Thoughts about the Berlin night (and other things :) )

This last Friday I decided I should check out what the nightlife looks like in Berlin. I did not have many pointers on where to go apart from what my books about Berlin told me. So I figured I'd check out the Savignyplatz (Savigny square) and it's surroundings, as I saw two jazz clubs mentioned in that region, and it was supposed to be one of those places where young people spend their time. I did not go directly to the square, because I wanted to have a short walk and this way I was able to spare a few stops and changes on the U-Bahn. The walk in the evening was nice, the weather was not that cold, and there were not too many people. On the other hand, there weren't many on the places they supposed to be either... All the bars were just full of elderly tourists or families finishing a dinner. Most probably everyone went there because they read this and that about the square in their own Berlin books, but still...You can most probably read about Ráday utca in every newish book about Budapest, and it's full of young locals nevertheless. Here, I only saw a few punks strolling in the area, and some young people who were there with their parents :) And also the bars...Every place is just a restaurant, everything is well lit, and nothing looks like a “proper” pub or bar. Even the jazz places were completely different from the ones I was to in Amsterdam, and it's not that these would have been better. The Dutch ones were smaller, cozier, and let people be close to the artists, to the music... Here, I did not even notice these were music bars, they just looked like all the other restaurants. It might be that I was there too early, but if 10 pm is too early than I don't know when life would at least look like it was starting to happen.

The trip was not in vain though, I've found a grocery store which is open every day, including Sunday, up till 10pm! This is one thing to treasure here in Germany, as in the evenings and on Sundays you can get whatever you need only at petrol stations or small newsstands and the like in U-Bahn stations for example. Bakeries and restaurants are an exception. When we were in Aachen (next to the Dutch “border” in Western Germany) last winter, we had to go to a nearby Dutch town to get some food for our trip back home to Hungary, since we started on a Sunday. So here, I know a place now.

Oh, and about me knowing places...I've already helped tourists find their way twice here in the city :D The first time I tried to help Spanish tourists (in Spanish of course), but I was lucky since the figured stuff out themselves. I mean, I knew how to help them, but they were so happy that I seem to speak Spanish, that they started to speak so quickly, I almost did not notice when to nod that they are right about the way they chose :) The second time I helped an elderly American couple (at least I think they were from the States based on their accent), this was right here in the U-Bahn station next to my apartment – so I knew quite well how to get to the S-Bahn station next to it :) So I'm almost like a local now :D Actually, it was only today I almost got lost for the first time, but luckily I did not reach the metro going the wrong direction :) Not that one could really get lost here with a map :) Metros go everywhere, and with a few connections one can get anywhere.

But now, a little bit closer to the original subject again :) The other thing I wanted to write about is the number of people of Berlin, in general, not only at night. I mean I've never seen a real crowd here since I've been here. I think I travel at around rush hour twice a day, and I still have to see so many people on public transport as I can on the tram no. 6 or the bus no. 7 at home. Or a traffic jam, for that matter. I'm not sure how exactly road traffic is in Berlin since I've only taken public transport until now, but I've only seen the traffic flowing, not stopped in a long row. That's quite surprising knowing how many “Staus”, traffic jams there are on the highways.

Well, no more thoughts for now :)

M.

PS. I wrote this post on Sunday evening, and this Monday morning there were a lot of people on the U-Bahn... Maybe I should also write about stuff I'd love to happen, it might turn real too :)