Berlin or Bust
My second time visiting this gritty urban city, filled with history, unique nightlife and lots of beer to be consumed, Berlin never leaves me bored. My friends and I stayed in the heart of Berlin, Mitte, where we found ourselves comfortably situated in a very spacious and modern Airbnb which you can also book here. The apartment was perfectly located near transportation with parks and lots of trendy restaurants in the neighborhood. We had finally arrived at our first destination on the trip.
After settling into the apartment, we decided to walk around the neighborhood to grab ourselves some food and drinks. We chose a trendy eatery right down the street to start off our stay in the city. Unfortunatley our trendy choice in eateries turned out to be a let down. This is what a modern take on German cuisine looks like: currywurst smothered in beet juice ketchup and a side of uniquely pickled sauerkraut with sweet potato fries. Conclusion: The only way currywurst should be consumed is five beers later at the nearest street vendor closer to 3AM. No trendy add ons necessary.
More like Curry Woooooorrrrsssttt! Hard pass.
A few hours later we found ourselves in one of the liveliest parts of the city Oranienstraße, where we bar hopped around the neighborhood while uncovering Berlin's intense nostalgia for the 80's that lingered throughout every bar we visited. A few drinks later we decided to try our luck at German nightclubbing to see what all the hype was about. After an hour and half long wait outside the doors of Tresor, and watching dozens of club-goers get rejected upon entering, we anxiously awaited the same fate. With our cool demeanor, gritty looks and no f***ks given attitude at the door our disguise seemed to work and we successfully gained entry.
Let the neon lights guide you to the dance floor. Photo via @malette14
The Tresor cellar is were we first arrived. A long dark underground hallway lead us to the dance floor which was shrouded in near darkness and Tresor's signature smokey haze. The atmosphere was comparable to that of a horror movie. You couldn't see anything past a few feet in front of you because the smoke was so thick. The shadows of everyone frantically moving around you is what propelled your next move. Its a surreal moment when you realize your dancing in an old bank vault, totally unrecognizable to everyone and watching the DJ spin behind a barred hole in the wall for a stage set.
In need of a breather from the the smoky basement, which can easily feel like a sauna within minutes, we walked up to second level which offered a much more spacious area with seating and second dance floor. Drinks were reasonably priced and I was given a bar token when I picked up my drink. If you give the glass along with the token back to the bar staff you get 50c back. Not a bad deal for an easy cleanup job.
The inner tourist in me was dying to take pictures of the place but in the end I decided to keep the memory for myself. No pictures could do justice for this in person experience. It's well known to the locals that most of the big Berlin clubs are opposed any type of footage being taken with in the walls of their establishment. Capturing these moments would ruin the notoriety of what actually happens behind closed doors. Shoot at your own risk and, if caught, kicked out immediately.
A Berliner's favorite fast food, the Döner Kebap! You can't sit with us if you don't enjoy these.
My group and I stayed up till the late hours of the morning dancing to the sounds of house and the industrial techno music Berlin is most well known for. On our way home we ended up at a Kebap shop near our metro stop where we enjoyed the perfect bites of street meat at 3AM we had been craving. A successful first night out in the city at an extraordinary venue with good food has my two thumbs up.