We pick up the blog postings in Berlin; a city of amazing nightlife, diverse history, good people and many cultures.
I arrived in Berlin around noon on the 11th of May. Of course I had chosen the bus station that was on the other side of town from my hostel and that I had actually forgotten to write down directions for.
Oops.
The bus ride itself had been rather pleasant; sitting next to a young German man who kept trying not to laugh at "How I Met Your Mother" but not quite succeeding meant that I was kept constantly amused as I listened to B.o.B. and watched the beautiful country side roll by. However, after booking my bus ticket to Hamburg for two days time I managed to find my way to the U-Bahn (the Subway, for those uninitiated) and find the line that I needed to take, the station at which I needed to change, and then the station at which I would disembark. 20 minutes later I arrived on the other side of town, slightly disorientated but altogether proud of myself as figuring out the U-bahn in a place such as Berlin is highly important for quick and easy travel. Once I had disembarked and found my way out to Kotbusser Tor I started walking. I had "Google Mapped" the area and so I knew roughly where to go and where I had to find my accommodation, or so I thought.
An hour or so later after walking up one side of the street a good 500m and then back down the other passing graffitied walls, tattoo parlours and slightly dodgy looking restaurants I returned to the Subway station and waked behind the bank of shops immediately surrounding it. Success! I found the door that lead to the staircase and up into the Hostel and made my way inside, just about ready to throw my pack away from me in detest (had I had the energy).
I checked in and decided that as it was now late and most things would be closing soon, I would take care of my food and beverage situation and have a small look around before heading back to the hostel.
The hostel itself was nice; nothing fancy but for a traveller who was looking for a comfy bed and who wasn't panning on spending so much time inside anyway it was perfect. Situated in the Freidrich-Kreuzberg neighbourhood, Comebackpackers was an alternative little place that seemed to be filled with Australians and comfy couches. As I settled into one of said couches with my book and an interesting looking pastry (I still have a weakness for bakeries) I was joined by more people; some on laptops, others reading, others cooking.
The night passed quickly. I had met a British guy earlier on who had offered to introduce me to some other Australians in the hostel, and at 9:50pm as I was preparing to go to bed I was joined on my couch by a guy called Kieran who originally hailed from Geelong. We got to chatting and he invited me out with a small group of other guys and some girls from Munster in Western Germany.
Two hours later after a few drinks we made it to our destination; Club Matrix, on the way passing the East Side Gallery. I haven't really said much about my clubbing experiences as I've travelled but about Matrix I will say this: awesome. Many different rooms playing all different styles of music (including going against tradition and starting with those songs from the nineties that you only ever play at 4am when everyone is too drunk to care) as well as 2-4-1 drink specials. Winner.
After returning to the hostel at a ridiculously early hour, serenaded by the rising sun and surprised that it was almost daylight (northern summers-long daylight hours) I awoke from a sound slumber to eat a small breakfast an discover that I had managed to leave my camera charger in Prague. I boarded the U-Bahn feeling like a genius as I had managed to track down the store to buy a universal charger and had my map in my bag. I arrived at Alexander Platz bought my charger and then hightailed it back to the hostel for lunch and camera charging.
After lunch and a quick check in with the group from the night before (Kieran had only just awoken from being comatose at 1pm) I met another young Australian from Melbourne called Pat and he opted to join me on my walk through Berlin.
We started out by catching the U-Bahn back to Alexander Platz and then set off in the direction that we thought was the Brandenburg Tor.
We passed the Television Tower; a building steeped in controversy as it was originally hated by the inhabitants of Berlin when it was first built (I can see why-not that attractive), the Lust Gardens, a series of Museums and then finally arriving at at the Brandenburg Tor.
The Tor itself is incredibly impressive. Standing at the end of a square (of which I will detail more in a second-read on!) surrounded by relatively unimpressive buildings, the gate is the centrepiece of Berlin in more ways than one.
After the obligatory photos and comments about people dressed in costumes as photo props Pat and I made our way to the S-Bahn and headed back to the Hostel to make dinner. It was pasta and sauce take 2 as we made our own pasta sauce (don't add too much carrot or the sauce wont be "sauce-like"-lesson learnt) and drank beer and laughed. We were planning on hitting another party that night but nothing had been decided with regards location. Kieran had one idea; the German girls another, and we were invited to join them at their university party.
