I arrived in Berlin in the afternoon, excited to see all the city had to offer. Most everyone who knew me, and knew Berlin, had promised till they were black and blue in the face that I would love Berlin.
So I definitely had a spring in my step and incredulous grin
on my face as I rolled into this town. Checking into St Christopher`s Inn, I
headed down to the bar to devour my first currywurst. Enjoyable, really just a
hot dog and chips, but the sauce was so delicious. Next time I am there I am
buying a bottle of that sauce.
I had happened to arrive at the hostel on the same night
that there was some kind of app release party, targeted at locals, but I made
some friends and joined in. honestly, when backpacking, anything for a free
drink eh?
Three free shots of Jaeger later, we went and visited a
spar, for takeaway beers (all so delicious) and smuggled them into a very
swanky bar somehow. In the drunken early hours of the morning, we made plans to
tackle Berghain the following night.
Well the next day dawned, and I was a little hungover. I crammed in some free brekkie at the hostel, and joined the walking tour. Which then annoyingly put us on the tram into town. I would have preferred to walk into town for 45 mins then wait the half an hour I had for the tour to leave from the hostel. But, it was nice to travel in a group
I had a look at going into the museums, but was so shocked by how expensive they were ( I can`t remember if they were actually expensive, or I was on a massively tight budget, or London museums had completely spoiled me) I passed and went for a walk instead. Mostly back to the hostel, via a circuitous route which included a donut, and then had a nap.
That evening, I met up with a beer tasting tour, which was FABULOUS. We learnt how to taste beer properly (it is an art form you know) and then went to a few different places to sample the beers.
At the conclusion of that, I raced off to a pub crawl with
AJ, to continue the party. The night ended at Tresor club, which is definitely
aimed at the tourist crowd, and I glued myself into the retro room. Leaving in
the early hours of the morning, I was lucky enough that my route home took me
past the Berlin wall, and the TV tower with a beautiful view of the moon.
Now, remember how I had been told by everyone that I would
absolutely love Berlin…? Well, I didn’t. Not entirely. And certainly not as a
tourist. The hostel scene was very party hard, and speaking my very limited German
(basically can order food and be polite) and the cost of tourist experiences
made it really hard for me to sink my teeth into the city. However, I think if
I lived there I would absolutely love it.
Feeling utterly defeated, I spent the next full day entirely
in bed, eating mustard and chip sandwiches, and drinking water I refilled from
the bathroom sinks; napping, and watching Netflix.
I did drag myself out in the evening for a final nice dinner at a quaint Geman restaurant not too far from the hostel, where I had a lava beer and a pork knuckle, hoping that all that heavy food would send me off to sleep. And it did.
Until about 11pm when a charming group of girls started to
drink and get ready to go clubbing. For a good few hours. So the following
morning when I ever so silently
slipped out for my early bus, I accidentally dropped the lid of my locker,
resulting in a terrible clang that would have unfortunately disturbed the
slumbering partiers.
Grabbing a quick bite
to eat, I strode off (in the wrong direction) to get my bus to Copenhagen.
(don`t worry, I made the bus) 
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| This couple were so cute with their little table cloth and home made meals. So impressive. |
Leaving Berlin actually felt almost as good as the
excitement I felt arriving there, and it was really tough to reflect on my time
there as being so much less than I had anticipated. But, I definitely have some
unfished business with Berlin, and will be back there. Someday.
Even if it is just for a bottle of curry sauce.
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