After having lived in Europe for close to one year, I finally made it to Berlin. I had been wanting to go there for quite some time. I always read fashion blogs (mostly "urban" style fashion) and Berlin always in mentioned. Well, alas, I made it.
We arrived at around 10 pm on Friday night. On the bus ride from the airport to downtown, I noticed instantly how the architecture and city layout was different from the other cities in Europe to which I've been. The buildings are huge and very square. The streets are wide. There seemed to be only apartment buildings and no houses. We rode on the bus and eventually made it to Alexanderplatz, one of the main areas of Berlin. From there, we hopped on the subway and made it to the hostel. We dropped off our belongings, met up with friend who was joining us on the adventure for the weekend, and together we headed out to enjoy Berlin on a Friday night. We walked back towards the direction of Alexanderplotz. There were a lot of people out and about, but the city is so spatially large that it seemed empty. We were in search of a bar/club called Weekend that all of our German friends had recommended. We walked around for a bit, but didn't find it. We finally asked someone, and they pointed in the direction of one of the skyscrapers with a large, neon lit sign that said Sharp (the brand). We had figured that it was an office building. In Boston, you wouldn't ever find a club in the State Street building.. but I guess I'm not in Boston anymore. We get to the 20 story building and walk right past some bouncers and into the lobby. We paid our fee, and then were ushered towards the elevator. We had no idea where to go. Just at that moment, the elevator opened and there was a bouncer standing inside to escort everyone up and down to and from the club. Up the elevator we went until we reached the 15th floor. The elevator doors open and heavy bass and rhythm fills our ears. We walk into the club, and countless people are dancing and drinking. The entire ceiling is covered in lights that are synchronized with the beat of the music. There was a big dance-floor, and raised double layer bench-like structures that stretched on every wall of the room. We hung out there for a little, trying to soak up the overall vibe of the club. We then found another door that lead to a staircase. People were walking up and down, so we decided to follow suit. We climbed three or four floors and arrived to a massive rooftop patio. There were couches and ottomans which people lounged on, draping themselves in the blankets that were provided. There was a bar that stretched almost the entire length of the side of the building. We each got a drink, and made our way towards the glass barriers that encompassed the entire rooftop. It was an incredible view of the city on a perfect, clear night. After our drink, we headed back downstairs to dance.. and enjoy another drink. The music was great, and it was easy to get lost in the beat. I very quickly noticed the German boys. Not only did they have absolutely incredible style, but they were so tall. I've come to realize that I haven't been around tall guys in quite some time. In general, French guys are short.. my height or shorter. It was just one of those funny things that caught me a bit off guard... that and the sea of blond hair that bobbed along to the music. Anyways, we had a great time at the club, and would highly recommend it to anyone.
We walked back to the hostel. Just before arriving there, I noticed something very peculiar. Just across from our hostel, there was a lot. It didn't look vacant, but there weren't any buildings in it either. There was, however, some sort of structure. It took me some time to figure out what it was, and why light was coming out, but as soon as I did, Berlin quickly became one of the coolest places ever. It was three cargo bodies (those massive, mega, metal boxes that are on tractor-trailers and 18 wheelers) that were stacked on top of each other. On one side, the metal had been removed and replaced with a giant giant piece of glass or plastic to act as a window. On the other side, within the fences of the lot, you could see this giant metal structure and staircases leading to each of the three apartments. It was the coolest thing I've seen. Talk about recycling!
The next day we awoke and got ready. It was beautiful and sunny outside- a perfect day for exploring a fantastic city. We walked back to Alexanderplatz to catch the subway to Potsdamer Platz, an area of town with an impressive history. At the end of WW2, every single building had suffered significant damage/was destoryed. Then, the square was literally divided in two with the construction of the Berlin wall. Now it is a beautiful, clean square surrounded by impressive buildings and expensive hotels. In the square, there were several enormous pillars with round mirrors on the top, angled down. Pretty cool. We then went into a giant, red brick skyscraper. This building has the fastest elevator in Europe. We paid an entrance fee, and then went on a little elevator ride. We went up 100 meters to the 24th floor in only 11 seconds. It was crazy. We made it to the top floor and outside, where there was a sort of mini museum that went around the entire circumference of the building. The history of the square was fascinating. We had a 360 degree view of Berlin, and were able to spot all of the attractions that we wanted to see. After our panoramic viewing, we rocketed back down in the elevator to the ground level and headed towards the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag (the German parliament building that was used so famously in Nazi propaganda). On the walk there, we passed by an incredible Holocaust memorial of different sized concrete blocks that looked similar to coffins but had varying heights. We stopped alongside a tour group and learned this interesting piece of information:
Shortly after the creation of this memorial, there was a lot of neo-Nazi graffiti sprayed all over the concrete blocks. They managed to get it all off, and then sprayed each of the blocks to make them graffiti resistant. This was quite expensive, but they city needed to protect the monument. They got about half way done spraying all of the concrete blocks, when it was leaked out that the chemical company that produced this protective spray was the same company that produced and supplied Zyklon B which was the poisonous gas used to exterminate the Jews during the Holocaust. Outrageous, right? The city couldn't throw away the blocks that were already sprayed because it would have cost millions upon millions of dollars that they couldn't afford. The Jewish community discussed it for a while and I guess now the same company still sprays the protective spray once a year for basically no cost if not for free. There's a lot of scandal involved with the story, and I think there is more to it than what I wrote.
