My Backpacking Memoirs

Berlin - 24/03/2017 - 29/03/2017

I paid some amount of Euros and got a wrist band and then followed the bar crawl people to the first bar. I did not really meet anyone and was on my own, bar crawls on your own can be hit and miss. If you don't meet anyone you end up standing on your own, awkwardly trying to talk to strangers. The first bar gives me a free shot of vodka. I had never drank vodka or a shot before, just the name "shot" makes it sound strong so I was cautious. The Canadian man reassured me that its not that much alcohol and I will be fine. So I drank it.

The next bar was only a 5 minute walk and I get another shot, still trying to analyse how drunk I will get from the first shot I don't drink it immediately. But after a while I realise I'm not even beginning to feel drunk so I drink the 2nd shot. I then order a beer at the bar. Again I have difficulty speaking to anyone and the Canadian man is busy with his new female friend. This bar also had a strange vibe, the dance floor was empty and someone was selling cocaine inside. After a while I decide to step outside to think for a while to decide if I should cut my losses and go back to the hostel.

I leave the door, walk up the steps and bump into the two Korean women I briefly spoke to earlier. They were talking together outside, I'm not sure why, maybe they had the same idea as me. I started speaking to them, one was visiting from Korea the other lived in Berlin and spoke okay English. Within a 10 minutes of talking about travel plans out of the blue they informed me that they were already in relationships. I said okay, not sure how I should have responded to such a blunt statement but I had no plans to "woo" them anyway.

We spoke for so long that the bar crawl was leaving the bar and moving onto the next one. I carried on with the bar crawl after making friends with the Korean women. It was a good decision as the next bar was fun, it had a white decor and was packed with German speakers. The dance floor was horrifically busy with everyone touching and bumping into each other. I ordered a 2nd beer and after drinking it quickly me, the two Korean woman and also the Indians from earlier all started dancing. I was still unsure of what I was supposed to do when dancing, the local Germans were just like the French in Paris, very good at it. But the Indians were worse than me, they gave me cover because along side them I looked like a regular club goer.

We spent about an hour here and I had a few more beers, now the most I had drunk in one night. We were told the bar crawl was moving to the next bar but some of the group wanted to stay here as it was so fun. Thankfully the Korean women and Indians all went onto the next bar with me. We walked for a bit and then I was told that I needed to take the metro to get there. I quickly paid for a ticket and jumped on board.

We arrived, got off the train and had a short walk to the next club. We walked in and the place was huge, multiple rooms all with different kinds of music, styles and lighting. I walked around on my own and lost contact with everyone. I had no idea where I should put my coat, the club had no chairs or tables. After about 20 minutes of walking around I found a cloak room and I think I paid a Euro to have it put away.

I then went out on a mission to find everyone else. I bought another beer and eventually found the Indian guys awkwardly dancing together in a circle. The Korean women eventually joined us as well. Our dance floor had a cage, and you could climb inside and dance. Me and the Korean women then ended up dancing in this cage together. I then climbed up the cage but was pulled down by an angry, bald, muscle bound bouncer, who after pulling me down became really friendly for some reason. Perhaps he knew I had no idea what I was doing, or maybe the fact that I was also really happy and my smile disarmed him. What an interesting group I thought to myself. Everyone else here was dressed up and knew what they were doing, but not us.

It was getting really late and the Korean women left the club first, then the Indians went and I was alone. The club was still really busy and I tried to find the Canadian man who I had not seen in a few hours now but I had no luck. I decided it was time to go home so I grabbed my coat and headed down to the metro, it was now cold outside and I had no idea where I was. I got my phone out, it had almost no battery. I turned down the brightness to save power and used my GPS to figure out what train I needed to catch to get back.