CSD 2011, Berlin, as seen from the Official Lady Gaga Truck

I won’t try to justify it – but instead of watching this year’s Christopher Street Days Parade (the mainstream one) go through Berlin, I bought a ticket and jumped onboard the Official Lady Gaga Truck.

The weather was optimal – it never rained, but it never got excessively hot, so there wasn’t a problem with melting. The main problems I had, to be honest, were with hearing and urine. The truck was loud and I hadn’t thought ahead to buy earplugs – consequently, right now, I am somewhat deaf.

The urine problem comes from the fact that as part of the ticket there was unlimited free beer (Beck’s) and prosecco. I realized the potential problem fairly early and limited myself to two cups of prosecco—thus limiting myself to two trips off the truck – one just before crossing the start line, where I paid 50 cents to pee at a restaurant, and then I peed into a bush somewhere near Tiergarten. Others on the truck were getting off far more frequently. The parade organizers really should import the public urinals that I’ve seen in Amsterdam.

I might note that occasionally the crowd was energetic than those of us on the truck – and the crowd tried to get those of us on the truck to dance more – but let me observe something: the music on the Official Lady Gaga Truck started somewhere around 12:30 or 12:45. The truck hit the finish line around 6:30 or 7pm. That’s a lot of time to be dancing and a lot of Lady Gaga – it is a testament to the quality of her music that I still want to listen to her music in the future – although I am listening to nothing right now because I’ve overdosed on dance music today.

There are a total of 123 photos uploaded to Flickr – you can see my complete CSD 2011 From the Official Lady Gaga Truck set, or, if you’re sane, you can see a few highlights below. Find commentary about the photos I’ve posted here in the captions.

The police were well prepared for the parade. Beer in the back of the wagon

His armband said "Captain", his underwear didn't hide much.

I think that "Pope Fly Home" is an anti-papal visit message. I agree--the pope should stay in the vatican.

The crowd at Wittenburgplatz was enthusiastic

I ♥ NY -- I woke up to the news this morning that a US state made a huge leap forward while I was asleep, approving same-sex marriages. It's nice to know that the US doesn't always move backwards -- it's one giant leap forward.

This t-shirt really lept out at me -- I've not seen it before and I thought the design was quite nice. Not to mention the guy wearing it!

At Wittenburgplatz, some people were watchign from up high, and they loved the Lady Gaga Truck!

This is Nollendorfplatz and what an enormous crowd -- the heart of one of Berlin's gay districts.

It's really amazing how many people came out to watch the parade. I've read that close to 500,000 people watch the parade--so some of them must be heterosexuals. Perhaps these two?

The American Family Associate would be horrified to see that this kid is wearing a sticker that promotes Dildo King, along with the cheerful message that "We will fuck you".