#70

Urban jungle, uuuuh. 

Aha. 
And what exactly is this supposed to mean? Tarzan saving cows´ lives and drinking chai latte with oat drink, empowered Jane choosing her own E-Scooter over liana taxi? Hm. Maybe a walk through Berlin together helps us discover the origins of this slightly strange expression.

Marcin here doesn´t seem to fit in the jungle, yet.  
At least there is no Jane he has yet met. 
So, girls, if you think: "This could be he!" – call him. 
Or let it be.

Yeah, let´s skip the poetry next time. But talking about girls, boys and everything in between and beyond: this year´s pride month once again finds its long awaited highlight in Christopher Street Day on 28 July. To celebrate freedom, democracy, diversity – actually everything, that makes Berlin as unique and marvellous as it is. Beautiful paradise birds are crucial for a real jungle, aren´t they? By the way: famous Lesbian and Gay Festival (Motzstraßenfest) will be held on 20 and 21 July this year.

What a wonderful summer this is already! This July another border crossing event determines the mood of most Berliners: UEFA EURO 2024. There are fan zones at Brandenburg Gate, in front of the Reichstag building and fabulous public screening events for watching the matches together all over the city.

And we provide you with the perfect outfit! Fashion Week is ending today, so the time couldn´t be better to order your unique Orania.Shirt. Take your time, if you need to. But it is a limited edition. Sold out quickly. Forever. And ever. And ever and ever and ever…. well, no pressure. We´re just saying.

So, enough of the talking now. The kids need to let off steam! Off we go to Rudolph-Wilde-Park! For a long time Schöneberg´s children had to wait for 25 May. Some of the very impatient almost climbed over the construction fence. But for a few weeks now, all of the little ones have been able to discover the new magic playground at Kufsteiner Straße, with a proper castle, Hogwarts Express, Hagrid´s hut and many fantastic beasts. It quickly shows that J. K. Rowling´s fantasy world was what the artists and constructors of the playground aimed to portray – even if the broom is called "Modell 2000" and the Platform´s name is just another mathematical way to say "9¾". Elementary, my dear Watson.

As the kids are occupied now, a part of our jungle excursion group Orania.GoWest could use the time we have won and go see the beautiful Apostel Paulus church at Akazienstraße, just a 15-minutes-walk away from the playground. In World War II much was destroyed here, but at least the renovation of the protestant church´s interior brought us the marvellous stained-glass windows, that are responsible for the peaceful, life affirming atmosphere their colourful light creates. Not much jungle to be found here.

But the Botanical Garden will surely help us to find out more about the "urban jungle"! And if it doesn't, we´ll just have a great time outside at Botanical Nights on 19 and 20 July. There will be light shows, walking acts, music, acrobatics and a wide variety of anti-boredom-activities for the kids. (© photo: David Marschalsky)

Opera is just for grandpa? This is something only Non Berliners and country bumpkins can say. At Playground Festival tomorrow evening all of Deutsche Oper will be transformed into a giant techno club. Fifty years ago, Jungle Boogie was groovy in the disco, but today´s rave beats sound a bit different – but extremely Kool, too. Eh, cool, sorry. (Admission from 18 years, as usual.) 

We´ve only been gone for half a day and already miss our very own little jungle. Well, we can´t really call it a forest. But it certainly is breath-takingly beautiful greenery, carefully curated plant-art, bewitching botanical magic…. ok, we´ll leave it there. It´s not that easy being green, indeed.