Germany - Berlin

Berlin Day 1:
Arrived to the Berlin and then to the Hostel. The surly man at train station had not dampened my mood for the city but I was not particularly looking forward to the 16 bed dorm that awaited me. I left things last minute again - what?! However the hostel was not bad at all! Cool atmosphere yeah. Not so cool were the gaggle of 18 year old Irish girls desperate to go out. A desperation so fierce it was ... strange. I fell asleep at 2:30am to a serious conversation about which Spice Girl each of the girls would be and a declaration that tonight was to be a 'photo' night - the girls proceeded to take sporty action shots. Individually they were nice but they had the need for some dancefloor action so off they went.

(Greeted by THIS GUY!)

(Berlin: Hot and full of WASPS)

Berlin day 2:
I decided to start off my Berlin experience by hitting up the GERMAN HISTORY MUSEUM. I breezed through the uninteresting pre-war era section (because if Australian history is a hazy mess then why spend too much time on another country's?) but found quite an interest in the WW2/holocaust/Berlin wall section. Afterwards I took a quick stroll before meeting Farsan (friend I met in Barcelona). We decided to eat burgers for lunch then spend the afternoon drinking by canals to the south.  Only one person waved at us on a passing boat.

(Persuasive)

(Pretty building there B-town)

(Canalriffic)

Berlin day 3:
Day of main touristy shit. The Brandenburg Gate is not as interesting as thought (or perhaps as exactly as interesting as thought) so instead I opted to nap in the nearby park. Post-nap I make an effort to walk around and discover the currywurst museum. It was inexplicably expensive and no doubt inexplicably uninteresting so it was skipped. I do decide though to have some currywurst for cultural purposes.
Haul ass over to Spreepark in the west to visit an abandoned amusement park. After discovering the entrance was locked, I then discovered two fun Germans with a gleam in their eyes, and together we slip through a hole in the fence. Shortly after however we are discovered by security guard and forced to leave. Trespassing is thrilling!
Finally meet up with a 'friend' who lives nearby and tag along for a car ride around town, a few beers and finally a nice dinner with his family. The strangeness of the situation is barely noticeable - the diner was delicious!

(Brandenburg gate as a knuckleduster)

(It's just cut up sausage y'all)

(Ferris Bueller)

Berlin Day 4:
Found a strange ex-hospital that now hosts artist workshops and doesn't appear to feel the need to lock any doors. Explored for a bit and learned about the urban sprawl of Berlin (so much FREE SPACE) then continue to wander around town in soft alcoholic daze until persuaded by hostel folk to join an 'alternative walking tour' which ends up being really cool. We visit some unique locales along the way until the Berlin wall is reached and it's cool. Really cool. Artists have really done some beautiful works on something that represented so much hate. Although the East side is much cooler than the west side. Met some French Canadians for the first time and am finally forced to acknowledge that there is a vast portion of Canada where people learn French as their first language.

(Your office isn't at the ass end of a Lionel Richie Lion?)

(Deep. Especially those ones on the wall there)

(YAAM - Young African Art Market. The Caribbean in Berlin)

(Please dont feel the need to comment on the shorts. They're amazing obvs.)

Berlin day 5:
Head to flea market somewhere in the city, drink in the bleeding heat until eventually migrating to a bier festival. It never really occurred to me to go to an international bier festival when I had, after all, just come to GERMANY of all places. However the international part of the title may as well have not been there - watched a German man dance to German songs with a German beer and a German sausage. Am further convinced to head to the Berghain - one of the worlds 'best night clubs'. Now listen. The Berghain is guarded at the door by a security guard called Sven and Sven is the last word on who gets in and who doesn't. There is no strict rule that indicates whether he will say yes or no - no particular clothing style that is favoured - no tricks or tips to help - you just have to turn up and see what he says. Wouldn't ordinarily be a problem except the nightclub is pretty far out of the way and people can be waiting for up to 3 hours. I just feel like Berlin is a city which is full of immigrants, squatters, artists, poor people and the like but is still happy to accept them all with open arms. Then there's the Berghain which openly and proudly admits to rejecting people for absolutely no reason. Case in point, many people get rejected because they're not German!

When we arrive there is no queue and even though we all approached individually or in pairs we are ALL (9 of us. foreign.) rejected anyway. The expedited rejection for me though is met with mild satisfaction. I was able to cross off the tourist activity of being rejected from the Berghain without any wait time involved!

(Any opportunity)

(Who wouldn't let these guys in?)

Berlin day 6: 
I realised I missed the holocaust memorial which is literally right next to the Brandenburg gate (curse you nap! Curse you inviting grass!) so instead of walking I decided to catch a local bus to the site. On the way I listened to music on my ipod for the first time in Berlin and it was marvellous. I found fascination in the site and due to lack of company to take photos of me I decide to take a grim selfie instead. The walk home utilised a different route and the breadth of Berlin was noted. Spacious. In the evening I hang out with my hostel friends that I have slowly developed since the Irish girls thankfully disappeared.

(The selfie is on Facebook - this isn'ttttt)

(Let's be friends)

Berlin day 7: 
Catch a bus down to Leipzig for 5 euro (!!!) to meet my friend Lauren who is working/studying there. There's still a lot to see in Berlin but I think this was a pretty good start! Not too shabs. I'm sure I've forgotten shit. Maybe I'll add it in later as I remember.