but by the time i'm out of bed he's left already with the dogs taken them to the Tiergarten for a long walk
i wanted to go to the Winterfeldplatz to see if i could find Fluorite today ... but i don't know where it is.
Dieter gets back at half past 12 and tells me where it is but says the market probably closes at 1 so i rush off jump on the U-bahn one stop and walk down the street to the market..
which is still very much happening.
it doesn't take me long to realize they don't have what i want, though lots of jewelry made by people but no strands...
some fluorite, yeah but not beads and very expensive.. i should have just bought that little necklace over at the wittenbergplatz..
but instead i buy stroopwafels from a dutch seller: i never got any in amsterdam ... i got some turkish pepper drop too and a long string of licorice
then some interesting soap from a syrian guy made of olive oil and laurel leaves...
walking through the market the million things... try a Grömetlz or whatever it was not very good
yeah not what i'm looking for but beautiful market thank you! too bad everything is covered in snow...
i make my way along the ice back to the u-bahn
up at the wittenburgplatz i'm looking for a cafe that advertises WiFi no luck but some guy stops in his tracks and feels he must flirt with me inviting me to meet him at the "Old Timers" bar right around the corner at about 11 tonight yeah? let's me know he only lives ten minutes away...
i head back to Dieter's where he and Leo make fun of me for missing his stocky bearish x-boyfriend Paul ... Dieter and i share a taste in men, i'll tell ya...
speaking of that Dieter makes it pretty clear he wants some time alone with Friedel today so Leo and i bugger off going to look for an internet cafe... Dieter told us about one down the Kürfendamerstrasse but as we approach it long walk all the tourist shit i realize this is not what we want: EasyInternet no place for me to plug in..
so i get this idea we should go out to Kreuzberg i know it's a poorer artist burg... and they'll probably have a coffee shop with WiFi or a cheap normal internet place
Plus Leo used to have a lover out there the guy he'd stay with when he came here ... died back in '99 from jumping out his window Leo hasn't been back since
so i feel it'll be good to give an excuse to go out there let Leo make some peace with that
take the U1 out...
all the Turkish places, yes.. i send a Text Message to CoCo Pierre telling him where we're going he replies "i'm at the big internet cafe right on the corner there!" what luck
i walk in and plug in and Leo goes walking..
i had time to post all the journal entries i'd been writing but hadn't written that day ... and i used skype to chat with Joshua about our trip a bit...
Coco told me about great stuff going on an opening tonight a sauna party tomorrow then Leo came back so i went for a walk with him -- he showed me how things used to be...
then we headed back to Dieter's for dinner Friedel cooked: pasta the sauce was great but the cabressa... the tomatoes with mozzerlla and basil i was shocked: had no flavor...
but many things have been having no flavor for me lately my sense of smell hasn't really returned since the sinus infection cleared up ... i seem to be only able to smell certain very strong odors and not taste fully...
Friedel has to go home and we have an invitation to this opening plus my friend Sam did call today and ask us to meet him at his studio... we opt for that so we head out on the train.
i'm totally shocked that mobile phones work underground while the train is moving. just when i thought NYC was so fucking sophisticated here is Berlin with QUIET subways, smooth rides... and constant mobile phone connection.
Sam calls and gives me his address, how useful! it's not a far walk from the stop off the U9
looks like some office building but through the foyer, behind is a little house they've rented the whole thing, up stairs and down their studios, Sam and Roman and next door: a little gallery for Roman's sculpture
beautiful sea-like african/asian deity-type creatures an subtle japanese-like paintings...
we sit and talk we pour some wine one bottle through the second one is off! we get another and another we pick some music but Kronos Quartet is too much so i put on a Cafe Del Mar i'm not too keen on the collections myself but i know the mood they present and this one ends with a song i love but haven't heard in a while Lamb's "Gabriel"
so the music's playing and we're all down on the floor
enjoying the beauty of eachother four naked men rolling around finding the soft spots finding some way to touch and then coming to rest when we have satisfied.. Gabriel just coming to an end.
Sam snors lightly in my ear we're all curled up Leo and Roman hugging
then Sam gets up to.. update his web page and i feel like it's time to get going Leo and Roman cuddle and talk and i chat with Sam a bit
i distinctly remember telling him to Shut Up when he was talking talking about computer crap when i just wanted to pet him.
even if you don't know someone long you should be able to tell them to shut up when they pull into their heads and you just want to be in pleasure with them
but i know this show retreating to the computer guess we pulled some heart strings somewhere
we're all falling asleep it's nice to see his balls hang over the chair like that finish our glasses of wine yes now it's really time to go
it's been beautiful we walk through the bright moon-lit snow back to the main commercial street U9 back to U1 back to Wittenburgplatz
maybe get a currywurst? OH! it's closed... what time is it? nearly 1 am.. but...
isn't this a late night town? maybe it's the winter off-season...
we walk to the old-timer's bar but we want to eat first so we walk around.
there are lots of indian places open but no, we don't want a big meal...
ah there down on the corner of the big street that's an Imbiss yeah we get showarma and lamachun but they just call it döner kebab and turkish pizza
really good really cheap! we eat and watch the bar kids leaving some of them are kinda hot where are they coming from? pigs? bears?
we walk back up the cold cold cold snowy street and go into the Old Timers...
that guy... he's not there and we take a place at the bar Leo's sitting in someone's seat someone who doesn't speak english someone in his 70's... Leo is Chicken.
the guy is putting his hand on Leo's knee
it's cute Leo will be talking to me and the guy will start feeling his neck Great.
some guy named Rhinehardt comes over to talk to us he asks if it's alright to talk to us and it is so he talks and talks he's curious he says i don't look like everyone else he doesn't like Munich (apparently no one in Berlin does) he's a cute little man but really it's late and we need to go home so home we go and shortly after