Disillusioned in Berlin: Messy & Human
i rolled into berlin on a friday that felt like a snowstorm. the ticket number i got at the counter was 5110269, and the flight manifest read 1840003478 - both looked like random codes but felt oddly prophetic. i tried to find the gate on a cramped screen that flickered with *U-Bahn routes, a reminder that even the city’s underground can be a mess of neon. Kreuzberg was my first stop, because who doesn’t want to start a weekend in a place that smells like old vinyl and cheap curry. i bounced from the Eisbach river to the Berghain gates, taking photos of the U-Bahn signs that seemed to have their own neon language. the humidity was sitting at 90%, making my hair a static monster, and the pressure at 1009 hPa only added to the weird clinginess. i swiped open the weather app and it’s -0.02 feels like for now, the sky a heavy blanket of gray, just the kind of vibe that makes you hunch your shoulders and think about extra layers. hope you dig that kind of cold - i already bought a second scarf. i actually saw a Spree river frosting like a thin film, but no one in my group cared because they were all busy checking the Mitte food stalls on Google Maps.
if you get bored, dresden or prague are a quick train hop away, maybe even a weekend roadtrip if you feel extra adventurous. the locals i overheard at the cafe on Kreuzberg warned me that the Turkish bakery on Kastanienallee is always closed on Sundays unless it’s a holiday, which is almost never. someone told me that the Berliner Dom is overpriced on weekdays, but that was just drunk advice after three beers. the Mitte graffiti scene is supposedly the best, though i’ve heard that the real underbelly is in the Friedrichshain alleys, where neon paint meets graffiti and illegal street art sessions happen before the cops get a text. the Tempelhof old airport now holds a secret indie film festival on the runway, so bring your blanket and a cheap bottle of wine - that’s what the rumor says. i also heard that the Kreuzberg flea market on saturday has freebies that are actually stolen, but the sellers will claim it's authentic vintage.
i tried the legendary currywurst at a stall that was hidden behind a wall of Mitte street art. the vendor told me the secret sauce was a mix of ketchup and mustard, plus a pinch of Berghain hype. i ordered it, snapped a quick pic, and noticed a Yelp review that said the place was awesome but always crowded - a perfect match for my coffee snob self who needed a caffeine fix. i tried the coffee at Kaffee 79 on Görlitzer Park, it was a dirty, burnt espresso but the latte art was sick. the TripAdvisor link for the Berlin Wall Memorial is here, and the Yelp link for that hidden curry spot is here. i also stumbled on a tiny Bauhaus style bakery that sells bagels at 2 euros, and the owner insisted that they are artisan (in a way that made me roll my eyes).
the map below shows where i’ve been tripping around - feel free to zoom in and see the random patches of green i managed to stumble onto.
for visual proof, here are some random shots from Unsplash that kinda look like the city - except they’re actually from somewhere else, who cares.
i’d say the biggest takeaway is that berlin is everything at once: cold, confusing, creative, and somehow still cheap if you know where to look. i’ll be back next week - if the 5110269 thing was a warning, maybe i should be grateful. TL;DR - bring an extra layer, a good map, and a willingness to get lost in Kreuzberg. i’ve already booked a cheap hostel near the Spree (still not sure if that’s a real place) and promised myself to check out the Kreuzberg rooftop bar that serves cheap beers in empty wine bottles. also, the Eisbach river is apparently a thing for the local surf crew - you’ll see them on odd winter days, but for now it’s just a frozen skate.
Links: r/berlin, TripAdvisor Berlin Top 10, Yelp Berlin Food Guide, OpenBerlin
That’s it, folks - i’m off to hit the Berghain* queue before it fills up again.