I'm not sure after this week of lone travelling that I have fully come back to Denmark. I have left behind in Berlin my good vibes, my dance moves, and my dignity. The city deserves them. The city deserve me. Going to Berlin was quite literally the best decision. I was finally able to fulfill my long-lived dream to experience it. And by oh boy I did. It engrossed me in it, it hugged me so tight I didn't want to let go, it swiftly pushed me through its streets, it lead me to dark corners under the earth, it came from behind and covered my eyes.
Unlike Amsterdam, which is centrally planned and densely small, Berlin is big and extensive. From one neighborhood to the other, the city unfolds itself in so many renditions, environments, people, and ideas. Everything has a historical undertone. Everything. It is no myth, the war really did happen, and Berlin is real. I was fascinated.
Unlike Amsterdam, which is centrally planned and densely small, Berlin is big and extensive. From one neighborhood to the other, the city unfolds itself in so many renditions, environments, people, and ideas. Everything has a historical undertone. Everything. It is no myth, the war really did happen, and Berlin is real. I was fascinated.
The first day there I woke real early and headed out. There are so many things in Berlin to see that are so far apart that experiencing the city becomes like a tackling an exciting challenge. With the war being such a relevant part of the make-up of the city you can quite literally describe anything there with pre-war/post-war superlatives. Nothing is randomly placed, everything has been through historical manhandle. We hear it all the time. Germany is the political wunderkind, its seamless economic recovery a lesson for us all. No one is unemployed. They all work furiously. Rosy-cheeked children frolic in forests without a hoodie or tracksuit in sight. And then there is Berlin, which is impossible to pigeon-hole. Whereas in many German cities you expect to find the pavements immaculate and marshalled by civil servants wearing pressed white shirts and Colgate smiles. Here there is an eerie lack of state officials and more graffiti than under all of Britain’s flyovers put together. And at the same time nocturnal Berlin operates on a time frame all of its own. Most nights I headed out to clubs at 2am and on the weekends the U-Bahn runs round the clock to accommodate early morning revellers. I have no idea how this city works so well. What I do know is that it’s properly grown-up. It's grimy, It's hip, it's a place for memories, lost ones and ones made. The West is rich with beautiful renovated architecture, charming neighborhoods and great boutique life. Cafe's appropriate street corners, people walk their dogs, it's a place you want to go get lost in the playgrounds. The East is rich with an eclectic aesthetic. Graffiti and the remnants of ripped and new posters dominate the landscape. Hip bars and cafes lure you in in a way that a low lit portal might and sleazy corners will.
Traveling alone meant that it gave me all the time in the world to see Berlin and see it well. I walked through Mitte the first day there, the part of the city that could be considered the center. From Unter Den Linden to the Brandenburger Gate and Museum Island, you can discover vast sweeps of history here. But Mitte is only a small segment of this sprawling city, which is carved up by rivers and canals, and fringed with lakes and forest. Here is what I saw;
Traveling alone meant that it gave me all the time in the world to see Berlin and see it well. I walked through Mitte the first day there, the part of the city that could be considered the center. From Unter Den Linden to the Brandenburger Gate and Museum Island, you can discover vast sweeps of history here. But Mitte is only a small segment of this sprawling city, which is carved up by rivers and canals, and fringed with lakes and forest. Here is what I saw;
It was truly a beautiful day. Everything about the likability of the city met in between the land under my feet and the blue sky above me. I saw a lot of tourists, sat on the big green square and sketched, bought pretzels, and stopped to stare at the mix of architectural styles. The city is almost run by the young and hip, its framework is a progressive directive where people open up, nothing is extremely showy, and its not trying to be something else than a city. I praise it as beautiful and feasible but the city does nothing to hid its "ugly" sides. The opposite is true, it embraces them.
