Into the East: Berlin for the New Years week

Monday, January 5

Berlin for the New Years week

My good friend Waltsu asked me to join them for New Years in Berlin and so I did! Not much happening in Helsinki anyway...Have not been spent a new years there in many many years and was not planning on doing so now.

We toured around Berlin city to the "usual" tourists spots and all kinds of cool underground clubs I always wanted to see. Techno in this city is amazing, and the party in many places go on for 3 days or more! Our Bunker party is no match for this but at least the closest thing there is in China. I was only here 10 months ago but so many new buildings in downtown. It's probably one of the fastest growing cities in Europe at the moment. Prices here are super reasonable and it's such a fun city. Histroy, food, retro places, music, party, underground things, artists and what not. Berlin is a MUST see place if you haven't been here.

And Jerry, good luck with everything in your new home. It was really amazing that you drove alone on your motorbike all the way from Beijing to Berlin! Awesome!

Bye bye Helsinki airport for a week

Figuring out how it was again to change between S-bahns and U-bahns

First night we went to a friends house party, they had 5 DJ's there. They take house party serious here :)

and some pingpong when only drinking beer gets boring

Some dude had made this massive metal animal. Haha what a work of art

Went to some really cool places that night: Stattbad & Golden Gate. Stattbad is an old abandoned public swimming centre and Golde n Gate is some kinda bomb shelter under a bridge. They said no pictures at Stattbad and it was dark as well so nothing from there. Below Golden Gate.

Just Bier, keep it simple and forget labels

Nuff said

You find a lot of staircases like this here, at Rosenthaler Platz

Cool exhibition at one of the shops, everything only made of cardboard

Stockholm!! Is a....no idea

First thing you see when you walk in a bar at Rosenthaler Platz

Rosenthaler Platz

Bridge over Kreuzberg

S-Bahn

One of the few blue sky days, kids happy in the park. Berlin parks are....

Ritter Butzke, one really cool club with 3 rooms. You actually have to go out and change the building when you want to go to a different room. Kinda cold in the winter

Many Chirstmas markets still up in downtown. Stop for some bratwurst and Gluhwein. This was a day of sightseeing.

Jewish memorial, seen it many times but never covered in snow

Brandenburg Tor

Part left of the Berlin wall

What would a tour around the city be without Checkpoint Charlie. It was here you could enter from West to East Berlin before. Soviet Union on one side and the Allied Forces on the other. The DDR was not a free place to live in. If interested in history, watch the movie called THE LIVES OF OTHER. It was awarded as best foreign movie in 2006. It's about a Stasi agent who gets very attached to the people he is "surveilling"