Berlin In Words

I admit it. I am too spoiled. Hostel life is not for me. I came to this conclusion after I spent a weekend with impossibly loud Italians and a lack of privacy. I have also concluded that Ryanair wants to gauge me and abuse my patronage. Sara and I traveled this weekend to Berlin for three days of meandering and fun times.

On Friday, we arrived at the airport über early and discovered displeasing news. We had to pay a twenty pound fine for not having checked in prior to coming to the airport. Ridiculous. As we were waiting on line there were a horde of men wearing matching t-shirts, a specific nickname was printed on their backs. I chuckled endlessly as I walked by Scuba Steve, Richie Rich, and my personal favorite, Tramp. I am really interested in how he earned that one. Ryanair is a strictly transportation airline, the seats did not even have stowaway pockets! Since the flight was at 6 in the morning (I woke up at 2:30) I took a good nap for the two hour flight.

Arriving in Berlin was relatively painless. We had to find transportation. Surprisingly and luckily for us, they never check the validation of subway tickets (Sara and I basically rode around the city all weekend for free). We went to find our hostel--BaxPax in the Turkish neighborhood--Kreuzberg. The guy who checked us in was a cutie (the eyes, voice, hair, everything was working for him!) and he showed us to the 32 person room we'd be sleeping in. Sara and I entered, claimed beds when a cell phone rang and from the top bunk emerged an angry Italian. He literally popped up like a daisy! He woke up cursing and nearly startled us out of our skins! After getting settled, we decided to get some grub. We ended up going to eat some spätzle. Yum.

We walked a TON. From our neighborhood we ventured to Mitte. We walked underneath the U1 train tracks as we came across strange buildings, unique designs, and colorful murals. We saw an air balloon in the distance. You could pay to go up in the balloon to see Berlin...I laughed at the prospect, I would have DIED if I had gone on it. Heights, no no no. Right by the balloon there were tons of tour buses and tourists. Sara and I continued walking. I looked to my left and saw a run down wall as I thought silently...could it be? I asked Sara, "Do you think that's the Berlin wall!?" We both stared as I flagged down a elderly British couple and asked, "Excuse me, but what is that?" pointing to the wall. The man laughed as he replied, "why, that's the Berlin Wall, of course." I couldn't believe we came across the wall accidentally. It was hilarious. We were both thinking it silently but were unsure until there it was, the Berlin Wall!

In Mitte we walked along to Potsdamer Plaz, the hub of post-war Berlin. It is a modern shopping area. The Holocaust memorial was interestingly designed. A football stadium sized slat filled with various blocks of all sizes, representing all the loss of life. From the distance you could see Lady Victory on top of the most beloved Berlin monument, the Brandenburger Tor (It's so LOVED that it graces the windows of ALL the trains) It was stunning but a bit back lit. There was a living man statue dressed as a soldier next to another "man" It turned out the other "man" was a mannequin that eerily looked real. Next we walked to the Recihstag (The coolest spiral dome EVER) but the line was way too long so we resolved to come back in the morning at 8, when it opened. Our feet were worn down, but we continued forth to walk to Siegessäule (Victory Column) in the middle of Tiergarten (the equivalent of Central Park in my eyes). It felt like the longest walk ever (she is literally dab in the center of the park by a roundabout). We unfortunately arrived a bit too late as she was closed but she was breathtaking in the sunset. On the way back to the hostel an angry German grandma pushed me out of the way and cursed at me. Let me tell you, it is no fun being cursed at in German. It's already an angry language, but when you add even more malicious intent the results are horrifying. Now imagine a little 78 year old lady pushing you in the back and yelling something foul in German. Then imagine my shocked reaction. Now laugh. Because as much as it was terrifying it was that much more hilarious. I wish I knew what she had said.

That night we were awoken by the Italians who were raucously loud and annoying at 3 in the morning. We woke up the next day early to make it to the Reichstag. You have to go through security and the guard asked me where I was from and as I said New York. He jumps on it and goes to his fellow guard "You see it's New York not Nue!" I got a kick out of that. Then as I put my stuff on the scanner a different guard sings a familiar tune, "New York, New York!" and as I look at him puzzlingly, he goes, "Frank Sinatra!" I smiled widely. The Reichstag was stunning. The design of the building was breathtaking and the views were wonderful as well. The sun was still waking up, so we got batches of bright sun through listless clouds. By this time, my feet were dying. I had to buy an extra pair of socks!

