David Ingrim
Berlin for Tourists (1): Berlin is worth the trip...
What does a traveler look for in a foreign land? Foreigners.
We shouldnt be fooled by the rumors that tourists are
drawn to places they know from home, which are liberally
spread by the German media and opinion makers.
Americans dont eat at McDonalds in Berlin. The French
dont stroll down La Fayette and Turks don't rush to
the Oranienstrasse in Kreuzberg as soon as they arrive.
Rumors like the one above are spread to keep tourists
where they dont want to be: among themselves. The sole
purpose for such rumors is to give Berliners the chance
to stay holed up among themselves. Therefore, Berliners
enthusiastically send tourists to those renovation
sites that plug up that long-standing hole in the heart
of Berlin. Berliners are amused by this exodus.
But tourists shouldnt be offended, though, because what
do tourists look for in a foreign metropolis? Foreigness.
And what could be more foreign, more alienating than
the arrogant suggestion: Don't take in our sites, look
at our desolate construction sites.
But because we know what tourists are after (foreignness),
we will offer tips from time to time. (In doing this
we risk making ourselves enemies of certain Berliners
those who would like to keep themselves holed up in
their metropolitan caves so as not to become what they
already are: foreign.)