Berlin, Germany
What strikes me most in my general impression of taking the train in Germany is how an industrious country Germany really is. It´s a fucking machinery where people move automatically. Very efficient and a bit bothersome. One of the pros/cons of interrailing is the prospect of just jumping on any train without worrying about reservation. Just find a seat and sit down. In Germany, this is hard to put in effect. Even in a next to empty train-car people will make a bit of a fuzz if you are in the place they have reserved. We´re talking about grabbing hold of a conductor instead the direct approach. Then you move and wait in suspense in between stations. No sleep for tired Norwegians.
After a very long trainride, we arrived in Berlin. Both of us really looking forward to a good stay, having high expectations. Almost immediately it got shot down, first thing we did and biggest mistake was to go to the tourist info to book our accommodation. The dude behind the counter was a real asshole and we ended up feeling like we´d been had. It amounted to booking three nights at a pension we really did not want to stay at, since we had booked it the same day it proved impossible to get a cancellation. Next big crack in our budget, to top it off, the asshole managed to sell us a 72 hour transportation ticket that we barely used. had we reserved at a hostel beforehand, we would´ve saved more than a hundred euros. If you haven´t already guessed it, it put a pretty big dampener on things and almost ruined Berlin for us.
We tried to suck it up and drown our sorrows and our misery.
Next day....
Always in the search for a more than excellent cup of coffee, we headed out into the unknown and thanks to google maps located Bonanza Coffee Heroes. Hopes high, anticipation equally. I was not disappointed, rather impressed really. Nothing but good things to say. Heres a summary in key-words (impressions linear from start to finish): Nice place, Hip-looking people outside, Hearing words in english, nice looking espresso machine, ooh a small roaster, friendly barista, wheres the black coffee?, ethiopian, nice, taking pictures, chit-chat, smells good, sit down, draw some, nice coffee, espresso time, not bad, new barista, getting directions, nice neighborhood, and off we go. Thanks for the great coffee! why settle for mediocracy? Quality focused coffee shops giving you great experiences are starting to pop up. Soon we might be able to drink good coffee in all cities, well maybe not yet. The prospect has me a little bit aroused tho. mmm.. Coffee.
Next on to shopping/ browsing and gallery hopping in the Mitte district. Soo much good stuff, this is where it´s happening. We definately felt the aftermath of the big tradeshows (Bright, Bread and Butter). Even a CTRL pop-up store.
Lunch was up, I ate the gazpacho an Hilde Marie had a piece of Veggie lasagna. so good. The place was in the backyard right around the corner from the Circleculture gallery.My one objective in Berlin was to pick up the newest issue of Lodown magazine, such an easy task and a delightful one as well. We strolled right into a magazine/bookstore filled with all sorts of Art/design/Culture-related magazines, I cannot remember the name of it, but still very inspiring. It could´ve meant some more kilos in the backpack, but like a pro I just picked up my copy of Lodown.
Shopping, we got an invite for a vice party the same night, we thought hey, cool/free booze. We browsed some more, then headed back to our meagre accommodation to freshen up. Right off Alexanderplatz, it shouldn´t have been too hard to find. We managed to spend an hour and half trying to locate it! Amateurs. Anyway, we found it. Taking the elevator all the way up, 15 stories or so, the place was located on the friggin´rooftop. nice place, with a nice view of the atomic clock- tower thing at Alexanderplatz. Place was packed, neither the music or the mural in progress had me enthused. No free drinks either, I ended up paying 4 euros for a 33cl bottle of Carlsberg! Probably the most expensive beer on our trip. A Danish beer! In Berlin! At a Vice party! It wasn´t even a Pint! Something is wrong with the world, we can´t just accept it.
Vice... your party sucked!
Next morning we tried to sneak out to go about our business. Suddenly, out of nowhere pops this old really friendly Korean guy (Apparently he was the owner of the before mentioned establishment.) he wouldn´t let us leave until he had served us a cup of coffee, truly insisting upon it. We came to love this charming Korean geezer who didn´t know a word of english and took our picture. It´s weird how a thing like that can turn your impressions all the way around. (service, service). This day went about with a lot of the same content as the previous. One major difference was walking all the way around Tierpark (the BIG city park) trying to find a zoo that din´t exist. (apparently the name of the zoo was Tiergarten) Our mistake. Oh, and we also did some touristy things: Berlin wall, Checkpoint Charlie and Topography of terror. We had indian for dinner and went to bed to get up early next morning.
Away we go to... (guess what´s next)