One of my favorite parts about Berlin is that much like Copenhagen, it really values the power of its open spaces. As soon as the sun started shining the right way, tables, chairs, and any suitable household object were brought outside for people's enjoyment. This is a city that is not afraid to come out into the urban landscape as it is to go into underground parties. It's a nice balance. My favorite spot was the TierGarden. Quite possibly the Central Park of Berlin, this park drew me in from the minute I crossed the Brandenburger Tor to reach it. I spent some time here. I bought things at the grocery store, had a picnic and explored. Near here is where the Holocaust Memorial is too. Which as much as a tourist cliche it is to see it, it is definitely a memorable stop. Going inside the matrix of concrete blocks is eerie if not intriguing. When you are walking you don't know just who is in the other corner approaching you. You cross each block to form new purposes and encounter meaning in the sameness of form.
One of my favorite parts about Berlin is that much like Copenhagen, it really values the power of its open spaces. As soon as the sun started shining the right way, tables, chairs, and any suitable household object were brought outside for people's enjoyment. This is a city that is not afraid to come out into the urban landscape as it is to go into underground parties. It's a nice balance. My favorite spot was the TierGarden. Quite possibly the Central Park of Berlin, this park drew me in from the minute I crossed the Brandenburger Tor to reach it. I spent some time here. I bought things at the grocery store, had a picnic and explored. Near here is where the Holocaust Memorial is too. Which as much as a tourist cliche it is to see it, it is definitely a memorable stop. Going inside the matrix of concrete blocks is eerie if not intriguing. When you are walking you don't know just who is in the other corner approaching you. You cross each block to form new purposes and encounter meaning in the sameness of form.
Nighttime was a completely different story. I went out nearly every day I spent in Berlin. And given that I was alone and visiting, Berlin nightlife really did it. The first night there was the most memorable. I went out to a dance party. Before going I had spent some time at my hostel's bar eating dinner where is was as easy as peasy to pick conversations with fellow travelers. I met many people from many parts of the world, each with a new story to tell or a new joke to crack . I heard about something about a dance club and decided to venture there for the night. Inside was dark, corners were tricky and the bars had an overall "dirty" vibe. With the background music of funky deep house dance music and the buzzing of people, I felt really ready for Berlin. It didn't take too long before I was being dragged to the dance floor by strangers. The rest was history. I danced the night away like I never had. Berlin is uncensored. It is raw. People's soul are so open and given. Whenever I would lock moves with someone else they would embrace it. No one was out to get any one else. Everyone's enjoyment was at stake. Instead was an atmosphere of fun: somewhere to be what you wanted to be. I decided to be dancing queen, duh. Many drinks later, weird encounters in the stalls, music going directly to my soul and the warm embrace of strangers lips and I was ready for a break. I went and asked the bartender for the time and he said "its 8:30 am". How?!?! Where had time gone? I was definitely in the funnest episode of the Twilight Zone I had ever experienced. No one was going anywhere, the music was still playing as loudly as ever, and my smile was still on my face. Soon I came to terms that I must go back, and I did. I gave it my all, and I'm not even mad about it!
Some of the next nights I went bar hoping in East Berlin. The amount of hip bars is pretty cool too. So cool vibes were shared that I was starting to think that that was the currency there! One of the nights I was in the same bar as Zachary Quinto, another I was staring at the pink fur plastered on all the walls, another place I sat over a beer and candles and another was right outside under a bridge. Every place as fresh as the next, every experience as cool as the next one. Never fancy bars with over the top bottle service. Never the Top 100 music put on a loop. Never the same graffiti on the walls.
