13.05.06: Chill-in Berlin

Fye where the men sat as the girls looked for Schmuk...
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13.05.06

As a result of getting lashed and to sleep rather late, we were all comatosed until around mid-day and in comparison to yesterday's action packed and glorious weather, half the day had already passed us by and the threat of rain cast its eye as we left for breakfast. And it was a lovely sandwich shop available for very good value. Elaine and Marco were doubling up their cappucino hits which sent them into a caffeine tremor plus the sort of giddiness which makes one giggle uncontrollably and attract stares from locals and passerby's alike...my stomach was now feeling less yukky and a new lease of life was instilled in all of us. we enjoyed sitting outside until it started spitting after which we went inside for a while to continue the silliness.

i kept my eye out for the nearest seating opportunity and a chance to people watch

SCHMUK
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We had promised the girl's ample shopping time and indeed the whole day ended up accommodating this intrinsic need to buy tat :) Thus first stop was a 'short' stroll to a local market which sold all manner of foods, breads, sweets and coffees as well as whicker toilet roll holders which Nia simply couldn't resist to buy. and the four of us were hovering around this stall for what seemed an eternity to find out which shade of darkness looked best...we stopped off on the way to buy this liquorice sweet found only in Germany for a housemate and by copious, i bought a kilo...

Kaiser Wilhelm Gedachtniskiche; try spelling that when you're NOT drunk..
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We simply didnt have the energy to do more touristy stuff and long walks, but that doesnt mean i enjoyed the day less as i kept my eye out for the nearest seating opportunity and a chance to people watch at first in this nice Fye court which contained enclosed squares lined with trees and various style shops. a rather nice area to fritter away the afternoon whilst Nia and Elaine went into boutiques for clothes and accessories, and what i found most endearing: 'SCHMUK'...

Feeling knackered already and hungry again, we went to Hackerscher Markt to finally have another coffee and try out a meal which turned out to be a late lunch as our meals of Macaroni and cheese, Salads and struddel were rather heavy. We also had entertainment from the adjacent table as the girls picked up some sixth sense vibe that the couple beside us were splitting up. This was all occuring whilst Elaine murdered some chips with pepper, vinegar ketchup and salad cream all to the astonishment of our waiter. it tasted good though.

Franz Club
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On the pretense of going back to the flat for a nap before this evening, we were taken aback by Marco's insistence to take us to another shopping mecca in West Berlin which was rather like our Oxford street with many branded shops and department stores. Within this urban jungle was a unique symbol of the previously war-torn area with a cathedral which had its bomb damaged preserved. This stood out like a sore thumb in the flawless streets. The 'Kaiser Wilhelm Gedachtniskirche' was intriguing in most angles, though i couldn't help but think that it somehow didnt seem real!

hehe
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Whilst Nia went spending again for some top, me and Marco stood outside and we discussed the people who went past and how blatantly different the west berliners seemed to the east counterparts; there really is still a difference in style and attitude if you look closely enough. it's certainly very hip hop and western in this part! We spent a bit of time in Berlin's first ever department store which was now like Harrods with the shops that you would expect and the genders split to look for things we were interested in...

Life saving breakfast...
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We tarted up for our last night out and had dinner at 'Frida ______' mexican restaurant where i tried echilada suiza which was delicious and met up with Marco's friend torsten, who was pleasant (but seemed more interested in the cute girls ona different table) and an idiot called tomasz who was aggressive and plain rude in his manner. The girls went nuts on the margarhita and these apparent pretty boys a few tables away at whom they kept staring. Although i didnt really like the margerhita, i wasnt going to get away with not drinking and ended up not feeling too great when a second jug was plumped down in front of me rather unexpectedly... And we were given 20 mins to finish it as it was nearing midnight already!

We had what Torsten called a 'pit stop' before going to 'Franz club' at another strange bar with gehrish wallpaper near the toilets, where our discussions got heated about spanish people when Elaine and Tomasz were comparing notes and he continued being a right bastard... Anyways i was glad to be out of there as i was getting nauseous of the patterns on the wall...

Shouts of 'lie' were hurled at Marco, after he said the club was 'near' and we had stumbled about for what seemed an eternity...once we got there though, and i had jay-Z and Nirvana through my ears, i felt instantly better as the DJ was evidently good mixing Soft cell and 'its raining men'!! I was right as rain when i screamed 'three lions' theme back to DJ - i dont think there were many Brits there, and it seemed only me and Nia in the whole club knew what the Arctic Monkeys or Gnarls Barkely were about!! What a sweet night of dancing and how fortunate to have an hour of not humming the club anthem Paris to Berlin...

The taxi ride was hilarious. we spent the 3 euro, 10 min journey that these taxi drivers detest by making an already unpleasant experience into an almost unbearable one for the driver, as Elaine went through her German numbers 1-8 repeatedly for the duration of the journey, interspersed with 'der bruder ist arm; der vater ist nicht schlect; and her favourite: ist der garten schon?, whilst Nia and I experimented on how to greet and say thank you at a rather high volume in the presence of an embarassed but no less giggling Marco, who said some quick phrase as we left probably apologising for our race. No doubt we were the most memorable customers of his long evening!

The evening was not complete again without a now customary picture of the girls pretending to be leaving the liaison club :)