We made our way once again to somewhere on the other side of town and found the building, noticing that it was nothing brilliant and leaving early. The venue itself was really cool; an underground bar with walls covered in street-art like creations but that lack of people there meant that the atmosphere wasn't as good as it could have been. Had it been full the party would've been amazing, however it wasn't and we left to find another bar fairly quickly. We ended up at this small bar playing Latin music to start, but after a while this changed to (what seemed like) Russian music so we made a graceful exit into the thunderstorm to commence a search for cab, eventually arriving back at the hostel in the wee hours of the morning.
The next morning after eating breakfast and packing my things, I made my way with Ryan and Jean-Yves to a chicken place (it was amazing, no joke) and then with Pat to the walking tour of Berlin. We started at the Brandenburg Tor, moving along to the Jewish Memorial; from there going to a parking lot under which Hitler's bunker was apparently located. After a quick speech from Grace, our excellent guide, we made our way to the old Luftwaffe Building, now the German Taxation building, and from there, to the remains of the Berlin Wall. We finished the tour by viewing some of the many Museums in Berlin including the memorial to the burnt books of May 10, 1933 and then relaxing in the Lust Gardens as we listened to the story of how the Berlin wall fell.
As the tour finished, Pat and I made our way to a BierGarden at which we were meeting Ryan and Jean-Yves for a few drinks before I was to leave the city for Hamburg. I made my way to the bus station in time for the bus and settled in for my 3 hour ride to Hamburg where I was to meet Mara.
All things considered, my time in Berlin was way too short. However, I still managed to see some of the most amazing arts of the city and learn more of it's history which was absolutely fantastic. As I sat on the bus I very quickly made up my mind to return. Berlin was a city full of energy; there were buskers in most squares and on just about every train I took, there was a different daily protest and the constant construction meant that the city was full of energy.
As my time in Berlin comes to and end, so does this blog, and I will leave it here until the next instalment.
Until next time,
Love Love!
Clem xx
I arrived in Berlin around noon on the 11th of May. Of course I had chosen the bus station that was on the other side of town from my hostel and that I had actually forgotten to write down directions for.
Oops.
The bus ride itself had been rather pleasant; sitting next to a young German man who kept trying not to laugh at "How I Met Your Mother" but not quite succeeding meant that I was kept constantly amused as I listened to B.o.B. and watched the beautiful country side roll by. However, after booking my bus ticket to Hamburg for two days time I managed to find my way to the U-Bahn (the Subway, for those uninitiated) and find the line that I needed to take, the station at which I needed to change, and then the station at which I would disembark. 20 minutes later I arrived on the other side of town, slightly disorientated but altogether proud of myself as figuring out the U-bahn in a place such as Berlin is highly important for quick and easy travel. Once I had disembarked and found my way out to Kotbusser Tor I started walking. I had "Google Mapped" the area and so I knew roughly where to go and where I had to find my accommodation, or so I thought.
 |
| Brandenburg Tor |
An hour or so later after walking up one side of the street a good 500m and then back down the other passing graffitied walls, tattoo parlours and slightly dodgy looking restaurants I returned to the Subway station and waked behind the bank of shops immediately surrounding it. Success! I found the door that lead to the staircase and up into the Hostel and made my way inside, just about ready to throw my pack away from me in detest (had I had the energy).
I checked in and decided that as it was now late and most things would be closing soon, I would take care of my food and beverage situation and have a small look around before heading back to the hostel.
 |
| Jewish Memorial |
The hostel itself was nice; nothing fancy but for a traveller who was looking for a comfy bed and who wasn't panning on spending so much time inside anyway it was perfect. Situated in the Freidrich-Kreuzberg neighbourhood, Comebackpackers was an alternative little place that seemed to be filled with Australians and comfy couches. As I settled into one of said couches with my book and an interesting looking pastry (I still have a weakness for bakeries) I was joined by more people; some on laptops, others reading, others cooking.
The night passed quickly. I had met a British guy earlier on who had offered to introduce me to some other Australians in the hostel, and at 9:50pm as I was preparing to go to bed I was joined on my couch by a guy called Kieran who originally hailed from Geelong. We got to chatting and he invited me out with a small group of other guys and some girls from Munster in Western Germany.