Another aspect I'm really into about Berlin is how it has managed to thrive a extensive repurposing revolution: a former Nazi bunker and communist power plant are transformed into iconic monuments of 'underground culture.' That is the norm. Berlin turns horror into beauty. While in many other cities architectural styles can change, in Berlin the meaning of them changes. Bunker turned gallery, Power Plant turned the best club in the world, Nazi prison turned huge artist collective, old brewery turned technology hub, old church turned memorial, war shelter turned horror house, for example. It's incredible. It's a cool way to build on history. I would stumble into these places and would look at them with wonder at to what stories they could tell if they could talk! One night when I was heading out to the East Berlin I got off one of the stations and there was quite literally a party there. And I'm not trying to say that to describe the fact that it was lively with people. It was actually a party. There was a make-shift DJ and a crowd of people dancing. There, in the metro stop. Berlin doesn't follow any guidelines.
Some of the next nights I went bar hoping in East Berlin. The amount of hip bars is pretty cool too. So cool vibes were shared that I was starting to think that that was the currency there! One of the nights I was in the same bar as Zachary Quinto, another I was staring at the pink fur plastered on all the walls, another place I sat over a beer and candles and another was right outside under a bridge. Every place as fresh as the next, every experience as cool as the next one. Never fancy bars with over the top bottle service. Never the Top 100 music put on a loop. Never the same graffiti on the walls.
Another aspect I'm really into about Berlin is how it has managed to thrive a extensive repurposing revolution: a former Nazi bunker and communist power plant are transformed into iconic monuments of 'underground culture.' That is the norm. Berlin turns horror into beauty. While in many other cities architectural styles can change, in Berlin the meaning of them changes. Bunker turned gallery, Power Plant turned the best club in the world, Nazi prison turned huge artist collective, old brewery turned technology hub, old church turned memorial, war shelter turned horror house, for example. It's incredible. It's a cool way to build on history. I would stumble into these places and would look at them with wonder at to what stories they could tell if they could talk! One night when I was heading out to the East Berlin I got off one of the stations and there was quite literally a party there. And I'm not trying to say that to describe the fact that it was lively with people. It was actually a party. There was a make-shift DJ and a crowd of people dancing. There, in the metro stop. Berlin doesn't follow any guidelines.
I could truly go on and on into all the things I saw, like Humboldt University, The needle tower, the French Dom, the Poseidon Fountain, a park, the mall, a mosque, countless public art, the prostitutes, the market, the cheap beer, the City Hall, the concert hall. I did so much all on my own!
And for the sake of highlighting the principle of 'Getting Lost,' it is also relevant to point out what happened to me when I tried to come back to Copenhagen after my week long travel. When I had come to terms with the wonderful week I had just had, Germany goes "wait a minute, where do you think you are going?!" Here is the account:
After a missed flight from Amsterdam to Berlin and hopping in the wrong train headed to Utrecht, I was completely determined to make it to my train on time, redeem myself and show everyone I am actually a civil and level-headed human being. Since I am a cheapstake, my booked trip back to Copenhagen involved 3 train changes, a ferry, and a long trip through northern Germany. No big deal, I thought, one train here, another train there, what can go wrong. Berlin to Büchen, Büchen to Lübeck, and Lübeck to Copenhagen. That's what my train ticket read. Clear and direct.....Well it turns out that it wasn't so direct and that Lübeck Hochschulstadtteil and Lübeck Hauptbahnhof are actually two different stations. aka I got off in the connecting wrong station!