After seeing the Brandenburg Gate, we walked to have some lunch. I had some pretty good sushi. Yum! Afterwards, we walked to see the Reichstag. We didn't go inside, but the outside was hauntingly impressive. From there, we walked down towards the river and alongside it. We then entered the Berlin train station which is by far the largest station I've ever seen. We hopped on a train and headed over to the East Side Gallery. The East Side Gallery is not your typical gallery. It is a huge stretch of the Berlin Wall that is covered with incredible murals and art. It's amazing to think that something so significant in history is so incredibly relevant. Granted, I was too young to remember the fall of the Wall, but it is still so so recent. We admired the wall for a while, and then found an open gate. We walked through it and onto the other side which ran literally along the river. There was snack shops and restaurants, and the entire surface of the ground was covered in beach sand. Lounge/jazz music played at the perfect volume over the loud speakers. Beach chairs were set up everywhere. We made our way across the sand, found some lounge chairs, and relaxed for a little while. It was so ironic to think of what I was doing at the time, whereas 20 years ago people were dreaming about the demise of the wall behind me that I so easily walked across. After a while, we headed back towards the train to go to see Checkpoint Charlie. I got into a bit of a verbal tiff with two Germans that were dressed in American uniform and holding American flags, attempting to lure in tourists and charge a few Euros to have their pictures taken. They said that Americans were heartless and were killing everyone in Afghanistan, and that the country is stupid. And then they made fun of Bush. Of course, Bush wasn't the brightest bulb, but he's not even the president anymore! And to call the Americans heartless because the US army is currently in Afghanistan is pretty hypocritical considering the extent to which the history of their country and the treatment of their own people was beyond atrocious.All I'm saying is, you can't talk shit about my country if you aren't even from there, you are uniformed, your dressed up in US Military uniforms AND holding an American flag. There's a time and a place for a friendly political discussion... and that wasn't it... nor was it friendly. That kind of ruined my experience at Checkpoint Charlie. After that, we walked to the Jewish museum which was incredible! It was a very strange experience for me because I kept thinking... imagine what people would have thought about this 70 years ago. It would never have happened! There was one room in memorial of people who were killed in the Holocaust. It's hard to explain it, but there were thousands of steel shapes with faces cut out covering the entire floor. When you walked across them, the clinking of metal was amplified by the shape and material of the walls, and creating a chilling melody. It was a very emotional experience for me.
After a moving experience at the museum of Judaism, we headed back to the hostel for a much needed nap. We woke about an hour or so later, got dressed, and headed out. We stopped at a great Korean restaurant called Yam Yam. I had amaaaazing dumplings, some spicy kimchi, and noodles. After filling our churning stomachs to the brim, we made our way to Hackescher Markt, an area brimming with nightlife. We met up with an Australian girl who graduated from our program last year, and her boyfriend. They were incredibly nice and we had a great time. We met them at this bar that had quite an interesting terrace set-up. There were countless tables, and around the periphery were these individual hammock-like, wicker basket seats. It was like a little cocoon that you could sit in and swing a little bit. It was a great concept, and as a huge lover of hammocks, I was in heaven. We had ourselves a nice cocktail, and then decided to go to another bar. We walked a little bit, and learned something quite interesting while walking. Something caught my eye. I saw bright pink pleather boots with clear platforms, fishnets, and then booty shorts. Low and behold, we had come across a hooker. I started to look at my surroundings, and the area was teaming with them. As it turns out, prostitution is legal in Germany. Who knew? So, we walked to another bar for round two. The interior was decorated with old velor couches, art deco lamps, and assorted posters that I won't describe for the sake of keeping this PG. We left the bar to head to the club. We piled in a taxi, and headed towards the other side of town. The drive itself was worth it, as we were able to get a taste of what Berlin nightlife would be like. There were bars and clubs everywhere. After driving alongside the Berlin Wall for a while, we arrived at our destination. This club was supposed to be one of the best in the city. Apparently, that is a well known fact, as the line stretched for at least (note that I am awful at estimating distances) a half a mile. I had never seen anything like it. It would take about 2 hours of waiting to even get into the club. Obviously none of us wanted to do that, so we told the driver to continue on to a different club. We looped around from where we had just driven alongside the Wall and came to a stop. There were taxis waiting there, and also a line of people against the Wall. The club was literally a part of the Berlin Wall. The music blared and the laser lights flashed just on the other side of where we stood.We waited in line for a while, inching slowly but surely to the entrance. Once at the entrance, the bouncer, a thin short haired woman wearing a top hat and plaid pants, pointed at us and told us to keep moving. Rejected. I have no reason why we were turned away. Evidently that sort of thing happens all the time. The Australian and her German boyfriend (from Berlin) had one more place for us to try out... To start off this story, I would just like to express how happy I am that we were turned away from the other club.
