Do these folks look like left-wing demonstrators? That guy there is happily checking out his photos while he is being photographed by me. Oh no. This is a festival! There is a very recent, violent history of May 1st Labour Day gatherings in the Kreuzberg neighborhood. If you are to believe the ExBerliner, the police have conspired to turn it into a festival and appear to have succeeded last year and this year.
The threat of violence didn't really matter that much to us at around 2pm in the afternoon. Sure people had started drinking, but they had only just begun, which means people were happy. We followed the crowds from the U-bahn station and found ourselves strolling down Oranienstrasse. The stores had pulled down their gates, but were selling from tables lining the street.
As we approached Heinrichplatz I took the plunge and purchased a mojito for 3 Euros. It was so delicious that Rich decided he needed to have one too. We staked out a piece of curb near the square and watched.
There were some punk rockers on a bit of a hill in a grassy area - dressed as if it were still the 1980s. There were two stages set up on either side of the square and they competed for our ears. The thumping bass on the one side was impossible to ignore. As we sat and drank the people continued to stream by. All kinds. Mostly young and quite a few with their big-wheeled, shock-absorbing strollers.
Turns out we positioned ourselves with a solid view of ... the porta-potties! Lines of mostly women, waiting. Behind us you might see a man standing, facing the low fence separating the green from the buildings.
By the time I went back for our second round of mojitos (they were so tasty!) I could barely pass through the crowd, it had thickened so much. Round two was it for us. After that we hopped the train back to our apartment for dinner and a quiet night. Tourists.
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