Close your eyes and picture every German stereotype you’ve learned over the years from TV, school, books and the internet. Efficient, clean and serious are some of the words that come to mind. When you open your eyes in Berlin you will notice that it is an artsy anomaly from the other major cities of Germany. I was quite shocked at the lack of structure, regulation and corporate headquarters. Shocked in a good way! The night clubs open on Friday evening and don’t close again until the weekend is over. I set a new personal record as I didn’t leave the bar until 8am the following morning. It was daylight as we headed to take the subway home. Most of the night was spent on the dance floor, but other highlights included Eric’s attempt to tell the Moosecock joke to everyone on the subway, his dousing of himself with water (twice!) and his dramatic jazz hands. Berlin is also home to the cheapest beer I have come across so far in Europe. You can buy a .5L bottle of Sternburg at the grocery store for 36 cents (plus an 8 cent deposit). That means Eric and I walked out of the store with a 6 pack of tall boys and only spent 2.64 Euro. You’d be hard pressed to get 2 for that price in Van City. One more thing; Sterny isn’t even the cheapest beer you can buy. There is another brand at the 29 cent level but I was advised against trying it. Enough about the booze, as there is far more to the city than the amazing parties and the discount beverages. My first full day was spent on a bike tour of some of the sights close to Eric’s neighbourhood. The most intriguing was the Templehof airport. The airport was closed a couple years ago and has since become a park. The residents of the area must feel like they won the lottery. They use to have massive planes coming and going all day and now all of a sudden they live next to open fields and abandoned runways. The bike tour also included a stop to see an outdoor ice rink that already has its ice surface in for the winter. It was tough to watch people skating and playing hockey as it really reminded me that I haven’t played for over 2 months now. I may have to rent some skates at some point before I leave Europe just to calm the major hockey withdrawal I’m going through. My time with the Halpins was not completely void of athletic competition. We spent one afternoon playing ping pong on one of the many outdoor tables located around the city. Who knew Germany was so into ping pong? My lack of practice was quite obvious as I didn’t stand a chance against the mighty pong skills of Eric and Kevin. I did however get my revenge later with a dramatic one stroke victory at glow in the dark mini golf. The next few days were filled with more exploration of the city but despite all the exploration I managed to miss out on the Brandenburg gate and the Reichstag (next time!). I took a guided tour of the street art and underground culture of Berlin. I really enjoyed the tour but couldn’t help but think that it would have been twice as fun if I was accompanied by my art loving cousin, Colin. A lot of the space on my memory card was used up during this tour by taking photos of all the amazing graffiti and murals. My favorite was a large portrait of an astronaut that was only complete at night. When the street lights come on the large flag pole just down the street casts its shadow towards the mural and makes it appear as though the astronaut is planting his flag in newly discovered territory. The final photo needed for my collection was the mandatory tourist photo of the TV Tower. Dressed in his traditional plaid Eric was able to construct a tripod (using his wallet) that enabled the taking of a rather stellar photo of him, Kevin and yours truly. The week in Berlin went by faster than any of the previous weeks of my trip and was filled with nothing but good times. Let’s hope it’s not another 6 years before I visit again!
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