Donald and I got to Berlin on Monday night after catching two buses, a ferry, two S bahns and a U bahn. Again, people may have doubted our ability to get there (rightfully so) but it only took us a few minutes of being lost before I managed to find the hostel. Of course Lenny had no difficulties when he arrived the next morning but we did it in the dark!
We wandered around the streets covered in funky graffiti and went to a tiki themed Indian restaurant for dinner. They were really surprised that we didn't order any cocktails (as everywhere on that street has 3.50euro cocktails) so they made us a complimentary one anyway.
When Lennox had arrived and we'd had a little catch up, the three of us braved the freezing wind to see the East Side Gallery. We then spent way too long in a supermarket buying a ridiculous amount of food which didn't last until the next day.
That night we had our first Berlin kebab. For 3 euros you get a big triangle of Turkish bread filled with whatever meat that particular shop has. They are the tastiest things and so cheap so we had them for lunch every day for the next week. At our first place, we also got free tea and the boy working there couldn't stop smiling at me so Lennox and Donald keep threatening to sell me to them. But to be honest, if I got a daily kebab out of it, I think it'd be a pretty happy marriage.
We tried to have a kebab from a different place each day, there were about 5 in the same block near where we were staying. Each kebab was slightly different but I managed to get winked at by almost every owner. One day after finishing breakfast, we showered, got ready and went straight to lunch. You think that eating a kebab an hour after finishing breakfast would be enough but it wasn't. Lennox was still hungry so we joked about getting another one. We never saw anyone order two kebabs so we left because we didn't want to look like fatties. And we walked into one across the road.
Trying one from a different place each time only lasted until we found the best one. It was almost always full, and had a steady stream of people coming to get giant plates of kebab goodness. Instead of filling a bit of Turkish bread, a more traditional meal for dinner is doner plate. It's chips covered in tomato sauce and mayo, absolutely covered in shaved meat and salads, smothered in garlic sauce, a chilli one with a bit of spice and another mystery sauce that was delicious. You then get strips of Turkish bread with it and a drink for 5 euros. Why did no one tell me about this? I will have to go to Turkey now. Brisbane kebab places, you need to up your game!
The other thing we were looking forward to in Berlin was the nightlife. We went out for cheap cocktails most nights and you would assume that they would be really watered down but here they did the opposite. Our first night started in Ruby's, a nice Indian man who made deadly cocktails. Lennox bet me the most expensive cocktail in the place if I could eat a mini yellow tomato that came on my first drink (tomato would have to be my least favourite food). I got gypped, all the cocktails were $3.50 but Donald still thinks of it as one of the best moments so it was all worth it. After Ruby had closed the bar, we sat with him and he made us his favourite drink- vodka and lemon juice.
We then headed to a techno club that we'd heard about and somehow found a side entrance without realising and got out of paying the entry fee. It was a cosy little, smoke filled club that resembled a living room.
Another night, after a few cocktails from another bar, we tried to find a big mega club we'd heard about. On the way there, we decided it was too cold and windy to be walking around so we walked into the closest club. It happened to be a gay an lesbian bar but after my haircut which made me look kind of like a little boy, we fit in. A haircut from someone that doesn't speak the same language as you is an interesting experience. She had limited English but it was much better than completely unhelpful German. She told me I "have many, many hairs" which I suppose makes more sense than saying you have thick hair but I giggled nonetheless as she told me that she didn't want to make me cry because of my haircut.
Back to the nightclub, it turned out to be a lot of fun, I could tie my denim jacket (yeah, that happened) around my waist without looking out of place.
We spent most days shopping as Donald needed a jacket and shoes. We never got either of those things but Lennox and I accidentally both ended up with a denim jacket and similar sweaters before we realised what we'd done. I wish I had of taken photos of all the ridiculous jumpers the boys made me try on, I was tempted to buy the bright blue puffy coat and furry orange jumper just to spite them.
Every time we went to do something outside in Berlin we ended up with pretty dodgy weather or bad luck. It took us a couple of days but we finally made it up the tv tower, the highest tower in Germany, but still had pretty low visibility. We skipped most of the tourist things because we did them all when we were here in 2010 but we were asked to be on German tv! I had to refuse because of the whole I don't speak German thing though. Damn, I guess I will have to come home instead of becoming a German superstar.
