Nerding It Up in Berlin

Last week saw my escape from work to take off to Berlin for a few days. The choice of destination was curiosity more than anything else. For such a seemingly ugly city, why did people rave about it so much? I had heard of the infamous night life scene, but doubted that this had tempted my grandparents into multiple visits... Sure, it certainly had history and some galleries, but what was it that drew people back like some magnetic force? I was determined to find out.

So determined that I must have had a rush of blood to the head when I booked my flight from London two months prior. A 6:30am flight from Gatwick Airport was perhaps a tad ambitious, given that the train departing from Clapham Junction to get me there in time was at 4:10am. After foggily getting myself from A to B I collapsed in a waiting chair at the airport having, only to have a drunken man sit next to me and spend the next half hour trying to chat me up. Methods included complimenting my American(!) accent, saying that my (imaginery and non-existent) boyfriend (who I had conveniently created for the purpose of this conversation) surely would not have a problem with me returning his flirting gestures, and breathing rum breath all over me. Charmed, I'm sure.

Now, I don't believe I have delved in to discussing budget air travel throughout Europe yet. That is, your Ryanairs, your Easy Jets and your "WhizAirs", which my Kiwi friend Ash was relieved to discover was actually an airline when she snagged some super cheap flights to a European destination shortly after arriving in London. These airlines offer amazing deals on flights that leave at midnight and/or from airports far far away to destinations that nobody wants to visit. They do also offer okay prices for all normal and sane people who don't fit into that category, so despite the unglamorous conditions these airlines remain to be quite popular.

I must say, whenever I book one of these budget airlines at the time I remind myself that it's all about the destination and feel quite smug when I see that I have managed to save all but £50 (every little bit counts!). However, it is a different feeling altogether at the airport that you've spent an hour longer getting to, needing to stuff your handbag into your hand luggage (strictly one bag only) and pushing and shoving your way onto the aircraft to ensure that you have overhead locker space to store your hand luggage. Otherwise, as the unfortunate man sitting next to me on my return trip had displeasure of finding out, you are forced to somehow store it underneath the seat in front which left him with his knees around his ears for lack of leg room. It's all about the destination, it's all about the destination....

Reichstag 

Which brings me to Berlin! A history nerd's delight. I partook in many walking tours, the latter two covering Third Reich Berlin and Cold War Berlin. Man. What can one say. The twentieth century was not kind to this city. It is impossible to avoid memorials - to the Murdered Jews, the Homosexuals, the Murdered Politicians, the fallen American and Soviet soldiers... all of these are in prominent areas in central Berlin and are visited by thousands of people each day. If that wasn't overwhelming enough, a visit to the remaining part of the Berlin Wall which just over only 20 years ago separated one half of the city from the other is just mind blowing. After managing to survive WWII, Berlin residents literally went to sleep on 12 August 1961 and woke up the next day to a wall that 30,000 workers had built during the night separating East from West, family and loved ones from one another, employees from work places. Just mind boggling!!

Berlin Wall Death Zone

Without wanting to bore those who don't find history as spine-tingling exciting as I do, I will resist rambling further and simply say that it was a great trip. It was my first experience booking accommodation through airbnb.com and I was really impressed. Not only did I stay in the Bulimba-equivalent area of Berlin in the district of Prenzlauer Berg, but the host provided recommendations of cafes and restaurants that were just divine. I did nearly burn the place down with a slight cooking disaster which was slightly embarrassing but otherwise cruised on by, awkward moment-free.

Pretzel cart

All in all, Berlin has been one of the only cities that I have left after a few days and felt like I hadn't even scratched the surface of what it has to offer. With my sights set on history, I hardly even touched on art or architecture, not to mention night life (which unfortunately is the one of the downsides to travelling by yourself.) Another trip is definitely on the cards at some point!

On a completely different side note, it is interesting that no matter where you travel, you are never too far from home. Such constant reminders induce a feeling of warm-fuzziness - it's nice to know that the world really is a small place! It really is a rare day when you partake in an English tour and don't come across fellow Australians. To my delight as well, the highly recommended local coffee shop featured a "Tim Tam Slam," which involved being given a latte and Tim Tam and having to suck the coffee through the chocolatey goodness centre of the biscuit. The owner had learned the concept on a trip to Australia and decided it was so great, he'd bring it back.

Smart man.

Lots of love, Em xxx