I am in Berlin
March 18th, 2007 | Posted by Shannon
It is Sunday night here in Berlin and I am in a bizarre room with peach colored walls and a needlepoint of some flamingos drinking out of a stream in a frame that is situated just under the ceiling. The rest of the wall is bare except for bright peach and it stinks like stale cigarettes in here. But so what. I am in Berlin!
I got here last night and was picked up at the airport by Tom, Kasch, and Kasch’s dad, Wolfgang. We went to my apartment and dropped my stuff off and then immediately went to a dinner party in celebration of Kasch’s grandmother’s birthday. The restaurant, and the area where Wolfgang and Grandma live, is in an area of Berlin that is like a little village in a forest. We drove through the city and then down a dark forest road and an deer or something ran across it, and I was like where ARE we? In Berlin! Berlin has wooded areas with wild animals running across the road. Crazy.
Anyhow. We get to the restaurant and we are all in our own room – cousins, grandparents, aunts, uncles, children, and me and Tom. They had a buffet in the room with all kinds of cheese and cold meats, and goulash, and chafing dishes with roulades of beef and creamed chicken and potatoes. And this is the fantastic part – we were there for FIVE HOURS. I got up and ate stuff every hour or so, as did everyone there. Many, many, MANY beers, bottles of wine, and shots of some kind of herbal liqueur were consumed. These people are so cool, so friendly, and so accommodating… one of the cousins made a little speech about his grandma and said it in both German and English, just so Tom and I would understand.
I could have sat there all night, but then it was 1:30 AM and we were far away from the part of Berlin where we were sleeping, so we took the train back in. At one point we changed trains and the trains and the station were packed with people at 2:30 AM. The bars don’t close here until the last person has gone home.
I unpacked a little and finally crashed at four so I spent this morning sleeping. This afternoon we went and ate a schwarma and then Tom went to a rehearsal so Kasch and I sat in the window of a tapas bar in Pankow and had some wine, and later Antonia, Kasch’s daughter came and we ate a big plate of cold meats and olives and potato salad.
Last night, when Wolfgang ordered his first of about fifteen shots of some kind of herbal liqueur, I asked him “is that Underberg?” “Underberg is for CHILDREN” He yelled. Finally, I am home!
OK well the stench is sort of getting to me so I think I will mosey on back to Kasch’s. More later.
