Re: Berlin...and Tango in Berlin

[Benjamin Koh <benkoh @STANFORD.EDU>]

Tom Stermitz wrote:
>
> What a great city is Berlin!
<snip>
> But I have to point out that the friendliness Tuesday at Kalksheune
> in Mitte, contradicted what I said above regarding milongas in
> Kreuzberg.

I'll second that endorsement of Kalkscheune (sp?) located at
Johannistrasse. I was there only once though, almost 6 months ago,
during a 3 week whirlwind tour of Germany. It was by far the best
milonga experience for me in Germany (I visited 4 milongas in all -
Frankfurt, Hamburg and 2 in Berlin). The dancers there were very good,
and also very friendly. Being Asian I had no hope of even attempting to
blend in, but I didn't feel out of place at all, even with my broken
German. I turned up at 11.45pm, when they were having 2 birthday dances,
and left at the end, at 3.30am, well satisfied. Still I was glad the
U-bahn (subway) train came by at 4.20am!

And yes, Berlin is a wonderful city of contrasts, east/west, old/new,
beautiful/ugly, well worth a visit. The ongoing (re)construction is part
of the fun and annoyance - it won't be the same once it ceases to be the
"ewige bauerplatz" (eternal construction site).

Benjamin