We made our way to Schöneberg and the market there. It was very quaint full of good smelling food and flowers amongst vendors selling knick knacks. I came across a very peculiar and wondrous thing...a cheese melter made specifically to melt cheese. A woman stood operating the contraption. She secured the block of cheese in the metal clasps as the heat bubbled the surface of it, and after two minutes, she'd swing the cheese around and take a spreader, take the freshly melted cheese and scoop it onto a piece of bread for yummy consumption. She'd also add a garnish of green onions or parsley. It was scrumptious. I got mine with pieces of smoked ham underneath all that melty goodness. YUM!

We walked to the elephant gate that borders the zoo, that was cool. Then we managed our way to Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche, another stunning structure. We stopped to try a currywurst. It was different. It's a brachwurst covered in chili powder, and chili sauce served with pomme frites. The pieces that weren't drowning in the sauce were good. Right by was the equivalent of Broadway/Fifth Avenue--Kurfürstendamm Street. There was a vegetarian protest--people dressed up as pigs, cows carrying signs against slaughtering of animals. If the point was not across they even had a visual--a model cow was on the floor, its throat slit open as blood gushed out. There was even a little boy dressed as a chicken passing out flyer's. We walked down the street stopping by H&M, and ventured a little in Charlottenberg (the neighborhood). We took the bahn (train) to the Charlottenberg Palace. The exterior for a palace was simple, but pictures of the inside show how elegant it really is.

We made our way back to the hostel and Sara took a nap. I sat in the hostel room listening to the various cultures. It is amazing and fascinating to see so many people in one place. Since we were in a Turkish neighborhood we had to have some Turkish food! I got a kebab that was to die for. The spices were not only aromatically cooked in, but it fell apart in your mouth. GOODNESS. Plus, the rice was buttered! It was yummy. We also had an early morning the next day and as there was nothing to do otherwise, we went to bed early. We were rudely woken up by the Italians. They were sitting in the minuscule landing RIGHT outside of the door. They were beyond noisy. There were eight people in the room attempting to sleep as a party was raging through a very thin door. What was the worst was that there were two new additions in our hostel. Two Canadian girls. One of the Italians had caught his fancy and spent the night flirting with her IN the room. Tidbit's of their conversation were hilarious. There was a language barrier to say the least. When he asked her name she replied, "Kat." and he went, "OH! Like el gato." She responded, "No, like Kat..." and he insisted that she was "el gato" and she just could not comprehend. Stupid. She completely knew they were being ridiculously loud too and she did nothing. Sara and I sat on top of her bunk judging as they judged us. Tidbits of conversation flooded through my ears. The Canadians were just dumb as the Italian was sleazy. They were whispering about us when she said "we're being loud" and with hand gestures pointed towards us and said how we were trying to sleep. The Italian proceeded to say, "Nah, this place not for sleeping. This place for partying." Well....then what were the 32 beds for?! The best part of that had to be when his friend yelled from the outside, "Make the JOINTT!" The Italian ushered to the Canadian girl and said, "I make joint with you?" Language barrier. Oh getting high in hostels. While Kat declined, her friend was genuinely puzzled and asked, "What is that?" Oh sheltered Canadians...The drunk/high Italian's friends wanted to leave so they waited for him as he flirted excessively. It was gross. But, it was all right, he was balding.

The final day of our FULL trip to Berlin I woke up early and took a walk around our immediate area. There was some funky murals and I came across the Hauf Haus,literally a building painted with a giant marijuana leaf...and the walls were painted with all marijuana plants. It was hilarious. I also found a quaint bakery and got a delicious marzipan croissant. We wanted to go up top of the Fernsehturm (the needle, tallest building in Berlin, and a symbol of the post-war/Communist regime) but we were too lucky with our weather before. It was way too foggy to see anything. We instead walked around Alexander Platz to Rotes Rathaus (which had the most elaborate fountain of Poseidon--it was KICK ass). We got some schnitzel, and it was good! We made our way to the Berlin Dom and all around Museum Island. Everything was beautiful. We walked through a flea market and got some of the best freshly made donuts ever. A man had a machine and he fried them for you--and they were blissful. After a brief break at the hostel where I thought we could enact revenge on the Italians (they didn't come back to the room that morning) but I was sorely disappointed to not find them sleeping, but have gone. We took the bahn to see the Jüdisches Museum. It was revolutionary architecture. Eventually we walked around our neighborhood some more (though my feet were ready to fall off). We were pooped.

That concludes my Berlin three day adventure full of action packed walking and discovering the extremely interesting buildings in Berlin. I must say, the city has character and I like it. West Berlin reminds me more of the Lower East Side whereas East Berlin reminds me of Chelsea, Midtown areas. I took enough pictures of Berlin to last me a lifetime and we did primarily everything we should have. Random meandering really worked for us. Though by the end, Sara and I were getting on each other's nerves because we had spent every second together. A good test run for this summer, but overall, I loved Berlin. Berlin was a city full of splendor, old and new, and just so much personality.