Nikolaiviertel

What a city Berlin is. It has such a free, accepting, non-judgemental vibe. Graffiti, squats, community living, no bras, no bling and of course vegan everything. The streets and parks are unbelievably clean, and the people are so laid back, welcoming and full of smiles and vivacity. It feels safe and wholesome.
We arrived late at night but the train to the city centre was clean (apart from a pile of vomit), bright and on time. We decided to walk the 45 minutes to our home exchange. What a wonderful way to be initiated into Berlin. I soon realised that unlike in the UK or Portugal, I didn't need to scrutinise the dark pavement; there simply was NO dog mess to avoid even in the alleyways.
I could talk for hours about the genius of the home exchange system. I often thought it was such a waste that homes are empty as people travel and we give our money to hotels living in impersonal boxes often without even a window. Home exchange is the answer!! We had received detailed instructions from our host Angel and easily found the key in the lockbox on the bicycle outside the apartment complex. It took some investigating to find the lift in the dark but then we were in his bright apartment and now it's our temporary home for a week, for free. It's perfect. All the work getting my home ready for home exchange was worthwhile. Watch out world, here we come!
Our 1st full day in Berlin was spent just walking and absorbing the city, oh and putting Chakra Shaker (and Wild Flower) stickers up. The art on the old Berlin wall, the graffiti everywhere, the green parks, the bridges and canals. Free, earnest people just going about their business. No tourist shops or particularly obvious tourism.
We wandered back towards the apartment through Kreuzberg, which is so, so cool and then happened upon a window display advertising events at 'Wild at Heart'. What a thrill to see our poster front and centre. A surreal twist for the squarest girl at school to be headlining on a Saturday night at the coolest club in the coolest zone of the coolest city! I was writing to Paul on the plane and said that I often feel numb, like I've been sleeping in snow. Well, playing rock n roll is the defrost, living in the microwave for a couple of hours.
And the food report for the day is not entirely what I expected, but delicious. A marzipan croissant, green chilli fried chicken and a vinaigrette coleslaw.... and a delicious pasty stout..... and a cherry porter.
We're meeting the incredibly generous Marcus from 'Frontal Uranus' today. He is not only providing us with drums and backline but is now also driving us to our gig tonight and setting up a show on Friday.... all in exchange for opening for us on Saturday night. We've never even met him. The contact came from Grimm, an old school, true punk friend of Joe's. Grimm has bent over backwards to help. Sadly, he's no longer in Germany, so we won't meet him. ... something to do with being arrested for wearing a Palestine style scarf.... maybe not such a free city after all!Read more