Sebastian took the train down from Hamburg to spend the day with me -- we had breakfast under a bright red umbrella during a torrential rainstorm at a biergarten across from the zoo
we walked through the Tiergarten, past the talismanic Siegessäule
admiring the Reichstag and other bits of monumental architecture
along with a fair amount of new construction
we walked along the Spree
to Museum Island, specifically the Pergamon Museum, which Sebastian had never visited (to my surprise) and which was a highlight of my first trip to Berlin in 1987
especially the recreation of an entire street from ancient Babylon
the walls and murals populated by mythological figures
and fierce animals of every description
many ancient pieces survive amazingly intact
but I also enjoyed seeing how fragments were displayed
many of them strikingly homoerotic
from the Pergamon we wandered over to Alexanderplatz, past the Dom and the Altes Museum, and spent some time in the ruined splendor of Oranienstrasse, the main drag of Kreutzberg
which reminded me of Soho in the '80s, or Williamsburg in recent years, or the Mission District in San Francisco
Kai joined us for lunch at Max und Moritz, and LeRouge came by with his handsome ex-boyfriend Misha
in the early evening, Sebastian headed back to Hamburg
and I wandered back to Kai's house through the multiculti splendor of Kreutzberg
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