Berlin, I love the nightlife...

Day 37

As my final night in Copenhagen involved numerous drinks and drinking games, the morning of Day 37 was not fun. And to think, I had seven hours of travel ahead of me. The body just ain't as tolerant as it used to be. In the end, a healthy breakfast of Maccas seemed to do the trick and it kept the nausea at bay as I sat on the rocking trains. Halfway through the trip, it hit me that Denmark and Berlin are separated by a sea. How the hell does the train go over without a change? Soon enough I discovered how when an announcement came over the loud speaker telling everyone to get off the train as it was going into a ferry. Not one of those tiny harbour ferries. This was a huge ocean liner. It was actually quite cool to make this trip over the ocean, plus I could enjoy the cool sea breezes from the upper deck. As we reached Germany, I got back onboard the train and soon enough I was in Berlin.


Made my way to Will's place, dumped my stuff and we were off to have dinner at Stella's place with Neil. Was so good to have a home-cooked meal. She had prepared a massive meal of Thai green curry with rice and by the end, we all had food comas. As dinner ended, plans for the night were discussed and we discovered that an Australian artist was playing her last gig on the road for the year so we headed over. At 11pm. And she didn't come on til about midnight. As I soon came to realise/remember from last time, a Berlin night doesn't start until after midnight.

In the meantime, the club (Bassy) had its own Halloween night with its own talent show in a way. There were so many different acts, including many burlesque acts both female and male, a circus sideshow act involving the usual hammer, concrete and nails, as well as a Hitler impersonator MC complete with parody songs riddled with politically incorrect messages. The gig itself, with Mojo Juju, was amazing. She had such an interesting style and growl to her voice. As the night ended at 2:30am, we reflected on what we had just experienced. For a bargain price of €13 (had we arrived in costume it would have been €10), we had received a full night's worth of varied entertainment. You just can't get that in Sydney.

Given that it was a Wednesday night, there were no trains running that late and buses were few and far between (plus we didn't know where to catch the bus). Being the manly men we were, Will and I decided to walk home in the cold. That walk took us about an hour. Even with maps, we walked in the wrong direction. And then we almost got hit by bottles as someone was throwing them off the building. Luckily we crossed to the other side of the street when we heard/saw the first one, but even then, the next one came quite close. Clearly someone was aiming them. Nevertheless, we got home safely and unglassed, thus ending my first night in Berlin at 4am. Excellent start!!

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Day 38

Late start to the day given that I had only gotten in in the early morning. Today was pretty much spent exploring the city (again) and getting that familiar feeling that I had been there before. Especially when I unknowingly walked back towards my hostel from three years ago. Those were good times. Met up with Will after he finished class and helped him with grocery shopping. Always good to have an extra pair of hands to carry them home. After that, we were off to Primark to find our costumes for a Halloween party that night. Adult onesies for €14, kid ones for €10. Clearly we went went for the kid ones. Besides, the kid ones had better designs. In the end, I went with a bear and Will went with a dinosaur. Costumes obtained, we went back to the apartment to cook a delicious dinner of tuna pasta with sauteed mushrooms.

As we got ready to go to the party, we realised that the onesies were smaller than they looked. It was a struggle to even put them on but once we took off our clothes underneath (so kinky), we were able to  them on. But even then, movement was so restricted. I could barely move my arms and couldn't even bend over to tie my shoelaces. They were so tight. But hot damn, it showed off our bodies haha. In the end, we did end up wearing thermals underneath just so we wouldn't freeze as we walked the Berlin streets in our onesies. It was an oddly fun feeling walking the streets and catching the train in costume. So many people were staring and I even got felt up a few times, but hey, it was Halloween.

Got to the party which was hosted by some British exchange students in a massive apartment. Met quite a few exchange students and was really interesting to hear their stories. Drinks, dancing, photos, the usual party stuff. Not really much else to say. Ended up leaving about 2:30am in order to catch the bus back, and because Will had class at 8am. Rough. When we got back to the apartment, it felt so good to take the onesie off. I felt like I had been freed of my shackles. I could lift my arms again. I could bend over again. I could sit without having to keep my back in line with my legs. Ended up getting to bed at 4am. Again. Wonder if this will be a trend.

