I have a lot of good things to say about Berlin, but right now, it's 3:30 AM, and the only thing on my mind is that THERE'S A FREAKING RAT IN MY ROOM. I woke up at 1 in the morning (after a measly 1.5 hours of sleep) to scampering, and when I looked at the ceiling, something big and black ran across it. I DID NOT KNOW THAT RATS CAN RUN ON CEILINGS. I ran out of my room and downstairs, but since I'm staying in a Pension and not a Hotel, there's no front desk, just an office. And there's no one there. I'm sorry, but god forbid someone injured themselves or needed serious help at this hour, and there's no one there?
(I'm currently holed up in the bathroom of my room. Thankfully I have my own bathroom. I don't know what I'd do otherwise. Although it's freaking HOT in here.)
So since there was no one downstairs, I walked outside to see if the bar next door was still open. Naturally no. I walked a little further and saw a 24 hour Currywurst place which is, of course, next to a 24 hour sex shop with prostitutes outside. So I grabbed a coffee there quickly, but didn't want to stick around. So I came back to my room and sat quietly on my bed for a while. Then I heard clanking. THE RAT IS IN THE RADIATOR. IN THE FREAKING RADIATOR. And it was probably there last night too and I just DIDN'T KNOW IT. OH MY GOD. Where is it leaving its bodily wastes???? And what if it touched my stuff while I was gone?! I have 40 Euros worth of Merino Wool sitting on the table! GOD DAMN IT! This is rather unsettling...
(One of the many reasons why New York is the best city in the world - there are 24 hour diners on every block, so when shit like this happens, there's refuge to be had.)
I guess since I'm stuck in here for like 3 more hours I'll write about the amazing day I had.
I woke up at 8:00, showered (in a real shower! In Kassel, my bathroom just had a tub and a shower wand, without a curtain, which was weird,) and ate my breakfast at the Pension, which is included in the price of the room (woohoo!). At about 9:30 I headed out and took the U-Bahn for the first time. It's pretty neat, but I don't like it as much as the NYC Subway. For one thing, the cars aren't air conditioned, and it was over 90 degrees today. Also, the trains are about 1/3 the length of the platform (like the G train, for those who are familiar). I just think that's silly. If the trains are going to be so short, why make the platforms so long? But anyway, it's quick and clean, so it does what it's supposed to. Plus there are two different stations for two different train lines near my Pension, so that's convenient. I took the train a couple of stops and then walked to Schloss Charlottenburg, the old "summer estate" of Mad King Ludwig.
The Schloss Garten was free to enter and wander around, so I did that rather than pay 12 Euros to tour more Royal Apartments (I saw plenty in Kassel. There's only so much silk wallpaper that one can see.) I stayed in the Garten - which was nice and shady! - until about 11 and then ventured out into the city again. I went to The Berggruen Museum, which is connected to two other buildings that I can't remember the name of. The Berggruen Museum had a lot of Picasso and Matisse, both of whom I like, so that was worth the 12 Euros to begin with. And THEN, in the other building, there was an excellent Surrealist exhibit and in the last building, a LOUISE BOURGEOUIS EXHIBIT! (For those of you who don't know me too well, I'm in love with her.) I got to see some sculptures that I saw at the Guggenheim Retrospective, but also a lot of new pieces. There's this great sewn and stuffed sculpture that she did called "Woman," which is the bald, naked torso of a woman attached to a mattress with a vaginal opening - and she made it when she was like 90.
After the Museum, I ate lunch in the Museum Cafe for 4,5 Euros.
Eine Tomatentasche mit Kaffee. Yum!I timed it so that I left the museum around 1, which took away from some time in the heat, thankfully. I took the train south a little to Katharinenstrasse, simply so I could take a picture of it, and then headed back to Berlin Mitte to catch the game. I was going to go to Strasse des 17. Juni, where 500,000 people go to watch the game, but I decided that, alone, it wouldn't be my cup of tea. So I followed two guys wearing German flags as capes and ended up northward. They went to a party, but I found an Indian restaurant on a street where every restaurant had a TV outside so people could watch the game. I ate some damn good Samosas, drank two beers, and enjoyed watching Deutschland "schlag" Argentina. Then the whole city celebrated - car horns, vuvuzelas, and cheers and songs. It was pretty exciting! It seems like Germany has a really good shot at Weltmeisterschaft now!
And then there was this:
A Bier Bike. Those things shouldn't go together, but they did. (It's a bar in the middle of this thing, and all of the patrons pedal.)
I hear birds. Almost time for me to flip out about the rat.
Tschüss dann,
(A very sleepy) Katharine
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