I got off at Lübeck Hochschulstadtteil which quite literally looked like the middle of no where. Crops of whatever they grown in Germany (potatoes probably, on one side, and a couple of buildings at the other). At this point it is Sunday late afternoon, everything is closed, and I had absolutely 0 euros (sorry for party rocking). I got off the platform a little confused as to why 1. no one else was getting off and 2. where was the rest of the station. By the time it clicked to me that maybe, just maybe, this wasn't the right stop the doors were closed and the train was well on its way toward a better place... without me. I thought to myself "maybe it's underground or something, don't give up the hope." So I walked around to face the dirty truth, I had missed the train and I had missed my brain. I saw this one guy who had gotten off and decided to follow him (which in retrospect sounds real creepy but whatever desperate times for desperate measures). I approached him out of nowhere and asked him to help him; I gave him my ticket to show him the mistake I made and he just smiled at me. He was a handsome guy, young, able-bodied, and unlike me appeared to have it together. He told me to grab a bus to the central station so we chatted and walked to the bus station, he made me lose track of my problem. He was so charming. Soon I realized that I had no money, so I don't know why I had walked all the way to the bus station after all. After pretty much begging the guy for money he said he would pay for me and I was feeling a combination of embarrassed and thankful. I kept saying thank you, and smiling at him. He said not to worry. Where ever he is (I didn't even ask him his name) I know he will become the best doctor and will have the greatest life. I get to the right station, step off the bus and a bug flied into my eye. literally, it flies into my eye. At this point I'm blind, rushing to make it to the train, carrying my big bag, and in a city I have never been. I get to the platform searching for my train, bingo the guy had kept it with him after I had shown him my mistake. Long story short I obviously missed the train and had to buy another ticket. Meanwhile I was stuck in the city of Lübeck for 5 hours, here it is:
And for the sake of highlighting the principle of 'Getting Lost,' it is also relevant to point out what happened to me when I tried to come back to Copenhagen after my week long travel. When I had come to terms with the wonderful week I had just had, Germany goes "wait a minute, where do you think you are going?!" Here is the account:
After a missed flight from Amsterdam to Berlin and hopping in the wrong train headed to Utrecht, I was completely determined to make it to my train on time, redeem myself and show everyone I am actually a civil and level-headed human being. Since I am a cheapstake, my booked trip back to Copenhagen involved 3 train changes, a ferry, and a long trip through northern Germany. No big deal, I thought, one train here, another train there, what can go wrong. Berlin to Büchen, Büchen to Lübeck, and Lübeck to Copenhagen. That's what my train ticket read. Clear and direct.....Well it turns out that it wasn't so direct and that Lübeck Hochschulstadtteil and Lübeck Hauptbahnhof are actually two different stations. aka I got off in the connecting wrong station!
I got off at Lübeck Hochschulstadtteil which quite literally looked like the middle of no where. Crops of whatever they grown in Germany (potatoes probably, on one side, and a couple of buildings at the other). At this point it is Sunday late afternoon, everything is closed, and I had absolutely 0 euros (sorry for party rocking). I got off the platform a little confused as to why 1. no one else was getting off and 2. where was the rest of the station. By the time it clicked to me that maybe, just maybe, this wasn't the right stop the doors were closed and the train was well on its way toward a better place... without me. I thought to myself "maybe it's underground or something, don't give up the hope." So I walked around to face the dirty truth, I had missed the train and I had missed my brain. I saw this one guy who had gotten off and decided to follow him (which in retrospect sounds real creepy but whatever desperate times for desperate measures). I approached him out of nowhere and asked him to help him; I gave him my ticket to show him the mistake I made and he just smiled at me. He was a handsome guy, young, able-bodied, and unlike me appeared to have it together. He told me to grab a bus to the central station so we chatted and walked to the bus station, he made me lose track of my problem. He was so charming. Soon I realized that I had no money, so I don't know why I had walked all the way to the bus station after all. After pretty much begging the guy for money he said he would pay for me and I was feeling a combination of embarrassed and thankful. I kept saying thank you, and smiling at him. He said not to worry. Where ever he is (I didn't even ask him his name) I know he will become the best doctor and will have the greatest life. I get to the right station, step off the bus and a bug flied into my eye. literally, it flies into my eye. At this point I'm blind, rushing to make it to the train, carrying my big bag, and in a city I have never been. I get to the platform searching for my train, bingo the guy had kept it with him after I had shown him my mistake. Long story short I obviously missed the train and had to buy another ticket. Meanwhile I was stuck in the city of Lübeck for 5 hours, here it is:
It made it back do Copenhagen just fine. The adventure I had was worth it. Hopefully Germany doesn't forget me because I will definitely be back soon!