Berlin clearly lived through one of its most bizarre periods during the Cold War. Bizarre, in that erecting a wall dividing a city into two parts, separating families and neighbours and setting them in opposing universes, is an Orwellian experience to say the least.

Each part of the city obviously developed in a very different way. On the one hand, East Berlin stagnated within a system based on obsessive control by the regime, a pattern shared by the rest of the communist bloc. West Berlin, for its part, evolved in similar fashion to the rest of the capitalist world.

West Berlin – From the Mecca of the Underground to Hedonistic House

From the seventies on, in line with the new trends in England and the United States, a new musical scene began to gain currency in Berlin, based on creative freedom and the aesthetic of a clean break with the past. Berlin became one of the leading centres of punk and all its subsequent ramifications. Their outsider and underground art culture sediment attracted performers of the calibre of David Bowie, Brian Eno, Keith Haring and Lou Reed throughout the seventies. By then, a good number of bands were feeding such exciting circuits as those of London and Sheffield.

At the end of the seventies, the music of Joy Division and dabblers in electronic and industrial music were adopted as icons of the flourishing alternative scene of an open Berlin. Unlike the British or American varieties, German post-punk was characterised by a tension between politics and culture and aesthetically owes much to krautrock, as many of its themes are endless repetitions at a heady pace, notably Geld/Money by the arty band, Malaria, or the early recordings of DAF.

As of 1980, the exciting Berlin scene was always on the move, spawning an inexhaustible string of bands like Einstürzende Neubauten– headed by the controversial Blixa Bargeld – Die Unbekannten, Nina Hagen, Die Krupps, Mekanik Destrüktiw Komandoh, Die Tödliche Doris, Geile Tiere and Die Arztewith their punk funk distinguished by sarcastic lyrics.True to say, the scene was not made up of musicians alone, but by film stars and directors, writers, philosophers, artists and photographers, too. By the mid-eighties a process of disintegration had set in. Music became ever more commercial and groups began to sign up with multinationals. However, it was not long before a new sound revolution arose which had a marked impact on the city – the advent of acid house and techno. Recall that Berlin’s Love Parade was the first mass parade of electronic music in the world. The first Love Parade was in 1989. The event started out as a clamour for peace and mutual understanding through music. Just a few months later, the Wall came down and West Berlin was consigned to history.

The legendary SO36 was still going strong at that time. The club, located on the Oranienstrasse near Heinrichplatz in the Kreuzberg district, took its name from the area’s famed postal code – SO36. The district of Kreuzberg is historically the home of Berlin punk, and of other alternative German subcultures. SO36 was initially dedicated mainly to punk music. As of 1979 it attempted a crossover between punk, new wave and visual art. In those days the club rivalled New York’s CBGB as one of the world’s leading new wave spots. Others on the Berlin circuit included Metropol, the disco, Kino, the club 54 Kantstrasse and the Sputnik alternative cinema, where the cult film Christiane F. premiered.

Period Document on the Big Screen

The 13th Beefeater In-Edit Festival will be held in Barcelona from 29 October to 8 November. Prominent among the many films to be shown is B-Movie: Lust & Sound in West-Berlin 1979-1989, a documentary directed by Jörg A. Hoppe, Heiko Lange and Klaus Maeck on music, art and chaos in the Wild West of Berlin in the decade of the 1980s, the walled city that became a creative crucible for a special type of pop subculture which attracted brilliant dilettantes and world-famous celebrities of all kinds. However, prior to the fall of the Iron Curtain, artists, squatters, poets, music creators and hedonists came together to enjoy a highly unconventional lifestyle in Berlin. They all knew it would be short-lived but, who’s worried about tomorrow? It was a case of living for the here and now.

Featuring mostly unreleased television material and original footage, photos and interviews, B-Movie chronicles life in a divided city, a cultural interzone where anything seemed possible – a place different from anywhere else in Europe. It is a fast-moving collage of stories about a frenzied but creative decade starting with punk and ending with the Love Parade, in a city where days are short and nights are interminable.

Berlin is currently experiencing a youthful resurgence in terms of cultural activity – and music, too! Why wait to discover it all? Check out our tickets here.

Text by ISABELYLUIS Comunicación

Images by B-Moviem, SO36

1- El Caminito del Rey (King’s little road)

Known by fans of extreme sports for being one of the most dangerous roads in the world . It is a 3-kilometer pedestrian walkway with sections just 1 meter wide that gets to hang up to 100 meters above the river and is located between the villages of Alora and Ardales. King Alfonso XIII had to cross it in 1921 to inaugurate the prey to Conde del Guadalhorce, hence the name.

Only from that grace so typical of Malaga can be understood that an idea like this was born. Taking advantage of the promotion of Smurfs 3D movie , the village was painted blue and, after a popular consultation, it was agreed to extend the painting of the facades. The town of Juzcar became the first Smurf Village in the World on June 16, 2011. Thanks to the original proposal, it has become a leading destination for family holidays.

This strange construction, which pays tribute to Columbus and the Discovery of America, is located in Benalmadena and is a compendium of architectural styles as diverse as Moorish, Romanesque and Gothic, that give the monument an air somewhat bizarre .