Two hours later after a few drinks we made it to our destination; Club Matrix, on the way passing the East Side Gallery. I haven't really said much about my clubbing experiences as I've travelled but about Matrix I will say this: awesome. Many different rooms playing all different styles of music (including going against tradition and starting with those songs from the nineties that you only ever play at 4am when everyone is too drunk to care) as well as 2-4-1 drink specials. Winner.
 |
| Mural on the wall of the old Luftwaffe Headquarters |
After returning to the hostel at a ridiculously early hour, serenaded by the rising sun and surprised that it was almost daylight (northern summers-long daylight hours) I awoke from a sound slumber to eat a small breakfast an discover that I had managed to leave my camera charger in Prague. I boarded the U-Bahn feeling like a genius as I had managed to track down the store to buy a universal charger and had my map in my bag. I arrived at Alexander Platz bought my charger and then hightailed it back to the hostel for lunch and camera charging.
After lunch and a quick check in with the group from the night before (Kieran had only just awoken from being comatose at 1pm) I met another young Australian from Melbourne called Pat and he opted to join me on my walk through Berlin.
 |
| Remains of the Berlin Wall |
We passed the Television Tower; a building steeped in controversy as it was originally hated by the inhabitants of Berlin when it was first built (I can see why-not that attractive), the Lust Gardens, a series of Museums and then finally arriving at at the Brandenburg Tor.
The Tor itself is incredibly impressive. Standing at the end of a square (of which I will detail more in a second-read on!) surrounded by relatively unimpressive buildings, the gate is the centrepiece of Berlin in more ways than one.
After the obligatory photos and comments about people dressed in costumes as photo props Pat and I made our way to the S-Bahn and headed back to the Hostel to make dinner. It was pasta and sauce take 2 as we made our own pasta sauce (don't add too much carrot or the sauce wont be "sauce-like"-lesson learnt) and drank beer and laughed. We were planning on hitting another party that night but nothing had been decided with regards location. Kieran had one idea; the German girls another, and we were invited to join them at their university party.
 |
| Museum |
We made our way once again to somewhere on the other side of town and found the building, noticing that it was nothing brilliant and leaving early. The venue itself was really cool; an underground bar with walls covered in street-art like creations but that lack of people there meant that the atmosphere wasn't as good as it could have been. Had it been full the party would've been amazing, however it wasn't and we left to find another bar fairly quickly. We ended up at this small bar playing Latin music to start, but after a while this changed to (what seemed like) Russian music so we made a graceful exit into the thunderstorm to commence a search for cab, eventually arriving back at the hostel in the wee hours of the morning.
 |
| Memorial |
The next morning after eating breakfast and packing my things, I made my way with Ryan and Jean-Yves to a chicken place (it was amazing, no joke) and then with Pat to the walking tour of Berlin. We started at the Brandenburg Tor, moving along to the Jewish Memorial; from there going to a parking lot under which Hitler's bunker was apparently located. After a quick speech from Grace, our excellent guide, we made our way to the old Luftwaffe Building, now the German Taxation building, and from there, to the remains of the Berlin Wall. We finished the tour by viewing some of the many Museums in Berlin including the memorial to the burnt books of May 10, 1933 and then relaxing in the Lust Gardens as we listened to the story of how the Berlin wall fell.
 |
| Museum and walking group |
As the tour finished, Pat and I made our way to a BierGarden at which we were meeting Ryan and Jean-Yves for a few drinks before I was to leave the city for Hamburg. I made my way to the bus station in time for the bus and settled in for my 3 hour ride to Hamburg where I was to meet Mara.
All things considered, my time in Berlin was way too short. However, I still managed to see some of the most amazing arts of the city and learn more of it's history which was absolutely fantastic. As I sat on the bus I very quickly made up my mind to return. Berlin was a city full of energy; there were buskers in most squares and on just about every train I took, there was a different daily protest and the constant construction meant that the city was full of energy.
As my time in Berlin comes to and end, so does this blog, and I will leave it here until the next instalment.
Until next time,
Love Love!
Clem xx
No comments:
Post a Comment