Our first trip out of the country: Berlin, Germany.
We had our first Ryanair plane experience, which was, to say the least, chaotic. Plane tickets through Ryanair are cheap, but they seem to sometimes go out of their way to make clear that you have indeed chosen a budget airline. Ryanair security is scarily easy to get through. They don’t make you remove your shoes (even when you walk through beeping), and let you pass your bag through with all sorts of potentially dangerous materials-including tweezers and razors. Alex even got through with a corkscrew that has a small knife at the end. Also, customs in most European airports is a joke. We never once had to answer any questions, and began wondering where exactly customs was anyway. Ryanair flights also don’t include assigned seats, which means that everyone stands in a hot, crowded line 20-30 minutes before boarding and then rushes to the plane outside, pushing past everyone else. The inside of the plane reminds me vaguely of a McDonald’s, with lots of bright red and yellow and advertisements. People are way louder than on other flights, and they all clap when the plane hits the ground (as if pleasantly surprised that the plane actually made it to its destination).
Once we made it, we realized we had all packed too lightly-it was COLD. We met up with Kate’s friend from home, Jane, who is studying in Berlin and acted as our super talkative, German-speaking, fun tour guide for the weekend. We made our way to our hostel via subway. When we got to our stop, we suddenly found ourselves in a dark, narrow alleyway lit by a reddish light. We were surrounded by a few punks dressed in black clothes with spikes around their necks, waving beers and yelling at each other in German while their dogs barked pretty ferociously at our sides. We stepped out of the alleyway onto the main street (which was considerably calmer) and broke into nervous laughter. “Welcome to Germany!” we said to each other. What an introduction.
Our hostel was run by this cool cross-stitching guy with amazing dreads. He told us that the area we were in was popular with punks (the guys we saw in the alley) and hippies (him). He let us know that we didn’t have to worry about getting into any trouble though, because the punks would usually never even give us the time of day. “Only if you run into any skinheads, because they hate the skinheads,” he said. “If those guys mess with you, the punks will help you out. You’ll have a common enemy.” Good to know.
After a good night’s sleep, we got up and did some sightseeing. Went to the Reichstag, which has an impressive glass dome on top (that you can climb!) and a lot of cool photos of the building over time (some really interesting ones from after World War II). Afterwards, we checked out the Holocaust Memorial, a big maze of concrete slabs in varying sizes. It was fun to play around in-we spent a while chasing each other through it and trying to sneak up on each other behind the slabs. The exhibit underground was amazing (but put us in a more serious mood), with so many stories of Holocaust victims and a long timeline of the events. We saw a few other sights, like the book burning memorial and Checkpoint Charlie.
Meals in Germany were amazing. That night, Jane brought us to a traditional German restaurant-cozy wooden tables and heavy, heavy food. We gorged on grilled vegetables, potato dishes, and more meat than anyone should be allowed to order. By the end of the dinner, Adam’s head was about to hit the table-and he wasn’t the only one. The food comas were intense. Despite our drowsiness, we decided to go out that night. We ended up at a weird but funny club, took a bunch of yager shots (partly because my friends thought it was hilarious when I told them I secretly liked yager bombs) and almost passed out (actually, at least two people did fall asleep). Lesson learned. No more coma-inducing dinners before a night out.
The next day we spent mostly in museums. Wandered through the Pergamon, which houses an impressive Greek collection and an even better Islamic art section. The Ishtar Gate was gigantic and awesome, and the other beautifully ornate Islamic pieces were a nice change from all the classical European art we were used to. We ended up at a contemporary art museum as well-another nice change from the Renaissance. They had some great Fluxus stuff, a lot of Joseph Bouys and a fun installation called “The Murder of Crows.” It was a big auditorium with a semi-circle of seats surrounded by a bunch of interspersed, suspended stereo speakers. The speakers played a mixture of natural noises (crows flying, the ocean, etc) and nightmarish tales. If you closed your eyes, sometimes footsteps seemed like they were actually approaching you or that birds were really fluttering above your head. Plus, the nightmare about uncovering a detached leg in a bed culminated in a strange song that went something like: “Where has my leg gone? She’s lost her leeeeg!” Weird, and great.
Dinner was street food: the most delicious donor kebab I’ve EVER had and a taste of currywurst. This quicker, lighter dinner allowed us some time to pregame in our hostel-and not fall asleep in the process. We bought beers (mine had a picture of a monk on it, which Alex claimed meant that it was “holy beer”) and watched Adam and Alex do a silly rendition of “Mo’ Money Mo’ Problems” while playing the song as loud as possible (read: very softly) from Adam’s iPod earphones. Absurd dancing, and Alex knew none of the words except “I’m coming out.” In short, the lamest but most memorable pregame ever. We ended up at a stock exchange bar, where the beer prices changed based on supply and demand and were updated on screens around the room. It was fun and different, and every “crash” was exciting. We bought gigantic pints of beer, dangerously close to being larger than my own head. One of the highlights of the night was when I (notoriously the slowest drinker of the group) finished my pint before Kate (the most enthusiastic beer-lover of the group). Alex and Becky secretly egged me on while Kate wasn’t watching, held the glass up to my mouth for me, and then made a big show of it when the last sip was gone. Since it’s the only time I’ve won, we milk it for all it’s worth.
German culture isn’t exactly suited to me (too much meat for a carb-lover) but there were definitely some things I loved about Berlin. The fashion sense was cool and different (shorts over bright tights, etc), vibrant graffiti decorated the city, and even the language started to grow on me. Berlin, as I saw it, has attitude and is a place that makes you want to do something edgy and unique. And then settle in with some currywurst and a beer.
No comments:
Post a Comment