Goodbye 'rents, goodbye Italy. I have to say, I loved my time there, and really appreciated being with my parents. Travelling round Tuscany is something they have wanted to do for 20 years, so it was nice to be with them while they had the opportunity to do this.
But oh TrenItalia! Terrible, terrible! My train to the airport was delayed by an hour, meaning I was cutting it extremely fine to get on the plane to Berlin. No information, no notification of the delay, we just found out the hard way...sitting on a stationary train for 40 minutes, and going about as fast as I could run for another 40 minutes. Anyway, the ride was made more interesting as I met a young Indian guy travelling round Europe with his family. He was amusing. He thought all Westerners were stupid and uneducated, and was quite critical of anything less than perfection across Europe. Was interesting to hear his perspectives, even if I didn't agree. Though we agreed on one thing...the terrible state of the Italian rail system! I wont be complaining about CityRail anytime soon!
But it was a lovely feeling to arrive in Berlin and see Leila. Her and Tina and another of their friends Michael had come to the airport to pick me up. All 3 of us are staying with Tina, a Berlin local. The 3 of them have been friends for many many years, and the 3 of them are like brother and sisters. The girls boss Michael around and tease him like he was their younger brother, and he fights back with fury. Being in their company is always completely amusing, even though they bicker constantly, especially Leila and Michael. Michael is from a city in the south of Germany, many hours away, and at the last minute decided to visit Berlin while Leila was around.
Tina lives in a fantastic part of the city called Kreuzberg...its kind of the Glebe or Newtown of Berlin, pre gentrification and trendy status. Its an area with a real multicultural and community feel, very friendly and interesting, with lots of pretty streets along the canal. But still, right on a U Bahn (underground) and close to the city centre. There are many Turkish immigrants here, which makes for a good selection of cafes and restaurants. Its also very cheap here, especialy compared to Italy. This part of town used to belong to East Germany, and as such is still a bit raw, and I like it because of this. I love Berlin, after just 24 hours. It is my favourite city I have visited in this trip, although not the most spectacular. But it is authentic and interesting, and seems to be designed for the locals, and not the tourists. More like Melbourne, than Sydney, for example.
Last night we went to a biergarten in Mitte, another very pretty and interesting area of the city, and then Michael dragged us to a nightclub that he promised was going to be playing retro and r&b. Turns out it was a dark rave club. For those of you in the dark about dark rave, its basically a gothic club. Picture skulls in cages hanging from the ceiling, lots of red slights and smoke, and people dresed all in black dancing as though they're in a trance. Not at all my scene, to say the least. But it turns out that my 3 companions were really into this scene when they were younger. Actually I quite enjoyed the night, it was an interesting experience, and the people there were very relaxed and friendly, not so worried about image or impressing people as in a regular club. At about 4am we convinced Michael it was time to leave and we made our way home. Leila and I slept like logs and only woke up when Michalel's phone rang in the room Leila and I were sharing. Leila was cranky and cursing him for leaving him phone with us, and stormed into his bedroom to give him his phone. But then we realised it was midday, and were quite thankful that something woke us before we slept the whole afternoon away.
Today the 3 tourists went on a ferry trip through the canals and along the River Spree. It was a nice sunny day, and it was a good way to see lots of the city. However, it was about 2 hours too long, and the all-German commentary didn't do much for me, and even for the German speakers it was amusing. Lots of detail was given about very insignificant things, while we passed big beautiful official looking buildings without comment. We were bored and silly by the end of it, but it was enjoyable anyway. This evening we explored Kreuzberg some more, and had a fantastic dinner at a Turkish restaurant by the canal. It was really wonderful...good food, good service, and good company. Once again, the girls getting stuck into Michael and him blaming Leila for everything.
Leila's German and English is getting scrambled and I think she i getting frustrated with herself. Of course, she speaks both languages perfectly normally, but switching between the 2 is doing her head in I think!
Tomorrow we climb a tower, do some shopping, and farewell Michael.
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