Berlin: Day 2/3

Day 2 in Berlin was mostly a rest and recovery day for me. After two and a half weeks of exploring half a dozen cities and partying every night, my body just needed a breather. Plus, I wasn't completely done being a bit under the weather (which began in Bruges about a week prior), but now that we had bought ourselves an extra day in town I knew it was affordable to relax and just chill out for the day. In fact, most of that day was spent around the hostel, sleeping or posting more blog entries--which has been harder to keep up with than I had expected!

That second night, we hung out at the hostel bar again, but I took it easy and just chatted with a few new friends. Myself and a few others grabbed a late bite at a Vietnamese restaurant down the street and pretty much went to bed after another hour or so back at the bar.

The next day was much more exciting. I woke up early-ish (8am is early by our backpacker standards) and took the bahn to East Berlin to see one of the three major segments that remain of the Berlin Wall. Graffiti art decorated the entire 1.2km span of wall on the east-facing side, which was just a few meters from the river on the west side. We would later learn that the wall, though relatively short in height, was meant to be a part of several barriers to separate East and West Berlin. The artwork was colorful and varied, with artists coming from all over the world to express themselves and their take on the Wall and the message they hoped to pass along to visitors through their creative work.

I made it back to the hostel just in time to meet up with some friends and Joanie and catch a bahn to the Parisier Platz, where our free walking tour would begin. Our guide, James, was from England and had studied history in university, and had been living in Berlin for 4.5 years. He had all sorts of great stories to share with us as we explored the center of the city and all its fascinating historical spots.

The Holocaust Memorial was different but very interesting and powerful, and left me with lots more to think about--like the war memorial had in Hamburg a couple days before.

The rest of the tour was terrific, as we walked by old Nazi buildings and over the hidden spot of Hitler's bunker (the last place he was, before he poisoned and shot himself--just to ensure his own death), another segment of the Berlin Wall, a few communist sites like the famous Checkpoint Charlie (the third guarded checkpoint between East and West up until the Wall fell in 1989), the square where tens of thousands of books were burned prior to World War II, the prestigious Humboldt University (where the likes of Albert Einstein could have been found once upon a time), Museum Island (a central area where many of the best museums in town can be found), plus many, many more fascinating sites. There really is no shortage of things to learn about Berlin, as history seems to come to life with every corner you turn, as you can practically transport yourself through time--sometimes to several different time periods at one site alone.

The tour came to a close, and we thanked James repeatedly and also received some tips on fun places to go out that third and final night in Berlin. We parted ways with our friends from the tour and made our way back to our hostel to get ready for the reason we were staying that third night in the first place: Green Day!

Seriously, can't believe how awesome the show was. I figured I'd hear some old songs I used to know from the days when I used to love their music, way back in middle school, a half a lifetime ago. But man, did they put on a great show. I didn't know the first band (All Time Low), and they were good but fairly forgettable. The next band (Angels & Airwaves) was good, and I actually have one of their albums so I recognized several of the songs they played and enjoyed their set.

But Green Day. Wow. They work so hard up there, you can just tell how much fun they're having and what veteran performers they are. After sustaining success for nearly 20 years I guess it's no wonder. Though the ticket prices seemed a bit steep two days before, it was easy to say that we had more than gotten our money's worth--and how many opportunities am I going to have to see such a legendary band play a venue overseas?

Walking out of Wuhlheide Stadium wearing my new Green Day t-shirt, I was pumped up and ready to go out on our last night in town. After stopping by the Alexanderplatz to meet up with Valérie (who arrived in Berlin earlier that afternoon) we stopped by our hostel and met up with a few other friends before heading east to Friedrichshain, a neighborhood loaded with bars and underground style clubs typical of East Berlin (as recommended by our tour guide, James). As run down and shady as the neighborhood looked, it was quite a pleasant place to go out and had a pretty laid back and unassuming ambiance. I managed to visit two different clubs after the Russian themed bar we started at, and eventually made it back to the hostel--at around sunrise. It was one of the most jam-packed, fun filled days yet. I was tired, to say the least, but I was glad to have done it all and knew I'd have about five hours to sleep on the train ride to Prague.