Goodbye Glasgow and Hallo Berlin!!!

Erin left Glasgow wednesday morning, which gave me an extra day alone in the city before i flew to Berlin. I mapped out some vintage and charity shops with the help of a scottish man who lives in the hostel, and visited them all and more. I probably hit up like, 25 shops on thursday! It was pretty chilly but i was in and out of shops, so it was alright. There were a couple stores that charged a flat rate for a kilo of clothing which ive never experienced before. I found a bunch of cute skirts and dresses. I picked up a few other single items that day as well. For some reason i then walked all the way back to my hostel from the west end which took at least an hour. My dogs (and errythan else) was a-barkin, let me tell you! I really need a backpack for during the day cause my shoulders are killing me. (Im really looking forward to getting a massage at a bath in budapest :) i barely fit my new haul in my pack, and stayed at my hostel for the rest of the day and night.

It felt pretty cool to be on my own for the first time, knowing i wouldnt be meeting up with erin later. A taste of what is to come!

I flew into Berlin on Thursday, a short little flight. Isa (my pal from germany who did a year at my highschool) picked me up from the airport and was a dear and carried my pack! She also covered an all-in-one ticket for the metro, bus and tram for my while stay! so naiiice :) i had a pretty dire laundry situation, since i'd thrifted so many smelly vintage clothes in glasgow and stuffed them (somehow...) into my pack, thereby transferring a musty stink to the surrounding clothes. And since isa's machine was broken, she asked her childhood friend if we could use her machine, to which she obliged. Two loads in that tiny thing! In between we went for sushi, where i pigged out, and surprisingly didnt feel like dying after. Cray.

Later on isa and i hit up a 'song slam' which is kinda like a poetry slam but with songs, which is basically an open mic night with a prize. In this case it was two bottles of vodka and a gift certificate. For some reason, all the men sang in german and all the women in english? They were wonderful. We downed quite a few that night, even on the way home, then made a bunch of sandwiches and went to bed. What. a. night.

The next day, my boo Isa acted as my personal tour guide and took me to see a bunch of things on my Berlin list! We walked around Mitte, one of the more hip districts of the city, and saw Alexander Platz (TV tower), Unter den Linden, Brandenburger Tor (Holocaust Memorial), Reichstag, Tiergarten, Siegessäule, and ate lunch at Café am neuen. I posted a few pictures of this place... It was kind of a winter club when it was cooler out, where you could skate and play a small version of curling. Isa said its a really cool place to spend time when its all lit up at night and you have something warm to sip. I wish i couldve seen it like that! The food at the cafe was good but the service was terrible. Everyone was left waiting around for so long. We walked by the zoo then headed to a large vintage shop called Garage, where you buy by weight. That night we headed out to the club district of Simon-Dach Kiez with Isa's friend Sabrina where we visited two places,Cassiopeia and Crack Bellmer. People can smoke in these clubs which is pretty gross, cause you just reek after, but all in all it was a super fun night! The first club had different rooms for 80s, soul and rock music so i had a ball, and the second club was all old soul tunes. The clubs were basically old warehouses converted into clubs, and covered on the outside with murals and graffiti. I took tonnes of pictures when we went back another day. Going there at night was kinda intimidating, cause berliners seem to party pretty hard with no cares... Maybe its just me! After the clubs we stopped for my new love Doner, which is lamb and veges and yummy spicy sauce in delicious bread. Def had it again the next day ;) it was about 4am and we were drunk, but before we headed home we went to grab some groceries like responsible ladieeeeez.

On saturday we headed to the East Side gallery and saw Oberbaumbrücke (a.k.a. ginger bread bridge ;)), Simon-Dach Kiez in the day time, then Hackescher Markt where i bought 4 handfuls of vintage broaches (who elses hands were being used? Isa's, of course!) and a few pieces of clothing. We also hit Made in Berlin vintage, then grabbed doner to eat by the water and afterwards caught The Wolf of Wall street at the Independent cinema. This theatre was so small, and so hot, we were melting. Everyone was! Halfway through i made a decision to go pee and fill up two bottles of water, and getting out of that room was quite the feat. I swear i stepped on 10 feet and accidentally touched my bum on everyones heads. No regrets! That water saved us. We got into the rain after the 3 hour film, thank allah.

Sunday was spent with Sabrina at the Flea market Mauerpark Bernauer Strasse in Prenzlauer Berg, Arkonaplatz, Prenzlauer Berg/Mitte,Schönhauser/ Eberswalder Kiez. We had lunch at a cute little place called Glory Whole (harhar), where we shared pesto pasta and pasta with cream sauce and pumpkin. Mm! Later on, just to end off on a high note (...) we went to the Jewish Museum. There was so much info to take in and i honestly wasnt able to read everything. The building itself was built with such an interesting concept in mind, designed to make you feel kind of lost and disoriented, and uneven, for a lack of better words. There are countless lost spaces where you peer into darkness. Theres one section called the tower i believe, where you walk through a heavy door into a cold dark cement room with a sliver of a window near the room. I couldnt stay in there for long, i was too creeped out. We were so tired by now, so we headed home. We made a nice dinner (our last), drank wine, ate chips and chocolate, and watched a cute german romantic comedy. Great night.

The next day we had a few hours before heading to the airport, so we had breakfast and coffee together and went to the post office to send a giant box full of vintage to heather back home (fingers crossed it doesnt go missing...)

And then i was off to Budapest.

I had such an amazing time with Isa in her city. She showed me such a beautiful few days and was so helpful and sweet. I cant help but say our friendship is so much stronger now, and i cant wait to pay her back next time she comes to winnipeg! Isa, i will miss our breakfasts and the delicious coffee(s) you made me everyday. 

And as always, you can "do whatcha want with my body" *raise the roof*

xx

Rach