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Day 39

A pretty lazy day. Didn't do much and didn't leave the apartment until about 4pm to explore the Turkish markets. Will and I then had dinner at Burgermeister, famous for their...burgers. We were lucky in that there was only a short queue when we got there. By the time we left the queue was about 20 people. We both got the Meister burger, the best of the best. And damn it was good. It's way better than Grill'd and so much cheaper too. I understood why it was so famous. We went back to the apartment for an early night but after endless conversations about life, it still was about 2am before we finally hit the hay. Definitely seeing a trend here.

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Day 40

Late start again. Up at noon. Went out and explored solo. Walked from Brandenburg Gate to the zoo via the Tiergarten. I remembered the Tiergarten being much more beautiful last time, but then again it was covered in snow last time. All mud this time. Had a currywurst as a snack before getting back to the apartment and cooking a pork Thai red curry. I'm gonna come back from travelling with a whole new reportoire of recipes and cooking skills.

That night, we headed to Emma and Bill's place, two fellow Aussies also over here for study/work, for drinks. On the way there, we stumbled upon a huge gathering of people all looking up. Intrigued, we stopped and joined them and realised that they were all listening to a group of people singing and playing music from a balcony. Eventually the crowd started singing along as well. It was a really cool thing to see, and after asking around, apparently it happens quite often. You just need to know where to look out for the announcements about the location of the next balcony. We got to Emma and Bill's for pre-drinks, and met up with Raphaelle, an exchange student from Canada. Very casual. Beer, wine, spirits. That was the first time I had ever finished pre-drinks at 1am. But hey, that's how they roll in Berlin. We ended up heading over to KPTN pub for more drinks, before ending the night with a durum, a Turkish roll kinda like a kebab. Apparently it's a very Berlin thing to do, hence why they're everywhere. Got back home at 4am. The trend continues.

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Day 41

Final full day in Berlin. Already wasted half of it by waking up at noon. Hearty breakfast of eggs, tomatoes and mushrooms. Went with Will to explore the flea markets of Nowkolln and Boxhagener. Lots of interesting stalls, but nothing that we wanted to buy. Also it was mainly all women's clothing. As we walked from the flea markets in search of other places to check out, we stumbled across a few clubs in abandoned derelict-looking sites and buildings. One was already pumping music and we found out that it had been going since the previous night. As we continued walking, we came to the East Side Gallery, the section of the Berlin Wall that is now a gallery of murals. What was surprising was that I had thought I had already seen this three years ago. Every time someone asked me if I had seen it, I said yes. I just assumed they meant the wall. Because I had seen the wall, but just the section down at Potsdamer Platz. Now the whole "gallery" aspect of the name made sense. Guess it was lucky we came across it, otherwise I would have missed one of Berlin's biggest attractions. The gallery was really a sight to see. So many artistic expressions scrawled across the metres of wall, along with the thousands of graffitied signatures and messages from the tourists who had visited the gallery.

Satisfied that I had how seen the East Side Gallery, we went back and just had the leftover curry from the previous night before pigging out on waffles and ice cream for dessert, and then again at 11pm. You can never have too much dessert. Once again, long conversations about life ensued and we found ourselves in the early hours of the next day again. Was definitely great staying with Will over the last few days. He definitely showed me a different side to Berlin and gave me a whole different experience to the touristy one I had last time, plus I ate so well this time. Had five nights in Berlin, three ended at 4am, two ended at 2am. I guess I can say I lived the Berlin lifestyle.

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Day 42

Got up at noon again and packed everything up, before dumping my bags in a locker at the main station to save me the hassle of coming back to the apartment to get them later. Having done most of Berlin already, I ended up doing a bit of shopping today after discovering that Primark had opened its doors in Berlin. Keeping in mind that every purchase would add to the weight carried on my back, I made selective purchases and ended up with a pair of boots, a sweater, and two shirts, all for a very reasonable price of €35. Decided to have one last Burgermeister burger before I left, and met up with Will and Stella for a delicious mushroom burger with cheese fries. So unhealthy but so good. I said my goodbyes to Will, hopped on a train to the main station, retrieved my bags, and got on my overnight train back to Budapest. Yep. I said I would be back. Keen.

HBL signing out from Berlin, Germany.

Up next: From crawling in caves to relaxing in thermal baths...
Previously: Braving the elements in Copenhagen...