Another good trip. Lady luck smiled at my flatmate and me throughout the trip. First, we had a fellow AIESECer who had a whole, well-furnished apartment to offer us for the entire 3 days of our stay.. 2nd, he spent the evenings with us and showed us all the best local hang-outs. 3rd, we had some funny, unforgettable stories over which we will always laugh. 4th, (the best part) I got to try Absinth! Yay!
Berlin, to a tourist, is a remarkable city. It’s like 2 sides of the same coin. On one side is the sober, residential Western Berlin and on the other, the grungy but hip Eastern Berlin. But on the whole, the most striking thing about the city is the graffiti. It’s everywhere. On trains, at train stations, buildings, restaurants, staircases.. everywhere! Feels like the Berliners are taught graffiti in school and encouraged to use it everywhere! And ya, must admit that it was quite a relief to see ordinary looking people in ordinary looking surroundings. I was beginning to get tired of all the good looks in Stockholm. After all, how long can you tolerate a Model house or a wax museum?
The unique preservation tactics of the tourism board is commendable. I was awed by a well kept half-church, a synagogue who’s only remains was its grand façade, the charred towers of the Mayor Hall, the beauty of Gendarmenmarkt and the grandeur of the Berlin Dome. The tickets aren’t as ridiculously priced as in London and each of these places are worth a visit.
One non-historic place worth a dekho is the TV Tower and the revolving restaurant on its top most floor. I was also delighted to browse through a wooden toy shop and a fantastically packaged chocolate shop.
So, what happens when a city loses a large wall dividing it, with vast stretches of No Man’s land around it? Answer: They build a new city from scratch on the new found land. And that’s what Berlin has done. Right in the heart of the city, surrounding the remnants of the Berlin Wall, at Potsdam Platz, is a stretch, that looks less of a European city and more of an American one. Wide roads, large concrete and glass buildings, the works..
East Berlin, in the evenings, is the best place to be. There was one hangout bar that reminded me of home. We have this place, ‘Mocha’ in Chennai and Mumbai, right? This bar was an exact replica, only more smelly and smoky but still totally hip. It’s designed to look like a house, the waitresses are dressed in casual clothes and act as if they are hosting us at their houses rather than at a bar! Whatyay concept!
Here’s the best part. We decided to take a walk past a ‘factory town’. This was the part of the city where most of the factories existed. You enter the gates to a gloomy atmosphere but suddenly see neon signs and blinking lights at the many doors. Every part of the factory had been turned into or rented to clubs and discotheques! Whatyay concept! We walked on till we reached another factory gate close to the water. We walked into it and as we neared the waters, noticed people standing waiting to take an entry fee. Thinking that DH was taking us on a cultural tour, I paid the 10 euros and got my wrist stamped. I hear loud hip-hop music and realise that its one of those warehouses that has been converted into a club. It was a 3-in-1 club. You had 3 different places to go to. One by the river, with a transparent, plastic tent serving as a bar; two, inside the warehouse with a stage where a band was playing and the dance floor full; three, the regular discotheque, with a DJ at one corner playing House music. Btw House music seems big in Berlin. Almost, every club and bar I went to, played it.
The icing on the cake was the Panorama club. DH had plenty of stories to tell about the place. I was all hyped-up and was dying to go. We got off the taxi only to notice a long line outside a dilapidated, abandoned looking factory building. The closed glass windows showed moving club lights. I didn’t hear any sound. I gave DH a 'you-said-we-were-going-to-a-club' look. He smiled in reply. The five of us stood in line, full of anticipation. As the line neared the entrance, I noticed a hefty, heavily tattooed and pierced, biker’ sorta guy, in leather pants, vest and lots of ‘chain’ jewelry. He signalled and his assistant either let people in or turned them away. (You thot only posh clubs did that, didn’t you?) Confession time: Inspite of what the others in my group thot, I found this WWF-like bouncer quite attractive, albeit in a weird way! (Good girls like bad boys, huh?). Well… the bad part was, only 2 of us were admitted. The good part was, I was one of the 2. Not wanting to make the others feel bad, DH wanted to leave. I said, I wanted to see the place. We went in. There was a security check. After a lot of tap, tap, you hand over your camera to another burly guy. The girl warned me not to click pictures with my mobile phone and let me in. From the minute I stepped in, I was awed. The club made no attempts to hide the old, dilapidated walls. The exposed pipes, the unpainted walls and the bare floors were eerie. But only for a few seconds. For soon, the loud music, the dancing lights and the energy of the place takes over. DH literally had to drag me out. I didn’t want to leave.
The next evening, we decided to check out another ‘underground’ place. This time, it is a restaurant. Get this – On Saturday evening at 8 when we went for dinner, they were charging an entry fee and announced a fifteen minute waiting time. We gave up and decided to go on Sunday instead. We landed at the doorstep at 6 this time. No entry fee, lots of tables. The place had interiors that looked like the house from the movie ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’. It’s walls were full of inappropriate pictures and the menu was hilarious in its rudeness. The minute I looked at it, I said I was taking one home. There must have been a lot of people who thought like me, coz the menu card was actually a photocopied A3 paper, folded in two. I folded it some more and tucked it into my bag. Must admit that it had the best ‘Long Island Iced Tea’ that I’ve had so far. Food is nothing great. Serves American Diner stuff. Had a hamburger and no dessert.
It was here that I confessed to my friends, that I would like to taste Absinth. Surprisingly, they were up for it. We went to a store and got a bottle. The green liquid is great to look at. Unfortuantely, since I had an early morning flight back home, I didn’t take more than one diluted shot of it. Didn’t hit me at all. Woke up the next day, fresh and shining, inspite of 2 strong cocktails and one teeny, weeny shot of Absinth. Next time maybe.
Been there, done that! Totally!
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