The Real Berlin
I am sitting on the patio of Trattoria Lungomare - Steinofenpizza as I write this entry on a piece of paper that I have with me. I have been here for 10 minutes now, and finally someone has recognized that I am even here. I understand the chaos. It is all around me. I am mere blocks from the millions of jubilant fans who just saw their team win in a shootout. I hear the honking and screaming all around me. The joy of their team is swirling overhead like the smoke from a nearby cigarette. Added to that, I am at an Italian restaurant while Italy is playing, so I can understand that the staff may be a little distracted. But it is in the times when we are tested in our most distracted, our most stressed, and our most uncomfortable that we get an indication and show an indication to others of who we truly are. Someone tested me like that once, and while it was painful to see my weaknesses and faults laid open in that way, it was perhaps the most valid test of my character.So now, in this time for this city, I put it to the same kind of test. I am asking it to show me who it is. Not the polished version that the normal tourist might see, but the frazzled, tired, distracted version. The real Berlin. The Berlin that very few people will see during only a visit. Perhaps no one else will experience this as the rest of the tourists have companions and are swept up by the excitement of the World Cup. But I will see it. I am thankful for the opportunity.
So who are you Berlin? What will you show in your time of testing?
Peace and blessings,
JZ.
posted by JZ @ 6:04 PM
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