We hop back in a cab and head to a place called Arena. At that point I was getting quite tired, but was still eager for a great experience. The taxi drops us off in a rather industrial looking area. I was a little sketched out, but trusted the judgment of our friend who is from Berlin. We enter this huge brick warehouse complex that rather reminded me of the old jewelry factories in Providence and Central Falls. Already, the night was proving to be interesting. We enter through a large metal fence and walk on a sand path between to massive warehouses. I start hearing music. We round the corner of the warehouse only to see a massive plaza in the center of several huge brick warehouses. There was tons of people concentrated towards the opposite end of the plaza. I started to be able to feel the bass vibrate the sand that I stood on. It seemed that each warehouse, or factory, was a different club. From one building, Jamaican and African dance-hall, from another, European electro, so on and so forth. We walked towards all of the people to stand in line. We waited in a sea of drunk, pushy Germans who were anxious to get inside the fence. We eventually paid our entrance, and headed inside the fenced off area. The ground was made entirely of sand. It was like walking on a beach. We wobbled across to one of the buildings and pushed our way inside. I could feel the heavy bass in my hair. Inside was dimly lit. Colored lights were angled across the red brick walls. The ceiling was impossibly tall, and from which hung remnants of old link chains and rafters. We turned to the left and followed the crowd which let us to a foyer of sorts where they had set up a bar. We pushed through the crowd of thirsty party-goers and finally into the main dance room. The speakers were set so loud that I could feel the bass vibrate in my chest. The music was incredible. Sweaty, tipsy people surrounded us, dancing to the trance-like beat, memorized by the patterns and colors of the synchronized lights and lasers. I quickly assimilated, losing myself in the music and lights. After a little while, the Australian and her boyfriend told us to come upstairs. We climbed out of the dance pit, passed the bar, went through a narrow corridor, and up a set of bleacher-like stairs and onto a landing. The floor was tiled in transparent, frosted glass squares that were illuminated by bright blue and green lights below. Immediately in front of us was a massive steel structure that looked like a submarine. My guess was that it was a combustion chamber or something. We walked along it, and noticed that the circular end had been transformed into a door. We peered inside the steel cylinder and saw that they had placed cushions and candles inside. We climbed in and sat down in the makeshift lounge. It was, for lack of a better word, really friggin cool. It began to get stuffy inside, so we pulled ourselves out and walked to the edge of the landing that overlooked the entire dance floor. After a little while, we decided to try to find a taxi before they were all taken. After all, it was already approaching 4 AM.
We made our way out of the factory and back to the sandy plaza. Before leaving, we had to explore a little. We began hearing more music coming from the factory building directly in front of us. We each looked at each other, nodded, and without having to say a word walked into the building. This building was a wide open space that could easily fit an airplane or two. It was packed with people. Towards the front was a stage where you could see the silhouette of a DJ against a screen that had projected onto it bizarre animations and light displays. The music was incredible. People were dancing, clapping, and jumping everywhere as the lasers flashed different colors to the rhythm of the bass. It was like being at an electro music festival. After a little while, we decided that it was time to leave. We exited the building, and the sky had become much lighter- the break of dawn. We found ourselves standing on beach sand in the middle of a converted industrial complex. Admiring our surroundings, we headed in the opposite direction of the exit and towards the river. Once down a set of wooden stairs, we were there faced with what is pure glory. There was a giant wooden pier with tall wooden columns. About 30 hammocks were tied to each side of the columns, in which swung exhausted, inebriated partiers. We walked onto the massive pier and crossed it, reaching a lower level dock that was packed with beach lounge chairs. Just beyond that dock was an infinity pool filled with glowing blue water. The elevated pool with no ledges sat literally on the river, looking like a giant, blue luminous ice cube on a black glassy mirror. We absorbed the moment, trying to take in as much as possible. It was time to leave, but I was able to lay in a hammock for a few precious seconds. We finally walked past the fence, out from the complex of warehouses, and onto a silent street. There were no taxis to be found. Without much option, we set out on foot towards the direction of where we thought the subway would be. Every few minutes a cab would drive by, but it was always occupied. After walking for about 15 minutes, I managed to flag one down. Into the cab we went, and began the journey back to the hostel. We were all exhausted but tranquil as the sky turned from shades of purple to light pink and orange. At around 5 or 6, we finally were in our beds. I was so tired that I fell asleep without even getting under the covers.
We arose a few hours later, prepared our belongings, and checked out of the hostel. We had a few hours to kill before our departure, so we decided to head towards one of the larger parks in Berlin. As it may be, we actually ended up on the end where the zoo was. We walked a little bit, and then back to the subway. Just in front of the subway, however, was the Helmut Newton museum. He was an incredibly talented, famous fashion photographer. The exhibit was incredible. They also featured photographs by his wife who was known as Alice Springs. The whole museum was just truly an eye-opening collection of work. Afterward, we went back to the main train station in Berlin and hung out on the river bank for a little while. Soon, it was time to head to the airport and leave one of the most fantastic cities that I've ever been to.
I can't wait to go back to Berlin. It's such an incredible place with an amazing culture, unique style, and rich history. I think I may need to move there for a little while :)
Auf wiedersehen!
