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David on top of the world
David with Madrid's rooftops behind him at the great bar where we had "end of term" drinks with Sue and Miguel the night before leaving for Berlin by anna (and david) May 30th-June 3rd
Our trip to Berlin didn't start well. We spent 4.5 hours in Madrid airport, without knowing why, or when it was going to end, while EasyJet sorted themselves out
(... with the tail end of a massive hangover from celebrating the end of school term with one of my classmates Sue, and her boyfriend Miguel, at a great bar overlooking the city). By the time we arrived at our hotel, it was almost 5am and the sun was coming up. Needless to say, we spent the first half of day one snoring.
After a sleep, and excited to see the city, we went exploring. Having braced ourselves for the heaviness of schnitzels, dumplings and beer, we were pleasantly surprised to find a great salad and pasta place near Alexanderplatz to refuel before heading out
(served by a German waitress with a thick Aussie accent. My two years of German with Congreve failed me early but all that bingo we played in class meant I could at least remember the numbers and what to say when a train was coming) - which I heard EVERYTIME a train was coming!
Our
David and History
David's first encounter with the historic Brandenburg Gates first sight of Berlin, after walking through Alexanderplatz and past the TV tower, was a group of Zombies. It was quite bizarre, and, naturally, we assumed it was some sort of commercial promotion, but as we walked throughout the afternoon, we came across more and more, and, talking to one of them, we learnt they were all dressed this way for fun, and were all congregating by the Brandenburg Gates for the evening. Bizarre. Berlin.
(Zombiefest we think, apparently there was one in Sydney. Missed that one) For a city that is so old, that has witnessed so many things, Berlin and it's people appear to be just discovering themselves
(thankfully not too many of them in public). After various repressive and divisive experiences and regimes, Berlin must be one of the most open cities in the world. I haven't seen so much punk in a long time, but punk, hippy, conservative, whatever. It's OK. It's the city where anything goes and everyone can be themselves.
(Great place, in particular the East, with plenty going on and some really good non-German food).
Our first day was a scourching 31 degrees, but this didn't stop us walking from Alexanderplatz,
Zombie child
No idea why, but we came across a bunch of people dressed as zombies. The chucky like child (doll) with scissors through its heart was one of the best props we thought through the streets and down Unter den Linden, through the Brandenburg Gate and around most of Tiergarten. By this time I had remembered how big Berlin was and we caught a bus to take refuge in a beer at the very shiny Potsdamer Platz.
Over the next few days we covered most of the major areas of Berlin. We ate a couple of times in Frederichshain, at a romantic beer garden with little nooks and crannies and soft lighting. The food was slow, but I loved it! Another night we went back for Indian at quite a chic looking, but really relaxed place. The Indian was different to what we were used to (and had no heat) but it was good. We had more Asian along Oranienburger Strasse (which we agreed had the best looking prostitutes we had ever seen - you would have thought they could all get sugar daddies and spend their days shopping instead of working the streets! It was a bit strange)
We brunched in Hackeschermarkt and walked through the gentrifying Prezlauer Berg up Kastienallee before throwing ourselves into a few hours at the Checkpoint Charlie museum. It was tough going as the museum
Old through the New
In some ways this sums up Berlin for me. It is such a mix of old and new, good and bad, proud and ashamed ... it's so young in many ways, but so old, with so much histroy ... it's so exciting had no air conditioning and, I think, has tripled in size since I was there last. We rewarded ourselves with beers, pretzels and BBQed corn at Prater biergarten before heading home. Prater is a massive beer garden in Prezlauer Berg with a number of bars and food outlets. It had a great vibe. The Germans are rightly known for their biergartens. They do them so well. Why can't we do beer gardens like this in lots of places in Sydney when we have the weather for it?!?
(only an outdoor PubTAB could make it more perfect). We had to move hotels a couple of days into our stay which gave us the chance to explore west Berlin around Kurfurstendamm, in between more tourist trips to the Topographie de Terrors, etc.
Overall, we had a sensational few days drinking in all the history and diversity the city has to offer. It was quite different from when I was there 10 years ago. Berlin feels more united; there is less difference between east and west, but, overall, less affluent. I hope that over time, the city, and it's people, can recover and discover an industry that creates enough income to
Two Angels
Anna and the Angel on the Victory Column ensure Berlin is the great city it deserves to be.
... on a lighter note, I just realised how many photos of us drinking beer there are! It's not all we did. I promise!
(we saved that for Munich)
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