Feeling at home in Berlin (July 2013)

In July I spent 4 days in Berlin and loved every minute of it. My awesome friend Caitlin hosted me in her beautiful light-filled, high-ceiling-ed apartment, and I had fun exploring the city, absorbing the unique culture and the fascinating history, dancing until dawn, and marveling at the amazing street art around every corner.

First, let’s get in the mood…

“The Berliners are unfriendly and inconsiderate, gruff and self-opinionated, Berlin is repulsive, loud, dirty and grey, construction works and blocked streets where you stop and go. But I feel sorry for those people who can not live here!” -Anneliese Bödecker, born 1932

“You are crazy, my child. You must go to Berlin.” -Franz von Suppe, composer, 1800

“Berlin is a city condemned forever to becoming and never to being.” -Karl Scheffler, author, 1910

“The greatest cultural extravaganza that one could imagine.” -David Bowie on 1970s Berlin

Now that that’s done…

Let’s take a trip to the East Side Gallery, which I loved so much I visited twice in four days. It’s a 1.3km stretch of the former Berlin Wall. 105 different murals were painted in 1990, after the division between East Berlin and West Berlin ended.

Now a couple pictures of trash cans. Why would I take pictures of these? Because they’re awesome and they all have different sayings printed on them. You wish your trash cans were this interesting.

Next, some famous places such as Brandenburg Gate and Alexanderplatz.

Berlin is known for awesome cake…

Obviously it’s also known for its awesome nightclubs. After the wall came down the real estate market in East Berlin was so cheap that developers didn’t want to build anything new. So a bunch of squatters moved in and started dozens of clubs. They were no-frills places with cheap drinks, good DJs, and bodies packed wall to wall. Partying is a marathon here, you wear clothes that you can dance in for 10 hours straight. Very different to the club scene anywhere else, and I much prefer Berlin. Cheap drinks and I can wear my Doc Martens without the bouncer giving me a dirty look? Awesome. (The pictures below are from google images, as I didn’t take any pictures while out dancing.)

I was here during my birthday, and it was an awesome choice. Not only did I get to hang out with my friend Caitlin, I also happened upon an awesome acrobatic street performance. I also have video, but that’s for another post. These guys were so impressive! There were easily 150 people watching them, and they all crowded in to give money afterwards.

And I also bought myself a kickass watch as a birthday present!

I also spent basically the entire day wandering aimlessly without a map, taking pictures of cool things that caught my eye, and eating yummy Indian food.

Later that night we went out for birthday drinks.

What else did I see in Berlin?

A fashion photo shoot:

An amazing street performer that sang his own songs. It was mesmerizing, I wanted to stay all day.

And a very historic government building.

I felt so at home in Berlin. It is an amazing city filled with so much life. I had an absolutely wonderful time and I plan to return sometime this year (as of yet I haven’t visited the same city twice). After my 4 fun days in Berlin I took a night train to Copenhagen, Denmark. What a great way to travel! No daylight hours wasted on a train. I simply fell asleep in Berlin and woke up in Copenhagen.