berlin or beirut?

[metaphorge]

By damn, do Berliners ever love their explosives! I don't really know how to convey just how nuts last night's seeing out of 2006 was, but it seemed like every single one of the tens of thousands of people we were surrounded by last night had their own personal arsenal. There were constant fireworks and explosions for hours in every direction, leading to an atmosphere somewhere between Bacchanalian revel and war zone. The photos cannot possibly do the scene justice, and my ears are still ringing a bit 24 hours later.





Many more shots are here.

This night was also our first encounter with the new Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. I'll have many further thoughts on this once I've returned there during the daytime to more extensively photograph it. Here's one during Silvester:

All in all, a most excellent evening with most excellent company.

Comments

[espiritkat.livejournal.com]

Very Nice Photos! It is so unbelievably hard to capture fireworks on camera sometimes. You will have to teach me this arte. Happy New Year to the Fox and the Autumn in Berlin! *waves* and yes, it did feel like I was in a street warzone of sorts.

[sunfell.livejournal.com]

It's pretty awesome, isn't it? My theory is that Germans go all out with the noise and craziness on New Years because they are so tightly regulated for noise the rest of the year. Seriously- I lived there for four years, so I know about how they are. There are 'quiet hours' during both the day and night, and neighbors complain if you have a loud vacuum cleaner, or idle your car too long. I remember a friend of mine who had to take down her windchimes because they were too loud.

Yeah, windchimes. So, New Years is like a noise festival for people who have to mind their manners to the letter of the law for the rest of the year. And Germans are the most regulated citizens on the frickin' planet. When I hosted New Years parties at my place in Otterberg, my German friends would bring huge bags of fireworks to share. It was literally a blast. But the next day, all of us were outside sweeping up the bits from the curb and scrubbing any smoke stains from the sidewalk.

Hope you get the ringing to stop in your ears soon!

:-)