Friday - Couch Surfer Meetup

On Friday night there was another large Couch Surfer meetup to be held this time at place called 'Tresspasser Bar' which was apparently going to be big enough to hold everyone.

Again a few people were meeting for food beforehand so I decided to go along. We walked for about 20 minutes to a Persian place that was said to be pretty good. Unfortunately it didn't serve alcohol and didn't even let us drink our own alcohol there, which we didn't find out until an Aussie called Ben had come back from buying us a bottle each. They wouldn't even let us put them in the fridge, very unreasonable I'd say. However, the food was excellent and very reasonably priced.

It's good to get to the 'pre-meet meals' as there are usually only a few people and it allows you to get to know them a bit better than when your in a bar full of people.

After we'd eaten we ambled back towards Tresspasser Bar along Kastanien Allee, walking past 'Ben and Jerry's Scoop Shop' which I'd seen the previous time I'd been to Berlin but not been to (more on that later though). We arrived back at the bar around 8:45 so there were only three other people there. I ordered what I thought was just a normal beer but turned out to be beer with lemonade in. It wasn't exactly terrible, but it's not something I'd choose to drink again.

By 9:30 a few more people had arrived and by 10:30 the place was heaving, drinks were flowing and everyone seemed to be having a good time. I managed to get a comfy seat at a long table and talked to a fair few people, and made a point this time of getting numbers. I also had another long chat with fellow Yorkshireman Dan (incidentally, his 'how do you know Will' on Couch Surfers reads "Worked together down t'mines 20 years").

Around 12:30ish I left the the bar with an American girl called Nari and an Argentinian guy (who was couch surfing in Berlin) called Lean and went to a club near Jannowitz-bruke. Now, to go to a good club in Berlin you have to prove your worth and that you are there for the music by finding it, a much harder task than you may think as most clubs (like the place I went to a couple of weeks ago) are hidden in the oddest of places. So after a fair amount of wondering, we found it. Like the club I'd been to before it was essentially just two small rooms. The music however was excellent and we stayed there until around 3:30. Before leaving I made the foolish mistake of going to use the toilet but it was clearly only there to facilitate the use of drugs, so I made a swift departure and used the 'facilities' outside.

We left around 3-3:30am and the plan was to head onto another club called Arena but by that point I was exhausted so headed home, leaving the other two to search for the next club. Clubbing in Berlin is supposed to be amazing which I don't dispute, but I think to fully appreciate it you need to have spent most of the day asleep, otherwise without a 'boost' of energy you just can't last the whole night. Well, I can't anyway.

Ironic really as I've had plenty of all-night gaming sessions and managed fine, but I guess they are somewhat less strenuous physically.