Walden Ponder

Last Night in Berlin

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To give you a better perspective regarding the story I’m about to share, as the reader of this you should know that I’m currently sitting on the concrete floor of the Berlin Hauptbahnhof. It’s about 11:30 am.

Yesterday started out pretty low key. We all woke up late from a previous crazy night out and we needed a little time to rest up. After we scoped out an ATM and some food we headed to the cave that this hostel calls the community room. Two movies later we were all feeling a bit recharged and decided that as it’s out last night in Berlin and we all had to get up around 10 am the following morning, it probably wasn’t a great idea to make it a late night. With that in mind we started drinking.

Pre-drinking started around 8 as usual on the hostel patio. As soon as the beer ran out we would run to the store for mini kegs. We were all having fun and then I met up with our newest roommate. It’s important to know that this guy has just come to Europe so that he can travel and try to kick a few drug habits. We were going to help keep him occupied cause we’re all for an effective detox session. He approached me as I was headed back upstairs for more beer and asked me if I smoke. Of course, I said no. Encouraging this guy would just be bad news. Well here’s the problem… He then said that he was going to head out back to smoke if I wanted to join him. In an effort to keep as much pot away from him as possible, I felt that it was my responsibility to join him. If I consumed half of it, that would be one half less that he would be consuming. Really, it was the only kind thing I could do.

I came back and grabbed a beer. We still had a few hours of pre-drinking to do and everyone was still outside. We chilled for a while more before being asked to leave the patio as we were waking up the neighbors. It was about this time that it really started to hit me and I remembered how much I missed Amsterdam.

We went upstairs and I found a seat. I remember being upstairs but I don’t really remember what happened. Around an hour later I really started getting loopy. It was only one and it was lasting this long? Something didn’t seem right. Another hour passed and my buddy Toby noticed that my eyes were beet red. He caught on pretty quick and laughed at me every time he had the chance. More time passed and I was still flying high.

We left the room and (carefully) went back downstairs. It looked like everyone was going out and I had the most wicked munchies. Of course I joined the group but they didn’t go to the pizzeria. Instead they went to the U-bahn and we hopped on the first train. I did my best to stand up while Toby rolled on the floor laughing.

As another side note, the previous night when we went out I took literally 200 pictures. The batteries on my camera went out so I resorted to my BlackBerry.

We got off the train in the middle of nowhere and I was told that we were hunting for a club. We hadn’t yet experienced the authentic German techno just yet and we were hunting it down. Mike asked to borrow my camera so I gave it to him. The problem is that he put it in his pocket. Mike is at least twice my size so I really stood no chance. For the next 45 minutes I was completely unable to take pictures. Everyone else was happy.

I started coming down around midnight and decided that there was something else in that joint. My eyes cleared up and I managed to talk Mike into giving me my camera back. Finally, things were working out. We ended up at this bar called Astro Bar that was a bit sketchy. Oh well, they had cheap beer. As always, I was starving so I convinced Toby to venture off for some food with me. I put my new stein in Sheri’s purse and off we went. When we returned 30 minutes later there was something new happening in the group and I’m sorry to say that I didn’t see it happen.

While we were gone Rob thought it would be a good idea to swipe a bottle of cherry flavored brandy from the bar. The stupidest part is that he would walk in and out of the bar with it showing it off to the bartender like a trophy. The pissed off bartender came outside and saw that he had her bottle. Not only did she demand it back, but she also demanded him to pay for it. Seemed reasonable to me. It was about this time that Toby and I were returning from food. Without knowing what was going on, Toby went inside to get the deposit back on out beer steins. The bartender heckled him before she was convinced that he wasn’t involved with the brandy incident.

Those of us who didn’t swipe brandy from the bar started to leave. Everyone quickly followed. We stood on the street corner for about half an hour trying to figure out where we were so that we could find another bar. After another food stop and losing half of our group we ran into another seedy pub that was still open. It was about 3 am now.

Apparently Toby is quite the table futbol player. He said it gets quite competitive back home. There just happened to be a table here in this bar and it took all of 26 seconds before we were challenged to a game. The good news is that we actually kicked ass. Feeling proud and now exhausted, we left the bar shortly after 5 am.

We got back on the U-bahn and headed for the hostel. I’m surprised that we didn’t all pass out on the train. We ended up getting back to the hostel around 6 am. Time for bed.

I woke up this morning at 10 and hurried to check out by 11. I bummed a ride on the metro. You don’t physically need a ticket to take the metro, but if you get caught it’s a 40 euro fine. I managed to get through all of Berlin without incurring a single fee.

Now here I sit at the train station waiting for my train to Munich. I’m tired, hungry and hurt all over but I can hold my head up high and say with confidence that I had one hell of a fantastic time in Berlin.

Tags: Beer, Hostel