On the inside you can visit which is considered by the Guinness Book of Records as the smallest chapel in the world , with just 1’96 square meters. On the few occasions on which Mass is celebrated in the chapel, Christian believers should listen from outside.

Of Frigiliana is said to be one of the most beautiful and best preserved villages in Spain . With just 3,000 inhabitants, is situated in the eastern part of Malaga’s province, between the Sierra de Almijara and the Mediterranean Sea. Its streets of medieval-Moorish style’s architecture and its old town has been awarded prizes such as the Improvement and Embellishment of Towns of the Province, the Beautification of the people of Spain or the First Prize of National Award Competition improvement and Embellishment of Towns of Andalusia.

There is another curiosity in the beautiful town of Ronda. Its Iglesia de la Merced maintains what they callSanta Teresa de Jesus’s incorrupt hand. About ten months after the saint’s death , in 1582, her remains were exhumed, and the Catholic Church claims that her body was found incorrupt. Now this relic has being protected by a gilded silver glove embedded with precious stones.

Facing the beach El Bajondillo in Torremolinos, this beautiful Neomudejar style building has survived property speculation. The simple fact of surviving Costa del Sol’s fierce land speculation, is in itself something extraordinary. It is also one of the most beautiful and emblematic places with interior decor inspired by the Alhambra in Granada. The house was declared a Historic Landmark by the Department of Culture of the Junta de Andalucía in 1991.

7.- How to order a coffee in Málaga

This video comes to be a useful guide in how to order coffee in Malaga, with the measurements invented by the Central Cafe Malaga. There are 10 different ways to ask for it and many visitors might wonder where their nomenclature comes. Began in 1954 in postwar times, when coffee was more expensive. The owner of the Café Central, José Crespo Prado had to choose between throwing coffee or do another again, to suit all tastes. To avoid wasting coffee, identified 10 possible amounts of coffee and named them, so you always have a measure that would suit your tastes.

 Finally, some interesting facts related to the movies. For example, the final scene of the movie “Milennium. Men Who Hate Women”, in which Lisbeth leave the car with a briefcase, was shot in the Malagueta beach, on the Paseo Marítimo Pablo Picasso. Apparently, this area showed perfectly the idea that its director, Niels Arden Oplev, was to represent the Cayman Islands.

In Málaga, movies like Michelangelo Antonioni’s The Passenger , starring Jack Nicholson and Maria Schneider, Jacques Feyder’s Carmen that starred Raquel Meller or San Luis Rey’s Bridge , starring Robert Of Niro and Geraldine Chaplin
The most common scenario for shooting was Finca de la Concepción because of the lush botanical garden that reminds exotic countries such as Cuba, the Philippines and India. Here was filmed, for example, The latest of the Philippines or the Adventures of Barber of Seville.

Why not take a trip to Málaga? Have a look at our flights here!

Who hasn’t spent hours enjoying the adventures of Tintin and his dog Snowy (Milhou in the original French)? Do you remember the lonesome cowboy Lucky Luke astride his horse Jolly Jumper, being pursued by the dreadful Dalton brothers? What about the office boy Spirou and his inseparable pals Fantasio and the squirrel Spip? And the little blue Smurfs in their mushroom houses, fleeing from the evil Gargamel and his cat Azrael? What do they all have in common? All their authors are from Belgium, which boasts its share of the Franco-Belgian comic publishing industry, the world’s biggest after those of the United States and Japan. Visitors to Brussels are soon aware of the importance of comics, dubbed “the ninth art” (the first eight, as everyone knows but forgets, are architecture, sculpture, painting, dance, music, poetry, cinema, and television), since comics are all over the place, in museums, shops, outdoor murals, and festivals.

Museums

In the heart of Brussels (rue des Sables, 20), in the sumptuous Art Nouveau building designed by Victor Horta in 1906, is the Belgian Comic Strip Centre (popularly know as the CBBD, standing for Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée), with a steadily expanding permanent collection and numerous temporary exhibitions that draw thousands of people to this popular venue.

Just down the rueis the Marc Sleen Museum, with a permanent exhibition, a reading room, and a programme of temporary shows focusing on the work of the Flemish cartoonist Marc Sleen, best known for his series “The Adventures of Nero & Co.”

Some 30 km. distant, in Louvain-la-Neuve, we find the Mecca of all Tintin fans, the Hergé Museum, in a building designed by the French architect Christian de Portzamparc. The museum displays original drawings, photographs, objects, films and other documents having to do with Tintin and his creator Hergé, whose real name was Georges Remi (1907-1983), the most celebrated Belgian cartoonist of all time.

A more relaxing spot is the Moof Museum (“Museum Of Original Figurines” spells MOOF –get it?) with three-dimensional representations of a host of comic book figures, and well as other collectors’ items, original artwork, and prints.

Comic Strip Route

Thanks to an initiative of the Belgian Comic Strip Centre in the 1990s, you can also enjoy cartoons in Brussels’ streets, where some 50 painted murals on buildings depict scenes from Lucky Luke, Tintin, the Smurfs, Nero, Asterix, and many more comic book series.

