I've learned that Berlin is the kind of place where you should avoid the temptation to throw down the gauntlet and say, "OK, bad ass capital of fun times...what you got?" Because it just may kick your tail for having challenged it so. Let's just say that getting up early to see sights is a mighty mighty challenge when you consistently are representing with the last stragglers to make it back to the hotel each morning.
And then there's the thieving. It's someplace actually as bad as advertised. On consecutive nights I've had my cell phone swiped from my jacket while it was checked, then the jacket itself taken while it sat on a table not ten feet from me. So that kind of puts a damper on things. Oh, and apparently girls from Dusseldorf assume you are a "cokehead" if you wear an Irish cap and look to be in good physical shape. They won't tell it to your face, but they'll insist it to your Aussie friends. Cocaine is a hell of a drug, as I learned only from Rick James. It's about the last thing I'd ever try. How wearing a Murphy cap and displaying your Kanonen Shau (my ridiculously badly translated version of "gun show") makes you a fiend of the white powder is a connection I'd never make! And after I refused to indulge their repeated attempts to have me strip for them. How rude.
It's time to get back to the Mitte and see more of this incredibly vibrant city. Before I do, I want to share that I had a look at our likely future in the realm of grocery store habits, and it's pretty interesting. If you're in the know, you place your plastic and glass bottles in a machine at the back of the market, which sizes them up and spits you out a receipt for your refund. And you don't get offered a bag, not plastic or even paper, for your purchases. Bring your own, or you're walking back with an armful. It's one of those days where I'm glad I took the time to pay attention to the locals. When in Berlin, do as the jelly doughnuts do (fun fact: President Kennedy famously said "I am a jelly doughnut" when he proclaimed himself "ein Berliner"). Tschuss!
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