...a word that chimes in your chest like a bell. Berlin, a place so bright it pulls down the stars and wears them around it's neck."
As you may be able to guess, someone's been on vay-cay. Knowing nothing about Berlin we arrived on thursday with no awareness of the time, and not a clue where we were going. After standing like Joey and Chandler with the map rotating like a pig on a spit in our hands we finally made it to our amazing hotel - think Marie Antoinette meets The Graduate... Sounds weird I know.
That night saw the launch of the third issue of the bi-annual style book that is Twin Magazine. Bar Soju played host in the Kreuzberg district and had a definite 'east' vibe but maintained the city's unusual feel of emptiness, apart from the club which was packed and smokey - which was a treat as going outside in this weather to indulge in one's dirty habit is becoming more and more tedious/treacherous. There was karaoke going in the loo as well as free drinks - natch; all in all a good night even though the following morning was slightly marred by the after effects.
Friday, despite the painful start, was our main day to do 'tourist' stuff, see the sights, eat the schniztel etc. After accidentally ordering what appeared to a chicken nugget baguette for brekkie, we ventured out in search of nice parks and iconic structures. After a brief wander past the zoo which was up the road from where we were staying, we waved at an elephant and jumped on a bus hoping to find the Holocaust Memorial, or as I knew it: "the thing with all the concrete bits sticking up". Not a great way to garner useful directions from the natives really. Finding this place seemed harder than locating Nemo, yet find it we did after a couple of hours walking pretty much everywhere apart from around the corner where it actually was; and as much as I'm 'down' with 'street art' and stuff - it wasn't exactly helpful.
The rest of the day passed in a lovely fashion, bar me ordering what pretty much amounted to a milk slush puppy. Travelling back the next morning was not so fun as all the sweet freebies we got in the goody bags from the party were disposed of before our eyes at the airport: Bumble and Bumble hair stuff included. The creme de la creme of bastard transport staff behaviour came in the form of ripping out the inside of my treasured Vintage Zippo lighter which I got for my birthday a few weeks ago, even though it was fine to take there. So arrived back in England feeling a little violated - but don't worry Berlin, Ich liebe dich noch immer.
