Traveling solo is the least lonely way to travel. With each new city come new faces, new friends, and new adventures. In Budapest I met Cassy and Mitch form Australia. Then, I ran into them in Prague. In both cities, we had a wonderful time and decided to meet up in Berlin. Around 4am we met a group of Berliners and decided to all take our photo in a photoautomat – an outdoor photo booth popular throughout Berlin.
Six people in a small photoautomat, especially when one person is approaching 7ft tall, proved impossible. Instead, we opted for a photo with the photoautomat.
At 4am, you never expect plans to actually happen (or even be remembered) but partly out of politeness I invited everyone to meet at Burgermeister at 1pm the following day.
Burgermeister is one of Berlin’s finest dining experiences…located in a converted public restroom under the U-Bahn. It is a favorite among locals that I found my previous visit to Berlin. I thought it would be an easy meeting location since it is right underneath the U Schlesisches Tor U-Bahn stop..and frankly, it is delicious.
I arrived the following day honestly anticipating having lunch alone. To my surprise, the entire crew from the night before arrived! The tallest boy showed up with a professional camera, a huge bag that he would not disclose what was inside, and a very elaborate plan to show us around Berlin.
First stop was an abandoned warehouse in Kruezberg. The warehouse is part of a neighborhood entirely void of gentrification and inhabited by the anarchist punk community in Berlin, commonly known as the “archo-punks”. Neighborhoods like this one are at the heart of Berlin, yet not mentioned in any travel books. I’ve spotted the “archo-punk” type around Berlin but I had no idea of the sheer number of people who identify with this counter culture group. Frankly, I always though “punk” was just a fashion statement. In Berlin, “punk” is a way of life.
With dark eye makeup, colored hair, piercings, leather and studded clothing, drugs, loud music, gnarly gazes and overall griminess – the “archo-punk” community was everything I expected it to be. It felt unnatural to be in their neighborhood, yet slightly bizarre to realize that I was in a neighborhood. This was a community of people, doing life together, living by their own rules. As an outsider looking in, they did not live by my standards. Yet, as they peered at me, I did not live by their standards. I was an outsider in their world, and they intentionally chose to be outsiders from the mainstream world.
The top of the beautifully derelict building – a spectacular view of Berlin!
We finally found out what was in the huge bag Toby carried around all day…
BAGPIPES. HE PLAYED THE BAGPIPES FOR US. These are stories that can only happen on the road.
In one gaze I looked at the Fernsehturm in the Alexanderplatz and this anarchist community:
Our Berlin friends also took us to a lake, to Curry 36 – the best currywurst in Berlin, and to have drinks by the Berlin Wall. A big thanks to our transatlantic friends for spending a day showing us around – the locals know best!
