Germany 1: out and out in Spreewald with pickles

We got to Berlin after 10 pm, and went for a massive strawberry margarita at Erdbeer Bar in Mitte. It was pretty quiet, but the bartender told us of a few parties to go to. Apparently it works like this in Berlin, you have ask to find fun parties; even the good stores are promoted by word of mouth only. This made going out in Berlin a bit of a drag, but we did make it out that night to Ballhaus Ost in Prenzlauer Berg. I ran into a guy there wearing an Otto Von Schirach shirt - Holgar - I guess he booked Otto there a few times. Small world stuff.

Next morning, we took a day trip. Our wonderful hosts Juergen and Francys, seen above, indulged me in a slow boat ride in Spreewald - pickle territory! They call them gurkens, and they were delicious! If you see in that picture up there, there's a gurken riding the gondola-like boats on which we took our leisurely cruise (below), through the Spreewald waterways. This area is actually protected by UNESCO as a biosphere reserve. As you'll notice, though, there were mostly oldies on this snail ride, and Eddie fell asleep halfway through. The whole tour was in German, so I had no clue what was going on. The river was lined with different art pieces. My favorite is this sleeping lady with pickles hanging overhead. I had a wonderful time there, and I ate like 20 pickles, yummy bratwurst, and chilled the fuck out. If you know me, you know I love pickles, sausages and things of that sort...



All the birds in Germany were GIGANTIC. Look at the immensity of this swan. I couldn't even capture how massive it was, but compare it to that bench in the background. There were huge birds all over Berlin. They were like pterodactyls. Alfred Hitchcock must have lived in Berlin before making The Birds.