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Published: April 22nd 2007
The Baso boys set off on their second foreign adventure of 2007 - this time to Berlin. After the successes of Valencia we felt like veterans of this international long weekend scene, and despite the flight being at an eye-wateringly early 6.30a.m., we all managed to get on the road, parked up at the airport and checked in with the minimum of fuss. The short flight soon passed and Captain Kangaroo bounced us to the gate. Unlike Valencia, we were able to depart the aircraft pretty sharpish and were soon marvelling at the wonderous efficiency of German public transport as we took the underground into town towards the “Heart of Gold” hostel which would be our home for the next 3 days.
Our early arrival meant that we couldn’t check in, so we dumped our bags and headed off on a hastily concocted “Freitag cultural tour©”. The first priority was to sort out our bellies, and so we headed down to the main east-west thoroughfare, Unter den Linden, and found a café to fuel up and sample the excellent German beer. After reading through the menu, I especially was disappointed with the lack of sausage on offer. I was
hoping for a whole section of the menu to be dedicated to wurst, or perhaps a separate menu entirely, but alas no, there was just one offering Bockwurst which Andy and Shaun snapped up. Perhaps these stereotypes of Germany as a nation of sausage eaters are just that….stereotypes!!! What didn’t disappoint was the standard of the lager on offer. Draught Warsteiner served in hefty tankards would set the standards, and Matich and I both seemed especially taken as to this area of German culture.
The wander around Berlin continued and next up was the Brandenburg gate, largest and most ornate of Berlin’s five city gates. Its now obviously possible to wander freely through the gate, as the Berlin Wall which used to run straight through the middle of it is no more. We trooped onwards towards the German Parliament, known as the Reichstag. The glass dome which sits atop it has been completely redesigned by Sir Norman “Gherkin” Forster, and is considered one of the major tourist attractions in Berlin. However, free entry leads to a major waiting time and the temperatures in Berlin on the Friday were distinctly chilly - especially as most people used to English weather
in the mid-20’s hadn’t brought coats. Thank God we didn’t choose to visit Berlin in February. Thus, a far better plan was constructed, which was to head south through the large Tier Garten park and find ourselves a warm bar serving cold beer!
We wandered on to Potsdamer Platz, a huge commercial development that is one of the main signs of reunification. The Berlin wall used to run straight through a large empty tract of land, but it has now been redeveloped as a showpiece of the German economy. However, as with many large commercial developments, apart from a few nice architectural touches it wasn’t all that interesting, so we headed on to view one of the still standing sections of the Berlin wall. At this section there was a large outdoor exhibition titled “the topography of terror”, but it was the wall itself that was most daunting. Even given that it has been approaching 20 years since the wall came down, it is still a huge imposing monument of the difficult history of Germany.
Next stop was Checkpoint Charlie, but the cold was again meaning we were getting slightly restless so we popped into a café opposite
the Checkpoint for some liquid refreshment. It was quite strange to be happily supping a beer in a café on the location of what used to be one of the most heavily fortified positions in Berlin!
We wound our way back to the hostel via a series of cafes and checked ourselves in, pausing briefly to clear up the multitude of toys that had been scattered from various prams regarding the slightly arbitrary allocation of our rooms!!
Showered and ready for a big night out, we convened in the bar, and while the rest of us drank, Shaun took on his role of nocturnal tour guide with aplomb and sorted out the locations of some good rock clubs for us to head to. A plan (of sorts) formed, we headed out and found a quality South-East Asian restaurant to eat in with the absolute minimum of faffing, a first for Team G.EL/B.L.A.K! (Although admittedly, most of the faffing had been done beforehand as it was about 11p.m. by the time we set out to get food!). From the restaurant, we happened upon probably the coolest watering hole I’ve ever seen. I think it was called “Sektor 54”, and
Alexanderplatz
Architecture in Berlin's main square.it was basically a building that had been bombed out and never repaired and had been taken over by artists. The insides were completely covered in graffiti, and there was lots of art and sculpture for sale throughout the building, as well as a couple of bars. The top floor bar was the most appealing - the wall had been blown off and never replaced and so it was open to look out across to a huge mural and giant screen being projected onto the building opposite. It was quite a surreal and a very cool experience.
With Shaun’s maps guiding us, we hit a few clubs for a great night out - although at one point I wasn’t entirely convinced by Shaun’s plans, standing in the road giving it a serious double-teapot pose insisting we head back to a previous club based entirely on the fact that they had played a song by The Cure! Luckily, Shaun soon sorted me out by telling me that we were heading back to the club I wanted to go to, then just telling the taxi-driver to head on to the next club anyway! Top work. The locals we bumped into along
Fernsehturm
The TV tower where we rode up to the viewing platform. the way had all been very friendly, but Adam did manage to make the acquaintance of a slightly irate Italian who for no reason wanted to slit his throat! Luckily, he didn’t carry through his threat as he noticed that Nug was a member of our group and he didn’t want to mess with someone who, in the Itlaian’s own words, was dressed so “street”!! Our backs well and truly covered by “Street Nug”, sometime after dawn we grabbed a taxi back to the hostel a mere 30-odd hours after rising from our comfy beds back in Baso.
