Swamptown

Dance Floor Debauchery

BERLIN.  Wow, what an amazing place.  The three days we spent roaming the streets wreaking havoc were not enough to completely embrace the history and culture of this city.  We did manage to get a good grasp on it and decided we would definitely be returning in the summer for another spin.  Upon arrival we decided we would do the free bar crawl our hostel sponsored because we had heard it was mellow and laid back.  We blindly followed the guide through the S-bahn system into the city to discover that it was the paid pub crawl that is known for being out of control, featuring four bars and an exclusive night club.  We were not mentally or physically prepared for the mayhem that was to come, but we decided it was Berlin and we could tackle the fun.  And boy did we.  It was halfway through the 3rd bar that I realized we were on a path of destruction.  We had started a revolution on the dance floor and made sure that no other patron would even attempt to join us.  The text book dancing American.  We easily took a minimum of 100 hundred pictures at this bar.  We were having such a good time dancing, singing, and being silly that we didn't care what anyone thought.  When it was announced that it was time to move on to the next place we all grumbled and were hesitant to leave.  Don't worry, the same nonsense occurred at the following bars, but with less disco ball lights and camera flashes.  We ended the night with a taxi ride back outside of the city to our hostel and a late night BK throw down.  Thank god for a fast food place open late because in our hurry to get to the crawl we had missed dinner earlier that evening.  Perhaps an explanation for our eagerness to hit the dance floor?



Memorial to the Murder Jews of Europe



We awoke around 9 am free of hangovers (I'm not sure how that happened) and chose to do the free walking tour.  This was my first one of these and I'm so disappointed I haven't taken advantage of them in the past.  All of the bigger cities have them.  You go for free, tip the guide as you see fit and listen to them promote other tours that cost Euro to take.  It works, we ended up taking the Alternative Tour the following day, which highlighted street art and the hipster scene.  Definitely worth the 10 Euro to see the side of Berlin that didn't involve a history book.  Although a bit repetitive it was really interesting to see the "scene" and get a feel for Berlin's sexy grunge it is known for.  The free tour featured all the main points of Berlin; Checkpoint Charlie, a section of the Berlin wall, Brandenburg Gate, Hotel Adlon (where MJ dangled the baby from the balcony), Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, and some other pretty buildings I'm not sure of the names.  The memorial was easily one of my favorite structures ever.  While walking up to it I thought it looked boring and void of any thought or character.  It honestly looked like a city block of stone coffins, but when you walk into the memorial the elevation of the blocks all differ and as you continue in you feel more isolated and distant.  The sounds carry strangely and it we lost each other within moments of entering.  After we finished our free tour we journeyed back to the hostel to gain some energy before venturing out to find dinner.  We used the handy dandy GPS to locate a nearby Mexican place.  What was supposed to be a 5km walk turned into a death march into the side streets of Berlin.  When we finally saw the neon glow of the restaurant it felt like a miracle.  After all of that energy and near fighting I was sure it would be closed or infested with roaches, so I was pleasantly surprised with the mango margaritas and curry sauce on my burrito.  Definitely not the Mexican we're used to, but a tasty way to end the hike. 



Kunsthaus Tacheles

 Corinne and I discovered that although we long to relinquish control/parent status on trips, once we do we are unhappy with that too.  We usually take the reins and dictate what we do, give directions, and are the ones to figure out the lay of the land.  On the way home from Berlin we wanted to relax so we let the boys drive and be in control of navigation.  We both found ourselves growing more and more annoyed at their stupidity and lack of care when they realized they'd been reading the GPS wrong.  So even though we say we want to give up the responsibility, I think in the future we will continue to be the grown ups of the trip.
When we returned to Garmisch everyone had to work at 6 or 7am the following morning.  I was the only one with the day off, so I was elected to fill up the rental and return it to Hertz.  Said car has a manual transmission and guess who drove it to base, filled it up, and returned it while only stalling out twice?  ME.


Berlin Wall




Rachel, Corinne, and I in front of Brandenburg Gate