Ahh, Berlin. A city that was once divided and is instead filled with a diversity fairly hard to find anywhere else.
Before I begin my long descriptive blog on the city, I think it's worth noting how significant having friends in different countries is. It's interesting getting an insight into a city from a resident's point of view, but quite often it's their first time taking in the sights as well. It's great being able to discover other things with other people, not to mention lean on them when I'm flung a question from left field in an unfamiliar language.
One such person who practically made a world of difference to my trip was somebody I've known for almost 10 years. In 2005 I met Monika Eisenmann for the first time as an exchange student in sixth form at Taita College. Originally from a small town in the north of Germany, Monika has since moved two the grand city of Berlin, where she's finishing her Masters studies in mathematics.
When I say my friends are smart, I'm not kidding ;)
Anyway, back to Berlin. After an interesting and fun filled night in Prague I was gagging for some sleep on the four-hour trip from Prague to Berlin. Having bolted onto a coach specifically filled with reserved seats, myself and another sneaky person, Heidi, waited with baited breath down the line to see if we would have to move for the eventual seat holder to take their rightful place. They didn't arrive.
And so began a four hour trip that featured discussion on my reasons for visiting Europe at 25, why I had chosen the countries I had and what I was hoping to get out of my trip. That took all of 30 minutes before we also discussed her background. Heidi, probably in her mid sixties, has travelled to Asia three times and at one stage was the Europe director at one of Berlin's museums for around 20 years. She has also travelled around Europe, but only in her later years after working at a Berlin university for some 20 years. She got her first job at 28.
It must seem worlds away. She was fascinated at my decision to travel to Europe at such a young age and gave me a few tips, ones that I would eventually pass on to Moni.
The timing of my arrival into Berlin couldn't have been any better. With a dead iPad and dead phone, I couldn't contact Monika - rather important given my train was delayed by an hour. Thankfully, however, she was there waiting and our first stop was the Berlin beer festival. Superb!
The 18th running of the event was a never-ending road filled with beer, food and semi-drunken debauchery. Groups wore costumes - lederhosen, matching t shirts, stormtrooper outfits - and it was all in good fun. There were at least 100 varieties of beer, but not one standard Kiwi brew! What made things worse was that Fosters, the Aussie stuff, was there probably representing Aus Zealand again. Good to see us dominating the CommGames too, might I add.
I got to my hostel, the Generator Hostel, at around midnight. It had been a cruisy first day, but it was also about to be my first insight into hostel life.
Three hours sleep later, I was back up and running for day two. Sightseeing aplenty in the morning - the Brandenburg Tor, the Reichstag, the TV Tower, it was all incredible. Having so many historical buildings in one particular area of town left my asking myself two questions - how long did they all take to erect, and more poignantly, how many more buildings would've been around had there not been such violent bombings.
Moni and I then cruised along to a site where locals and tourists sit on a grass embankment filled with deck chairs and watched the boats in the Schprit waddle on by with the Berlin HBf in the background. One of the most relaxing segments of the trip so far! We then went along to Arena Badeschiff and relaxed in a pool that sat over a lake. I'm not making this up!
But I think my favourite day was my third day in this colourful city. Lunch on the 20th floor of Monika's university that took in the Berlin skyline was excellent. First dig at pea soup, too. Not bad at all.
We then took a fast train to Potsdam where we took in the spectacular Neues Palais and Sans Souci Castle. The Palais was the first castle I had seen up close, and the audio tour was mega interesting. Can finally tick off seeing an actual castle. Yeow!
There was one moment which has easily been one of the strangest moments so far. Moni and I were walking through what seemed to be a homeless enclosure given the state of the grounds, the smell - and the homeless people. Suddenly we stumbled upon a building and a few people standing outside waiting to go in. Turns out it was a nightclub and those people were waiting to go back inside - at midday. The club was still going. Nutty really. Moni said they'd have to be on drugs to power through the night. I agreed.
Have tried a few German things here. Doner kebabs were brilliant, as was the Berliner (donut). Gave sauerkraut a miss unfortunately but did dive into some currywurst and a bretzel.
The transport system in Berlin initially looked like a three year old child's best scribbling effort, but after a day or two I finally figured it all out. Positive signs for future travellers!
As for the Berlin people, again I stress that my experience was completely different because I had someone there who I was friends with. But in the times I was by myself I didn't exactly find the service friendly. Maybe it was because I looked like a tourist or looked pretty sleep-deprived. Regardless, I would like to think the Berliners I encountered were, how you say - efficient.
That being said, it was hard to tell who actually was from Berlin and who wasn't. The international flavour of the city is as colourful as the wide varieties of hairstyles in display. Green Mohawks, brick red-coloured flowing hair and blue dos that would make any anime fan tip their hat. It certainly seems like a population liberated by the downing of the wall.
Potsdamer Platz is certainly a suburb to watch out for. Impressive high rise buildings and the superbly lit Sony Centre building left me feeling like I was leaving Berlin on a high note. And having presented a pounamu necklace and a final hug , I chugged back along the route I had practiced for the last three days. Alexanderplatz - Ostkreuz - Landsberger Allee.
Berlin isn't my only German stop. I'm en route to Cologne as we speak, where I'll spend a night. I'm also in Frankfurt for one night en route to Switzerland. I'll blog those two nights individually.
By the time most of you read this, I would've been travelling for just about a week. It's been one heck of a journey, and there's still plenty to discover.
Can't wait to share even more with you as the days unfold.
Auf wiedersein,
Matiu
ITINERARY: (all days are in local time)
August 5 - Cologne
August 6-9 - Belgium
August 10 - Frankfurt
August 11-15 - Switzerland
August 16-21 - Italy
August 22-25 - Mallorca
August 26-28 - Paris
August 29 - Auckland!
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