So Ive been in Berlin for a about a week now but I have to say I´m feeling a little relieved that I´m leaving for London today. Its been an interesting experience, but not the most fun.
I had one wonderful day where I caught up with an old friend from Perth, Prita Grealy, a fellow singersongwriter. We had a great time catching up on the last 8 years of our lives and sharing stories about our musical journeys so far. Prita is based in Berlin now and tours constantly around Europe. Shes a beautiful, strong character and a total inspiration...thanks Prita :)
I also had a fun and random experience the other day. I started chatting to a guy on the street who had a guitar, And then ended up going to his gig with him. He didnt know much about it but it turned out to be an anti-nazi community event. The people there had occupied a building in an area that is known to have a lot of facists - that was their attempt to spread a more peacful message. They were an interesting bunch of people, most of them were dressed in black and looked like punks, and it seemed like they were all vegans (it was a vegan BBQ).
The guy I met was another lovely and inspiring musician. He travels the world playing his music - mostly acoustic ballads that sometimes have a hard edge helped by a distortion pedal. He likes the idea of creating something beautiful and then messing with it. Interesting approach...
He disappeared for a few minutes and when he came back, told me I was playing a set after him! So I played 30 minutes of my soft, mellow, romantic tunes...whilst gazing out to a bunch of hard edged Germans...I don´t think my songs resonated with them at all but it was a great experience.
Aside from that I havent had much luck meeting people that I connect with, so I have spent most of the time walking around alone. As most of you know, I like talking, and being around people, so all this time spent in my own head hasnt been much fun.
To make matters worse, I witnessed the scene of a terrible accident yesterday where a cyclist was killed. It was shocking and traumatised me for the whole day. It was on the corner of the street where I was staying, so I passed the scene several times throughout the day on my way to and from places. Later in the day I went to a yoga class to try to clear my mind, and on my way back I saw that the family of the cyclist had left a photo and lit some candles. I bought some roses and left them there...it was a beautiful young girl, only 28...so sad.
Sorry that this blog entry is a little heavy, but I´ve promised to be honest with you about the highs and lows of my adventure, so no point in pretending things are great all the time. I have still been so blessed with all of the wonderful experinces Ive had so far...and its not over yet :)
Ive got about one week to go, before Im due back in Canada, and today I leave for London. Im going to be staying with a cousin from Australia which Im pretty damn excited about and I also have an option of staying at a house boat on the River Themes...so things are looking up :)
To all my friends and family, dont worry, all is still good and I am happy...I love you all and I hope you are keeping safe and well. Take care everyone.
xx
