Berlin July-Aug '09

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My good pal, and former flatmate from Eastie, Jens, drove up from Cologne to Amsterdam just to pick me up and drive out to Berlin...his total trip time was 9 hours! Crazy bastard! What a friend eh?? Well, he also had a bachelor party to attend, which I joined him for. The car ride to Berlin was fantastic. Ever been on the Autobahn? 250km/hr, WOW! We made it from Amsterdam to Berlin in less than 6 hours. We arrived in the evening and quickly pulled ourselves together for the big Benno Bachelor Party. Met up with the guys downtown somewhere I can't recall the name of. The bachelor, Benno, was easy to spot with his neon yellow t-shirt, sparkly top hat, and vending tray hanging from his neck, full of tiny bottles of liquor for sale. I was witness to him getting his legs and chest waxed by some random females on the street to raise money for his party (I think he may have made 5 euro, minus the cost of supplies). It was hilarious to watch him grimace and moan as each strip was ripped away from his bushy legs 😊 We all went out to a gaming bar where we had reserved 2 poker tables, cigars, beer-a-plenty, and a stripper. Twas quite an entertaining night I must say! We ended at a huge club with 4 dance floors and our group began to disintegrate as the drinks were downed and the night wore thin. We ended our night in typical Berlin fashion, with a delicious Doner Kebab, then went back to Jens’ apartment and passed out.

We were up fairly early the next day, with enough time to have some open-faced sandwiches and some sightseeing. Jens had to return to Cologne for work, so I ventured out with Katie B to Schöneberg . We strolled around for a while, and then went to a great Jazz show.

The next day I met up with my friend Paul, from southern Germany, who I’d met in Nicaragua the year before. He’s been in Berlin for a few years studying Architecture and Urban renewal. He was really busy working on a thesis project, so unfortunately we only hung out at night. He did show me around some incredible areas of the city and we had a good time partying and catching up. During the daytime, I was mostly out exploring the city on my own. My favorite parts of the city were Kreuzburg, Mitte, and Friedrichshain. The East Side Gallery was impressive, with several amateur through professional painted works in different stages of completion. Just opposite of the Wall lies the River Spree, where several hip bars and beach-style cafes have sprung up. I must have biked a good 20 miles that day, trying to catch as much of the city as I could. I rode out to a northern burrow of Berlin where Paul worked in the evening and later went out for Japanese food and a few drinks with his girlfriend. The bars and districts we visited that night were hands-down the best I saw in Berlin. If I’m not mistaken, I think we spent most of the night in Kreuzburg. Many of the bars had a gritty, Stalinistic appearance to them, and a club we went to later was formerly a warehouse and had been converted into a bare-bones house and techno hangout for mostly teens.

The next day I was off to Hamburg in the north. I took advantage of “rideshare” by riding with a few strangers and chipping in for gas in an old Red VW van. It was a decent ride, and saved me some money and time (vs. taking a bus). It certainly beat my ride back to Berlin, which was in a crowded Hyudai sedan with a driver who didn’t want to put his windows down or use a/c.

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