Flowers, changing plans and rock concerts in Berlin

It is Saturday morning in Berlin. Well, it feels like Saturday morning... In reality it is Saturday afternoon and I am just thinking about what I am going to do today. So, a few pics...
These are the flowers on my windowsill, which continue to bloom, despite me being put in charge of their care for a month (the little mums didn't do so well).
I have no idea how I took this pic, was fooling with my camera's settings... I really should learn how to use this camera properly one day, who knows what I could be capable of? Don't hold your breath though... I was a good month and a half into my trip before I figured out what a digital zoom was...

My friend Kelly in the entrance to our building. Yes, those gorgeous gods greet me every time I come or go from this place.

This is the courtyard to at the back of our building . Hmmm.... as Kelly was here for such a nice long visit (10 days) I tend to think of this place as "ours" not "mine". Our place is through the doorway to the left....

... and waaaay up 86 stairs to the very top!! You see those 3 windows on the top level? That's home.

A street view of the building in the Kreuzberg neighborhood (info here and here). Yes, that's a little bar that is right downstairs (which, alas, I had not visited earlier in my trip, and ultimately won't, as I am now motivated to stay out of smoky places the last week or so...) ... ;-)

Today it is sunny and clear, but cold, with highs of 8C and lows of 0C. Brrrr.... A good excuse to laze around a bit, that, and the fact that I should have been running off to an airport this morning. Yet, here I am. So, with it so cold out, why is it that have I not travelled onto Greece today as I'd originally planned?

Well, a bit of a chance of a lifetime presented itself to me.... I'd been as bit disappointed that I was leaving just days before the 20th anniversary of when the Berlin Wall fell on November 6th. Then it was announced that U2 was going to do a free concert the night of November 5th (the Berlin Wall fell in the wee hours of that night) outside at Brandenburg Gate! Details here. 3 cheers for Bono!

That did it. I quickly checked that I could keep this flat for awhile longer -- lucky for me that I could -- and rearranged my cheap flights, and I will now be here until November 9th (I figure there could be some interesting things going on that weekend so no sense rushing).... I will still have the rest of November in Rhodes, which is relatively small, so I'll have plenty of time to rest up and restore my tan there.

How excited am I about my free U2 ticket you ask? Well, heh, they "sold" out in 3 hours when I didn't even know they had been released yet. S.H.I.T.... ;-) .... Let's just say the search is on for 1 kind soul with a spare ticket in Berlin. My fingers and toes are crossed, and maybe eventually my eyes too!!! Lol. Send good vibes my way... If all else fails, it's outside, so I'll find myself a little spot a block away or something and bop away anyways.

I absolutely KNOW that I will be able to hear it from a little ways away, as the Genesis concert of 1987 demonstrated when Phil Collins and the band turned some of the speakers from their outdoor concert in the west towards the east. Almost created an international incident! Read the full story here.

Maybe it is fitting somehow that I not get in, and that I stand somewhere in the old East Berlin to enjoy the music from afar.... Maybe this was the universe's plan, in which case, it will be most cool. And, just maybe, I'll do some more blog updating....

UPDATE & CLARIFICATION: In the end, I did manage to get a ticket to U2 on Nov 5th- it was awesome (click here for my pics & videos), but left on Nov 9th (thus missing the actual anniversary). I know, clear as mud....