The capital of beer.

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July 21

Today is a full day of travel. The plan was to take a train from Napoli to Milan, then one from Milan to Zurich, then an overnight train from Zurich to Berlin. In the overnight train, you can either get a private room with beds and bathroom, a cabin with 4 or 6 single beds which you share with other people, or reclining chairs. Since we are on a budget, we had to settle for the reclining chairs. Well, that was the plan. Of course, travelling in Italy is always an adventure in itself and nothing goes according to plan. Trains are notoriously late. So of course our first train was late getting into Milan and we missed our connecting train. But that didn’t even matter because our train wasn’t even there. Apparently all the trains in Milan decided to go on strike, so there were tons of people all over the station trying to figure out how they were going to get where they needed to go. Somehow we found a woman who spoke German, Italian, and English, so we stuck with her. We went on a wild ride following her from train to train, getting off at random stops, going to other platforms, you name it. It was ridiculous. With luck and her help, we ended up in Chiasso, Switzerland and were able to book a different night train to Frankfurt then to Berlin. With 4 hours to kill, we had dinner, lots of beer, and Swiss chocolate, and then got on the night train to Frankfurt.

The reclining chairs were like little cubbies and they were actually very comfortable. I’m also getting used to sleeping in chairs so I thinking that helped a bit as well. Although it wasn’t the most comfortable sleep in the world and I woke up from time to time, it wasn’t bad.

July 22

Just to inform you, I am currently writing this piece extremely hung over. Obviously, there is a very good reason and story for why I am in this state, which will be explained shortly. But we must start from the beginning. So…

We arrived in Berlin at around 11 and headed to our host, Casper’s place. It was a nice, cozy apartment in a more quiet area in Berlin. Casper is a very big and tall German but he was the nicest guy. He was a big cuddly teddy bear named Casper. We still had time to do something during the day so Casper showed us a place to go and see the Berlin wall. It was pretty amazing to see (although it was covered in graffiti that was put there after the fall of the wall). I can’t believe that humans would even think that walls were necessary to divide people. But then again, there are much worse things that humanity has commited, so I guess I can not be too surprised. Anyway, the wall was about all we wanted to see in Berlin. We had heard great things about the night life of the city, which is actually the only reason why we decided to go to Berlin. This wasn’t the greatest thing because Casper doesn’t drink. But we worked around it. We met up at night and he showed us around town. He then showed us a club area that I fell in love with and we stayed there to hang out (Casper went home). I will try and explain it the best I can for you. On the street there were 2 different clubs, Zapata and Studio 54, and an old abandoned building that doesn’t really have a name. It’s a very normal street and normal looking clubs that you wouldn’t think twice about entering. However, if you walk inside any one of the clubs, you see that the club has no back to it because it leads into a big backyard, I guess you could call it. This backyard was pretty much a huge junkyard. It was filled with old recycled chairs; some were computer chairs, some lounge chairs, some school chairs. There were bath tubs and other pieces of classy trash that people were just lounging on and hanging out. It was terrific. Every bar was serving drinks to everyone outside and there was even old hollowed out Volkswagen beetle buses that were serving drinks. It was one big party. The place had a great vibe to it, which definitely rubs off on you and makes you feel like you’re in a different world. The best part of the whole place was the old abandoned building. It was 5 stories tall and completely covered in graffiti. And when I say completely, I mean it. There was not one white spot inside that building. On the third floor, people had set up galleries and were selling their art. And on the top floor, there was couches, a DJ, and more alcohol flowing. It wasn’t a big area, so not many people could fit up there, but it was still really cool. We hung out in the junkyard for a little bit, had some beers, talked to some really drunk Irish men (who sound exactly like leprechauns - awesome), then caught the last train back to Casper’s at 12:30. Early night, I know. But just you wait.

July 23

Today we met another fellow Couch surfer who we would be sharing a space with for the next two nights. He name was Erin and she was a little … difficult to get along with. Anyway, we went out with her to explore the shopping of Berlin. We discovered an area filled with vintage shops but they were extremely strange. Most of them were similar to Goodwill. It was like a garage sale, but in an upscale boutique on the street. Weird. The last one we went into was amazing though. I loved it so much I wanted to buy everything in it. They had vintage and antique 70s stuff, from couches and light fixtures to clothes and accessories. It was beautiful.
At night, Casper, Erin, Ari, and I went to a jazz club called B Flat. The band was good and the German beers were good. After that, Ari and I tried to find a club that someone had recommended for us, but we ended up getting lost then just gave up and went home.

July 24

Today was our touristy day. We took a free tour around the city (which is not really free because they ask for tips at the end) and it was really great. I learned a lot about the history and story of Berlin. Saw some interesting things, like the Hotel window that Mr. Crazy Jackson dangled his baby out of, the area were Hitler’s bunker was and where he committed suicide, where his guards burned his body, and a lot of interesting memorials. Then we went to see something incredible. Barack Obama was speaking in Berlin. I don’t really know why he came there, but I knew that I needed to see the event. He spoke in Tiergarten, the largest garden in Berlin, but still that was not enough room. There were masses and masses of people, which was incredible to see. I couldn’t believe how many people, European people, supported Obama. A candidate for the USA. It was very strange to see. I don’t know if anything like that would occur if a candidate from the European Union or something came to speak in the US. Shit, I don’t even know anyone in The Union. Or if there’s a leader of Europe? Haha. Wow. I don’t know. So, to see the passionate atmosphere of all those people was definitely incredible. It was like a big festival. There was food and beer stands everywhere and there was a band playing. The speech wasn’t as strong as it could have been, but I still thought it was well done. It was definitely geared towards the European people. Overall, it was a pretty cool experience. After this, our plan was to do a pub crawl, but the douche bag running it wouldn’t let us go because I didn’t have my ID on me. I’m sure that I look under 18. I was surprised because it was actually the first time I was asked for an ID for alcohol in Europe. And it’s been 5 weeks.

But whatever. We just went to the junk yard again. And it was so much fun! We talked to a Scottish couple (who had very fun accents) and some German high school girls who came to Berlin just to party. We had lots of beers and danced to the band playing Spanish Latin dance music in Zapata. It was really good music and very fun to dance to. We talked to the band afterwards (they hung out and partied with everyone) and they were from Chile. Really cool guys, but they spoke little English so it was hard to communicate with them. Then we ran into two guys who we met earlier on the free tour we did and ended up hanging out with them the rest of the night. They were from Australia and were backpacking as well. They were really fun and danced stupidly with me (I have no idea how to dance to Latin dance music), so I liked them. When it started getting light outside we realized that weshould probably go back to Casper’s place. We said our goodbyes and took the train back to Casper’s at 5:30 am. It was really funny because we arrived when Erin was getting up. She was leaving on an early train somewhere. (She didn’t go out with us because she doesn’t drink. Oh, and she goes to an all girls college. Yeah. Enough said.) We said bye to her and passed out.

Berlin is fucking crazy. From what we heard from other people, the parties don’t start until midnight. And they always run into the next morning or maybe even the afternoon. When do the people sleep? Apparently never. They just drink and dance all the time. Shit, I need to move to Berlin.

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