First London, then Berlin?

While watching the news about the London unrest I was seriously thinking about when such a fire could start in Berlin. I knew the aggressive outbursts from the May 1st, and other violences taking place periodically in the Eastern part of the city, as well as the notorious cars' burning. 

That latest phenomenon continues at an intensive pace in the last days intensifying the worries about what's next...And, in comparison with London, in the case of Berlin isn't about the big distance between rich and poor but only about a inconsciously cultivated hate against everything going beyond the showing-off of so-called modesty. All those green lovers, eco-friendly anarchists, dressed as poorly and anti-fashion as possible are continuing - consciously or not - the stereotypes of the post-war anarchist left. Intellectuals or beggars, they believe that the minimalism - in working, dressing and thinking - and the overwhelming reliance to the state it's the answer to the world questions.

I wish for Berlin to stay away of the riot and to keep it's minds and hearts open. 

For good and for worse I will stay around with my camera.

Related articles

• Series of car burnings hit Berlin neighborhoods (cnn.com)
• 9 cars torched in Berlin on 3rd night of arson attacks (ctv.ca)

Trabi-Safari

In the former GDR, Trabant was a famous brand. In other former communist countries, it was an affordable car, loved because it was a German brand - and not a Russian one, and in a way a mental representation of the neighborhood with the West. My parents always called it a "paper car" and since a very good friend of us died in a car accident while driving his Trabi, it was also on the black list of cars we don't want to drive.

More than 20 years after the unification, it's only a touristic attraction, and in many former Eastern Germany cities, an opportunity for making money. Last year, I saw in Dresden various offer for Trabi tours and many tourists waiting to get embarked for a kind of exotic trip. In Berlin, modified and colourful Trabis are part of the Trabi-Safari touristic project. As Thursday was a free day, the Trabi fans had open way to see and let them be seen. I met the caravan near Tauzinenstrasse. All look happy and enoying the remnants of communism on the good looking capitalist Ku'damm.