Berlin

Berlin is not a city! 

It’s an experience, a joyride.

Berlin is an emotion! 

Yes, we all come (well, most of us…) from cities with amazing night life and stunning places of interest. But this city offers so much more. 

And if you’ve ever been to Berlin, you’d surely know what I am talking about!

I was there for a short trip and… I never, NEVER, thought I could experience so much in two small days! 

No, I’m not going to make my usual “to do” list for Berlin! It would be impossible to make it in a proper way for a city that’s so full of life, lively, vibrant. Too much is always happening here! Go to Berlin on any weekend in summer and you’ll be spoilt for choice. Berlin will make you experience things that you didn’t even know existed. 

Here is a glimpse of my weekend in Berlin <3

Stayed at this amazing budget property – H’Otello K’80 – which my friends – is right next to two different metro stops! That makes it so easy for you to go to so many places!

Started my day with this delicious breakfast and coffee.

Later with our stomachs full we headed towards the Brandenburg Gate – it is magnificent!

Me and my friends then headed to the park 🙂 You already know which park I am talking about, don’t you? 😀 

Tiergarten. Right!!

There, we set up a cute little picnic under a nice shady tree. Some food, amazing wine and the most incredibly perfect weather for a picnic at the park!

That’s when a friend of mine told me that somewhere in this park there was a tree with the lyrics of the song “Stand by Me” by Ben E. King engraved on it. 

I HAD to go find that tree 🙂

So my friends and me, following some incredibly vague instructions that we found on the internet, set off to find it 🙂  

No prize for guessing what happened next! The thing is, this park isn’t a tiny one. It is over 600 acres of land and we had no clue about which part of the garden this tree would be in!!

Took us 2 hours to find it! But the fun we had trying it made it all the more so much special.

Since I forgot any nearby landmarks, well, I cannot help you in finding where the tree is 😀 

So you guys will have to experience my little adventure for yourself. Trust me it is more fun that way. In a sense, my forgetfulness is my gift for you… 😛

Here’s a little video of our ‘BenK adventure’. Despite my friends’ efforts to ensure I didn’t get a perfect shot, somehow I still managed 😀

But I’ve left that footage in, so there are some frames where my friends pop in front of my camera <3

I loved walking around this park – it is beautiful <3

Next we headed to towards the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.
It will leave you speechless.

Next stop was a friend’s apartment to freshen up where my Spanish friend tried teaching us some Spanish and I tried teaching him Hindi 🙂 We sat in the balcony and watched hoards of bicycles pass on the street below us! By hoards I meant thousands of them! My friend told me that this was the prep for tomorrow’s CSD ( Christopher Street Day ) which is Berlin’s Pride Parade. I remember feeling so excited to be a part of the parade!

But we had one more thing left to do before calling it a night – we visited an underground bar! The vibe that the bar had was so surreal. Jazz music and red lights and a vintage bar counter!! The name of the this amazing joint is Bravo Bar.

Personally – I am not a huge party person and rarely go clubbing. Going to this bar made me realize that I am not against clubbing, I am against clubbing in modern bars that cities like Mumbai boast of! Give me a vintage underground Jazz bar and you’ll find me there every night – dancing my worries away!

Look at the neon sign right above the dance floor. It says “Here is where you shine.”

Next day I woke up nice and early, had a proper breakfast and got ready for my first ever pride parade 😀

Words fall short.. There is no way I can describe the feelings I went through during the 6 hours of this parade! Ever been in a crowd of thousands of people – being a hundred percent their true selves – where nobody NOBODY is going to judge you for anything!

Love is too beautiful to be hidden in the closet. Have a look –

After the parade we headed to Cocolo Ramenbar X-Berg for some Ramen. They have a lot of vegetarian options as well. TIP: ask the server to make your bowl extra spicy – de-Li-cious!

Evening we sat on by the street coffee in our hands and watched a roller skate race.

This is a snap I took from my hotel room on my last night at Berlin –

Till next time Berlin <3

Copyright for the song used in the video is with the Artist Ben E King and licenced to WMG (on behalf of Atlantic Records); Sony ATV Publishing, UNIAO.