On Sunday, May 24, I shot photos of the Sunday Soirée from Bravo Burlesque at Primitiv Bar on Simon-Dach Strasse in Berlin.

I was shooting photos for my final project for my study abroad.

The dancer pictured in this post is Lilly Tiger, a Berlin burlesque babe originally from Stuttgart.

She was the one dancer in the show who lived in Berlin: Miss Vampfire was from Rome and Apathy Angel was from New York City.

The one thing that continues to surprise me is how global this city is. The show was in English, the dancers were from around the world and the people in the bar were speaking a variety of languages. Berlin is such a diverse city.

To view Lilly Tiger's facebook visit here or her website here.

We got off the train after a long journey. We were early by over an hour and so, being the Americans on a fresh new vacation, we decked ourselves out in souvenir swag to cheer on our home team. 

We killed time with beer and food (as you do).

And partied as the Germans do.

Apparently that party includes meatloaf patties (which are amazing).

The Olympic Stadium in Berlin is an incredible creature. 

Built for the 1936 Summer Olympics (and renovated in 2004), the stadium is still a wonder by modern standards.

We were blown away, not only by the stadium itself, but by the spirit of the German fans (especially those from Frakfurt).

While the Berlin fans easily outnumbered the Frankfurt fans, the away-team fans were in their team-spirit prime.

The Frankfurt fans had to be escorted to their train by the police after the game.

We are assuming this was to prevent fights, but even then the shouting matches could not be stopped.

Football pride runs hot in the veins of the fans here, no matter what part of Germany they're from, and no matter who they cheer for.

On the second day our class went on on a bike tour with Fat Tire Bike Tours.

A six hour adventure led by our Canadian guide Julian.

We first took a trip to the East Side Gallery; a section of the Berlin Wall covered in commissioned and non-commissioned graffiti.

Julian gave us a good ole' history lesson about allied-occupied Germany and the Berlin wall.

Life is constantly moving in the East Side Gallery. I'm not entirely sure what the man above was playing, but he was accompanied by a very strange synth-y soundtrack. 

And the love locks were a surprising addition. It's strangely beautiful to see love and life all around a wall that previously caused death and misery.

We ended up at this sweet place called RAW-Tempel, covered in graffiti, complete with a rock climbing gym.

And this piece I dubbed the "cool cat".

We biked through a lot of great green-space, and wound up at Treptower Park, a massive Soviet War Memorial that opened four years after World War II and remains standing to this day.

We also visited Berlin Tempelhof Airport, a former airport that is now a massive public park. I sadly did not manage to take any photos (I tried to take a video that really didn't turn out as planned, hopefully I'll get back for a better one).

We crossed through what felt like the whole city but was just a small chunk of massive Berlin. This will take much more time then I have to absorb the city.

After lunch and our adventure in the graveyard the whole group met up to take a train to the Berlin Wall Memorial and to get our first look at a remaining piece of the wall.

It was our first real experience seeing the former divide between East and West Berlin. 

For me though the greatest experience was seeing other people, of various different origins, viewing the wall (whether it was the first time or one of many).

While I knew that many people had died trying to cross the divide, I had never been able to put a face or a name to them. To see and hear their stories put a new perspective on the tragedy that befell so many at the wall.

Through the holes in the wall you can see life going on as normal. Things have changed so much that people barely acknowledge the wall anymore; a piece of a tragic history that has now just faded into the landscape of Berlin, sitting patiently as a reminder for those who want to notice it.

Afterwards we visited our first biergarten in Berlin.

Luckily many people working there spoke English and the man helping me recommended the couscous (the most delicious part of my meal).

Earlier in the day Robert and Andrew had recommended that I try Berliner Weisse, a tart beer that's flavored with either a red or green syrup.

They were delicious so of course I tried both (but the red was better).

We started getting a little rowdy from jetlag and beer. Catie Flately is pictured above, and I'm pictured below.

A suitable start to a group trip in Berlin.