Make Time: Berlin - Dancing in the Park

My first day in Berlin - it definitely took some twists and turns. I woke up around 10 and thought I was gonna do a bike tour which was organized by the hostel I'm staying in - the Grand Hostel. This is by far the biggest and nicest hostel I've ever stayed in. It really feels like a hotel more than a hostel. So when I got up and went to reception I learned that no one had signed up for the bike tour so it wasn't going to happen. Oops. I had already written an email to the OTHER hostel I was staying in and told them I was going to check in around 6pm that night because I thought the bike tour would go that long. The other hostel I booked was more highly rated but they didn't have a room for this first night, so I just booked the Grand Hostel on a whim, but I'm glad I did cause it was real nice. Anyway, the new hostel is called Riverside Lodge Hostel, and it's real close to the Grand Hostel but it's much smaller and more intimate. Initially I had emailed the Riverside to ask if I could check in on Saturday night but they were booked, so I told them I would check in Sunday morning. So it's Sunday morning, and I'm about to get up and go on this bike tour, so I email Riverside again and say I'm going to check in around 6pm that night and I head to reception, where I find out that no one has signed up for the bike tour so it's not happening. OK. This blows. So I put my bags in storage and just start walking. I had heard about this flea market that only happens on Sundays in Berlin, so I went to check it out. It's called Flohmarkt - check it out here - so cool. On my walk from the hostel I ran into the Topography of Terror outdoor exhibit, which consists of a big chunk of the Berlin wall which is still standing, along with a long walkway which outlines a lot of the Nazi regime - the rise and fall. Very somber. Very intense. It even started raining a bit when I was there to add to the intensity. I included some pics below, but they will not do it justice. My dad's side of the family had to leave Poland through Germany during WWII, so these kind of exhibits really bring it home for me. So I head from this exhibit and walk through the main part of downtown - Pariser Plaza, which houses a bunch of memorials, including one for the Holocaust. Yes, I just saw the Nazi story and now I'm seeing the Holocaust memorial. Might as well, right? It's a very unique exhibit because it doesn't include any words - just an interesting walkway that goes down into the ground a bit. Pictures below - hard to describe, but when you're there and you understand the meaning, it's pretty cool. Also, it's just fun to walk through it :) So I keep walking and just before getting to the flea market I come upon ANOTHER memorial - this time the Berlin Wall Memorial. Sure - bring it on! I walk to the flea market and I'm hitting all the major tourist destinations as well. Not a bad first day and first walk. This exhibit is more mobbed with people, so I only stay for a few seconds but it's also very beautiful and moving. I walk up a staircase across the street to get a good look and take a few pics there too - see below. Then FINALLY I make it to the flea market. A girl on guitar belting out beautiful music, accompanied by a guy on harmonica. Local food stalls. Vintage clothes for miles. Cool new trendy t-shirts and sweatshirt (I bought one of each). The oldest cameras, clocks, clothes, and anything else I've seen in a long time. Very cool. I loved it. Fun just walking around and hearing all the different languages, while seeing cool things. As I'm walking I hear some music, so I walk towards it - which takes me out of the market and into this park next door, and to my delight I see three guys jamming. YES. This is what it's all about for me. I sit and listen to them for at least an hour and a half, and they are fantastic. Funk and rock, and after about 30 minutes another guy comes up, plugs a microphone in, and starts rapping over the music. This shit just keeps getting better! As they are jamming some guy dressed in a suit and a bunny rabbit mask comes up and starts dancing, at which point I knew I was in the right place. I love this kinda random stuff. So funny. Everyone, including the band, LOVED it. Laughing out loud. Looking around seeing everyone else laughing. There were a bunch of cotton wood treats around, so it looked like it was snowing during this entire time too. So amazing. There's a poem to write, and I will do it soon :) After the dancing guy leaves, the harmonica guy I saw in the beginning, playing with the girl guitarist, comes up and starts jamming with them too. He's playing and doing handstands at the same time. HAHAHA. That was a first. So great. What a treat for me. I wait till they are done and I go up and talk to them, and they're real cool. They love hearing about my band and they give me some cool places to see live jazz and hip hop, so I'll be hitting them up this week. Good vibes. Very much my style. I walk around the park next to the flea market for the rest of the afternoon, where I see live graffiti, the biggest live outdoor karaoke I've ever seen, and more and more bands playing outside. So great. I take the subway back towards an area I heard was good for food, and grab a nice pizza at a sit-down joint. Good food - nice atmosphere. A good end to a great day…almost.

Remember I told the Riverside Lodge Hostel that I would check in around 6pm. Yeah. They tell me that they won't be there till 7pm, but I never responded, and now I'm finishing dinner and it's 9. In their initial email they say they don't have 24-hour reception, so you need to tell them when you're coming. Shit. I'm running back to the Grand Hostel to get my bags from their storage room and then haul ass back to check in by 9:30pm at Riverside. I get there right around 9:30pm and no one is there and the door is all locked up. Oh man. I walk across the street to get wifi and email them but no response. I notice in their initial email that they say if you don't check in by 9:30pm they will cancel your reservation. Awesome. So I email and sit there waiting outside of this nice restaurant, which was nice enough to let me use their wifi, and still no response. I walk towards the subway again, and stop in at a small cafe/lounge to chill - get a drink - and figure out my next steps. The place is called Cafe Jaques, and it was actually amazingly cozy and chill. Bartender was cute and very nice. I finally hear back from the Riverside Lodge, which says they waited for me in the morning and then waiting again for a few hours at night but I never showed. Ouch. I feel like a dick, but what can you do. Lesson learned. I try to book the rest of my stay at the Grand Hostel, which I liked, but they don't have rooms for the next three nights I'm here, so I book at another place that has great reviews - Jetpack Alternative, which is close to Cafe Jaques. Looks like a great place - small and intimate. OK, so I book and then when I get the confirmation email I realize I've booked for MONDAY through Wednesday. Um - it's Sunday, dood. WHAT THE HELL IS MY PROBLEM? Ha. So I try to book for Sunday for one night at Jetpack Alternative and you can't do that, and I can't cancel and rebook at this point, so I look for another place to book. At this point I'm pretty tired and frustrated, so I see a one-bedroom available back at the Grand Hostel and I book away. Nice to have my own room for a night. I pay the check and head back - crash hard in my bed and feel very thankful for the Grand Hostel at this point. Nice ending to the story, eh? Sorry it was such a long one, but had to relay my stupidity. Sometimes I have everything figured out, but other times I'm a complete moron. Oh well.

So it's Monday at about 1pm now, and I'm sitting in the kitchen area of the Jetpack Alternative hostel, and I couldn't be happier. The reception guy, James, is a complete flaming gay boy from London - hilarious and kind and great. Happy to be here. He suggested a great little Vietnamese place for lunch and I grabbed it and came back here with it. Tastes GREAT. It's been raining off and on all morning so I'm gonna chill for a second and then head to see a few modern art museums. Excited for a low key day. Maybe some live music tonight - we shall see.

Hope everyone had a great weekend and is off to a FANTASTIC week!!!

Also - hope you had some good laughs at my expense by reading this ;)