Berlin

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BERLIN, GERMANY - (September 2007)

- (Friday 21st to Monday 24th September 2007) -

Thurs 20th Sept- (Vilnius to Berlin)
It now really did seem like my trip was drawing to a conclusion. I was going to Berlin to meet friends from Manchester who had booked a long weekend in Berlin and Berlin would be the penultimate place that I would visit on this trip before going back to England. This, coupled with the fact that I was meeting friends here really did make it seem like I would be soon back home.

I caught an overnight bus from Vilnius through to Berlin which set off late afternoon/ early evening. The bus quickly travelled through to Poland and then onto Germany. We had to stop off at quite a few places because of the borders but being an overnight bus, I tried to get some sleep and I can’t remember much about the journey. The bus arrived in Berlin during the morning rush hour.

Fri 21st - Mon 24th Sept - (Berlin)
From memory, the bus station where the bus dropped us off was a bit out of the centre and once off the bus I caught a train into central Berlin from where I caught the U-Bahn to the hostel I’d pre-booked. My friends were not arriving until the following day so I had had to book one night in a hostel until they arrived. The City Stay hostel, located near Alexander Platz in the old eastern part of the city was a big modern hostel well located to get around the city.

I arrived at the hostel slightly before midday. This was the third time I’d been to Berlin so there wasn’t anything in particular that I wanted to see so I spent the rest of the day sorting my things out, catching up on emails, and getting some washing done and having a short wonder around parts of the city located near the hostel. In all the time I had been away on this trip, when I had had m washing done it had come back with no problems at all. Unfortunately on this occasion, my whites came back ‘pink’! I suppose it serves me right for putting a red t-shirt in with all the other washing. However, I thought it would be alright as I’d never had a problem with this anywhere else on this trip! Modern washing machines perhaps?
I wasn’t meeting the guys until later in the day so I booked myself on a short cycling tour of the city with the hostel. The weather was good and it was quite pleasant cycling around the city with a guide and visiting some of the tourist places scattered around the city centre. There were about 15 of us and thankfully it wasn’t difficult keeping up with everyone even though the pace was reasonably fast.

We saw quite a few things during the trip but I had to leave the tour slightly early because I’d arranged to meet a German guy ‘Frank’, who I’d meet in Peru a couple of years earlier and who I'd kept in contact with. I cycled back to the hostel, quickly picked up my things and jumped on the U-bahn. It was good to meet up with Frank even though it was only for a couple of hours. We had coffee in the sun sitting outside a coffee bar in his local neighborhood and reminisced on past travelling adventures.

I had arranged to meet the rest of the guys later that afternoon, around 4pm from memory. They had booked a cheap flight out of Manchester which arrived in Berlin early afternoon and had booked a large apartment for a few days.

The apartment was in another area of the city to where I had met Frank (in an area of Berlin whose name escapes me) so I had to catch the U-bahn again, this time accompanied by Frank who had agreed to come with me for a couple of hours. Even though I had the address, it took us quite a while to find the apartment by which time the guys had checked into the apartment and found the local bar/ pub – No surprise there! I got a message from Adam and arranged to meet them in the bar.

I walked in and they were all playing pool. It was a strange feeling meeting them all again after all this time. It was probably 18 months since I’d seen most of them, longer in some instances, and as a result the conversation was slightly strained for a few minutes as we didn’t really know what to say to each other other than the usual greetings. However, after a few beers it was back to normal and as if I’d never been away!

Out of the guys who were there, I’d been close friends with Adam, Tony, and Luke for years. Richard I’d known on and off for a few years but never really been close to and there was also Pete, Richard’s step brother, who I’d never meet before but who ended up being a good guy and who I ended up renting a flat with in Sale for a couple of months upon my return to England.

It was good to catch up with everyone. Unfortunately, Frank only stayed for a short while - I think everyone was a bit too ‘raucous’ for him and as he didn’t drink in the same way as the British do, he probably felt a bit out of place. However, it was really good to see him and catch up, even if it was only for a few hours.

We had a good night, and as expected in such circumstances, we drank too much. We ended the night back at the apartment, very drunk, listening to the Stone Roses with Luke dancing about like only he can!

The following day all of us were nursing hangovers, Luke more than most. By the time we got up and got ourselves sorted it didn’t leave too long for sightseeing as we were off to see the football during the afternoon. We caught the U-Bahn into the centre and visited a few touristy things such as the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag before heading off to the football. One unforgettable moment which is so typical of Luke at that time was that he was so hung over from the previous night that he was sick on the ‘Holocaust memorial'! Well perhaps not quite ‘on it’, but certainly by it!

When Luke had recovered enough to move on, we caught the U-Bahn to the ‘Olympiastadion’, the home of Hertha Berlin FC. The stadium had been built only a few years earlier for the 2006 World Cup and had hosted the final.

As you would expect from a new stadium, the stadium was quite impressive and the atmosphere around and leading up to the stadium quite different to an English football game. There was none of the hostility to the opposing team and fans that sometimes occurs in English football and there was even a bit of a carnival atmosphere around with plenty of open air beer stalls and food places lining the streets leading to the stadium with both sets of fans mingling and enjoying a few beers before the game in the sun. - And as you would expect, a few beers were had by us before the game!

There were also plenty of games going on for kids outside the stadium with such things as penalty competitions taking place with kids who could barely walk having a go - It’s no wonder that the Germans always win penalty shoot-outs!

Hertha were playing Borussia Dortmund, a game which they eventually won 3-2. However, the game was pretty average despite the score line but it was good to experience the atmosphere of a German football game. As I’d heard many times on TV, it was funny hearing all the German fans all chant back in unison, just the once, in a short sharp shout, a player’s name after the announcer had mentioned it!

On the Saturday night we all went to an area of the city recommended in the guidebook as a good place to go for bars and restaurants. I can’t remember what the area was called although it was a strange place. It had lots of nice restaurants and bars where you could eat and drink outside but it also had the odd prostitute walking the streets waiting to get picked up! We just sat outside the restaurant/ bar with our food and drinks watching events unfold. Eventually, we returned to the local bar next to the apartment which had become our ‘local’ during our time in Berlin for a ‘night cap’ or four!

Sunday was spent sightseeing - the usual things, tracking down the last remnants of the Berlin Wall, seeing Checkpoint Charlie etc, interspersed with a few Beer stops!

I really like Berlin. I’ve now been three times over the years and have really enjoyed my time there on all three occasions. The city is not too big and you are never overwhelmed by all there is to see.

The weekend had been good. It had been really good seeing friends again who I’d not seen much of in the last 2 years but who I’d be seeing a lot more of soon. The guys tried to persuade me get a flight back to England saying it would be cheaper and quicker. It would be - but that was not the point of this trip which they didn't really understand. I had come all this way without flying so I wasn’t going to take the easy way out now so near home and get a flight back. Plus I had one more place to visit before going home!

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