and monuments were torn down as a symbol of liberation of from the Communist regime. This monument´s destruction is one of the best known examples of post- wall iconoclasm. It was broken down into 129 pieces and buried in the woods outside of Berlin.

The question what to do with the parts of the monument has caused and still causes controversies amongst politicians because now the head – which alone weighs 3,5 tons – is supposed to be part of the exhibition “Enthüllt. Berlin und seine Denkmäler“ (Revealed. Berlin and its monuments). Dealing with monuments honouring anything Socialist remains a hot topic of discussion. Organizer of the exhibition Andrea Theissen has her eye on the prize and wants it to be part of the project. She does not anticipate political resistance against her plans. She also adds that if the Lenin-head is permitted in the exhibition its excavation will not start until next year.

Even 20 years after the Fall of the Wall we can’t seem to let go of the past. Whether or not Lenin’s head will be part of this exhibition Berlin has many other sights and venues remembering Germany’s history, including former Eastern Germany, for example Checkpoint Charlie. However the German capital is not just interesting for history nuts. Rent apartments in Berlin and find out what more this city has to offer.