Shopping for Comics

Understandably, Brussels is a must for collectors of original comic artwork and for published comics. To start with the biggest, there is Brüsel (Boulevard de Anspach 98), three whole floors of comics, objects, silkscreen prints, and original drawings. For something a little more special try the Maison de la Bande Dessinée (Boulevard de l’Impératrice, 1), a bookstore featuring an ample selection of old comics, special editions, reprints, a Manga departments, and Dutch- and English-language sections. Tintin fans will not want to miss La Boutique de Tintin, (rue de la Colline 13) for every sort of Tintin memorabilia. Lastly, we recommend the Huberty-Breyne Gallery (rue Bodenbroeck, 8ª Place du Grand Sablon), with exhibitions of illustrations, and where original drawing are on sale.

Fairs and Festivals

Devoted comic fans should schedule a visit to the bi-annual Brussels Comic Strip Festival and the Strip Turnhout, specialising in Dutch-language comic strips. There’s also the even merrier Belgium Comics Festival, with a varied activity programme ensuring fun for all, including the Balloons’ Day Parade, a procession of giant inflated cartoon characters.

If comics are your passion, Brussels is the place to be. Check out our fares today!

Text: Isabel y Luis Comunicación

Photos:
Wallonie-Bruxelles Tourisme
Bruxelles, parcours bande dessinée (Stéphane Colman, Billy the Cat)_© CBBD - Daniel Fouss
Bruxelles, parcours bande dessinée (Jacobs, Blake et Mortimer)_© WBT - J.P. Remy
Bruxelles, parcours bande dessinée (Hergé, Quick et Flupke)_© WBT - J.P. Remy
Hergé Museum
Hergé Museum frontage - Nicolas Borel

What can we say about Pedro Almodóvar? Luis Buñuel notwithstanding, he is the internationally best known Spanish film director. His Oscar-award-studded, iconoclastic filmography includes both masterpieces and a large number of highly interesting movies. Like any creator worth his salt – and the Manchegan is one of these – Almodóvar has a pet city that features repeatedly in his films. We are referring to Madrid. In the late seventies he left his native Calzada de Calatrava and journeyed to the capital, Madrid, intent on making his name in cinema. It ended up becoming his favourite set. He has portrayed it in many different ways, revealing both its highlights and shadows, its well-known and its hidden facets. Almodóvar has explored virtually all the streets of his adopted city with a view to heightening the emotions and feelings of his main actors. His fiction breathes life into buildings, streets, establishments, airports, train stations and a long list of other settings.

The director of Volver turned the city into a film set, using to advantage real locations recognizable  to his audience and turning some spots into must-visit centres of pilgrimage for his fans. Touring these precincts involves venturing into Almodóvar’s passionate, architectural world, by way of an alternative tourist guide to Madrid. We now retrace some of the most emblematic spots on a route which you can round off by viewing the films directed by the creator of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and jotting down new sites in your Almodovarian logbook.

Chicote Museum and La Bobia

One of the two bars that appear in Almodóvar’s films is the Chicote Museum, a chic cocktail bar with an eventful history sited on Madrid’s iconic Gran Vía. It opened in 1930 and its premises have been graced by a considerable number of contemporary stars and Hollywood classics, too. Its interior features in one of the main scenes of Broken Embraces, starring Blanca Portillo. La Bobia is another legendary meeting point in Madrid. It is hard by El Rastro flea market and was once a hotspot of La Movida (The Madrilenian scene). It was actually during those heady times that Almodóvar decided to set the opening scene of Labyrinth of Passion in La Bobia. The movie’s cast was headed by Imanol Arias and Cecilia Roth.

Cuartel del Conde Duque

A must-visit venue to see the spot where one of the Manchegan filmmaker’s most famous scenes was shot – when Carmen Maura takes a night-time shower with a hose in one of his masterpieces, Law of Desire. The scene was filmed in the doorway of the Cuartel del Conde Duque, one of Madrid’s largest and oldest palaces (it was built in 1717), which also boasts a highly valuable cultural and historical endowment. What’s more, once you’ve taken the snapshot de rigueur to relive Almodóvar’s shot, you can go inside and visit it, as it has been turned into a cultural centre featuring various temporary exhibitions throughout the year.

The M-30 Apartment Blocks

Pedro Almodóvar did not restrict himself to capturing only Madrid’s well-known city centre – he also turned his gaze to the suburbs. He did so in one of his best movies, the iconic What Have I Done to Deserve This? in which a long-suffering Carmen Maura is going through hell. She plays a woman who lives in one of the apartment blocks lining the M-30 motorway, a working-class residential area in the district of Moratalaz.

The Segovia Viaduct

One of the natural settings Almodóvar has used most often, both at the beginning of his career and even today. It appears in both Matador and the very recent I'm So Excited. In the latter, Paz Vega stars in an amusing scene shot against this backdrop. The Segovia Viaduct is located in Calle Bailén, near the Royal Palace, and is one of Madrid’s best known bridges.

Be sure to tour these Almodovarian settings – book your Vueling to Madrid here.

Text by Xavi Sánchez for Los Viajes de ISABELYLUIS