Even with our “veteran status”, there was no denying that we were pretty wasted the next day and the lie in until about 2.30p.m. seemed to illustrate that perfectly. Even that wasn’t enough for Shaun, who seemed to have a bit of an upset tummy from the previous night’s excesses. I’m not saying Shaun takes an absolute f@$%ing age to get ready, but when you have both Nug and Randy complaining about the amount of time they spend waiting for him you know something is up!! No worries though, we headed out promptly at quarter to five and found ourselves some
Berliner Dom
On the Saturday afternoon we had some sundowners in a cafe next to the river with the Berliner Dom opposite us. It was nice!! breakfast!
Lawrence, who had prepared a detailed tour of the east of the city centre, led us onwards once we had recharged. First stop was Alexanderplatz, one of the main squares in Berlin and home of the Fernsehturm, (TV tower), which dominates the Berlin skyline. Built by the communists as a sign of their power, it was slightly unfortunate on a couple of counts, firstly they couldn’t build it themselves and had to get Swedish engineers in to do the job, and the shadow created by the tower is in the shape of a cross - symbol of the Catholic religion they were trying to suppress! We took a ride to the viewing platform and enjoyed the sunny views over Berlin, (temperatures had become much more agreeable), as well as wandering around Alexanderplatz taking in some of the attractions and watching a snippet of one of the worst dance routines ever performed on a stage which had been set up there!
Unfortunately for Lawrence’s tour, our massively tardy start time meant that there was only really enough time for us to enjoy some Sundowners at a riverside café before heading back to the hostel!
A quick turnaround
and we headed back out for a night out. We tracked down an Italian restaurant for some food, before heading for a drink or two in Sektor 54. Shaun was again nocturnal guide, and seemed to be on a mission to walk the streets of Berlin rather than take taxis anywhere. I was on my best behaviour after my teapot impressions of the previous night, but all the walking did mean by the time we had reached this really cool Jazz club called B-flat, the jazz had all finished for the night and we were just able to grab a drink before heading on.
I think Shaun’s plan was for us to hit two or three clubs that night, but we had so much fun in the first one we went to that we ended up just staying there for the whole night! The music was great, the drinks were cheap and there were all kinds of friendly locals for us to meet, including “sweaty cap man”, who presented us with his cap and let us dance around it - but only for 5 minutes, and “big unit” a gentle giant who was the size of a house and
Sektor 54
The cool graffiti on the stairwell which led up to the bar. could have crushed the 6 of us with one paw, but turned out to be really cool. That said, we stayed away from him when the moshing started!
It was in this club that the mighty “flipper” was born. No one knows quite how it happened - perhaps an ill-advised bout of breakdancing on glass or maybe a simple drunken slip - but Shaun managed to slice up a couple of his fingers on his right hand. Shaun’s beer intake seem to render him immune to the pain, and after having a roll or two of toilet paper wrapped around it by the bouncers Shaun was free to continue dominating the dance floor in his own inimitable style - this time with added crimson for effect. F-Lawrence Nightingale seemed very concerned at the possibility of infection and other such potential disasters - admittedly the club didn’t seem to be the most sterile of places, but the rest of us where most than happy to laugh and point and generally do dolphin impressions like the top friends we are!!
The club night eventually wound down and we made our way out onto the streets to find a taxi. Here,
Mural
This was the mural we could see from the top floor bar of Sektor 54. Randy and Nug engaged in one of their usual wrestling and pinching sessions, but our Italian friend seemed to have been correct when assessing Nug, as “Street Nug” soon deposited Randy into a particularly spiky thorn bush - much to everyone’s amusement.
Back at the hostel F-Lawrence Nightingale moved into overdrive, busting out his field hospital in order to give Shaun a flipper which made the toilet roll in the club effort look pretty shambolic. In a fine display of drunken bandaging Shaun was soon patched up and almost as good as new, and ready to instigate the very bad things which happened to Adam after he had unwittingly passed out!!
The next morning, the midday checkout time only missed by an hour or so for most people, we headed out for some lunch and then onto the Reichstag to engage in our usual spot of boys-on-tour sleeping on concrete. This time the specially selected concrete was the steps outside the Reichstag as we queued to get in! Once inside, and after the security lady had vented her disgust at the way Adam smelt, we toured the showpiece glass dome which sits atop the German Parliament and allows
you to look down into the chambers.
Back outside in the Sun, we relaxed in the parkland outside the front of the Parliament, before wandering back through Tiergarten park to view a memorial to the wars Germany has won, which is a giant angel astride a massive column. Our time winding down, we managed to get back towards the hostel, grab some food and rustle up a taxi to the airport.
Our three-day blitz of Berlin had come to an end, and a fantastic time had been had. There had been a huge amount to see and do - examples of a tragic history as well as so many positive signs of reunification. We had a great time eating and drinking in the cafés, everyone we met seemed to be hugely friendly, and we enjoyed the nightlife immensely with a couple of top nights out. Cheers for the adventure boys, and I’m looking forward to the next stop on the Baso boy’s European tour!!
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