Day 28: Berlin

Tuesday, September 10

No energy today. None.
    There's a saying, something like, if you don't make time to rest, your body will choose the time for you. I may be hitting that wall.
    I have no accounting for time today. I went to bed at 2am again, and got up by 9. I didn't go back to sleep this time, i got up, got breakfast, was finally able to acquire a towel (they were out when i checked in two days ago, expecting a delivery sometime yesterday, which had not yet arrived when i asked in the morning), and took a shower...and now it is almost 1:00pm. My first movie today is at 3:15, so i barely have time to do anything beforehand, so i'm...just sitting around at the hostel again.
    I guess when my exhausted body chose a place to rest, it decided, fuck Berlin, in particular. Two days of doing nothing for you!
    I'm only seeing two movies again, and the second one is at 5:15, right after the first. So hopefully i should be done with the festival by 7:30, i might have time to go do some things after. If i have the energy, and if i can figure out what to even do.
    I was thinking about seeing the Ramones Museum today. It's not terribly far from the hostel, and it's more of a pub than a regular museum, so it might be a good spot to go get dinner and view the old punk artifacts. They serve 100% vegan food. Kinda excited about it.
    In the meantime, i guess i'll just kick back and continue to chill at the hostel. I feel bad that i'm not seeing much of Berlin, especially because it is the biggest city i've been in so far and has the most attractions that i've been interested in, and i'm gonna miss out on most of them. A lot of it is World War II stuff, though, and i don't really have the bandwidth for too much of that. I will probably at least go to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe tomorrow though, it feels like that one, at least, is essential. Maybe the Reichstag too, if i can get tickets.
    Anna and i were talking about maybe making a Germany trip next year anyway, so maybe we'll get a chance to see some more of the things then.
    In the meantime, i guess i'll just try to relax a little.

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Once again, i'll put my movie reviews in a separate post, so they can all be collated on their own later. Today i saw two movies, Breathing In, and Plastic Guns. I liked Plastic Guns quite a bit. I did not so much enjoy Breathing In.
    I also snagged a pic of just the outside of Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Cathedral in the daylight. Still did not have time to go inside.
    It was even earlier than i expected when i was leaving the theater, so i did opt to go ahead and check out 19:77, the combo vegan pub/Ramones museum. It was over an hour away by train, but what the hell else was i doing? I've failed to make much of a plan for Berlin, but this is something i wanted to see. And i only knew about it because i'd seen a flyer over by the East Side Gallery.
    After i got off the train, i still had slightly over a mile to walk to get to the place. I walked in the open front door...and it was completely empty.
    I looked around for a moment. The main room/bar didn't seem to have much, but it looked like there were some framed items in the next room. I was about to go in there when a woman in a leather jacket came in from outside.
    "Hello, do you need something?"
    "Oh, yeah, i wanted to look around a bit, and get some food."
    "Ok, is it okay if i finish smoking this quick?" She indicated a half-rolled cigarette in her hand.
    "Yeah, of course. I'm gonna look around for a bit first, take your time."
    She gave me a rundown of what i could find in each room of the museum. I thanked her, and she went outside, leaving me to peruse the collection at my leisure.
    In the room i'd been headed toward, which she described as her "favorite room," i found several framed items. The room was dominated by a huge print of a photo of Dee Dee in a jock strap, but on the other walls are the real gems of the collection: Dee Dee's leather jacket and Mickey Mouse tank top, and Johnny's pants. There are quite a few other objects displayed, including Dee Dee's wedding invitations, his original handwritten lyrics for "German Boy," and several demo tapes. There are also a number of posters, and other framed photos.

    Back in the main bar area, i found a poster for a show where the Ramones headlined over Sepultura, which is breaking my brain a little, but also god damn i wish i could have seen that show. I did see Sepultura in 2010, when there were no original members left, and they didn't play much from my favorite album of theirs. But yeah, i literally cannot in any way see them sharing a bill with the Ramones.
    In the back, there's another room with many more posters and publicity photos, original-issue vinyl, newspaper clippings, original merch, and more. It's quite a collection.
    I ordered a vegan al pastor burrito and a rum & coke. It was good! The salsas were exquisite.
    I also threw a T-shirt onto my tab. This is only the second true souvenir i've allowed myself to purchase on this trip.
    As i was paying, the bartender/hostess/possibly curator/owner? was asking me where i was from. I said United States, she said, "New York?"
    "No, Wisconsin. A little north of Chicago."
    She started asking about my trip, and when i told her i didn't really have any solid plans for where i was heading, she told me i should go to Prague. I had already wanted to go there, this is a nice endorsement. Too bad i'm heading for Paris next, getting to Prague after will be heading in the wrong direction.
    I'm still probably going to do it. I still don't know what happens between Paris and Barcelona, i still haven't made those plans. I'll figure it out when i'm in Paris.
    "What should i see and do in Prague?" i asked.
    "Literally, just walk around and look at everything. Just experience it," she said. "Also, you can probably find some punk shows."
    Perfect.
    My options for getting back to the hostel from 19:77 were a 52 minute walk, or 42 minutes by transit. I walk faster than Google Maps expects anyway, and transit schedules are immutable, unless the train is late, in which case, estimates only go up. So i figured it would be about the same amount of time either way. I'll just walk.
    I did finally pass through some sketchy areas! So far on my trip, everything has felt very homey and safe. I went through a dark park where a lot of people were standing around. As i first entered, one of them locked on to me.
    "Hey man, what's good?" he asked.
    "Hey, how are you doing?" i replied, not breaking stride.
    "Can you help me out with anything?"
    "Sorry, i don't have anything," i said, keeping on.
    There were many other people passing through the park, mostly on bikes, so it's not like i was getting into a secluded area where i would be easily picked off. But still. There were a dozen or more big guys milling around here, if things got ugly, i wouldn't stand a chance.
    I was approached by half a dozen more people during the 2.5-mile walk. I just told them i didn't have anything, and carried on. No one gave me any further trouble.

I feel like i should mention here, also, that i've had a couple other experiences in Berlin that i've forgotten to write down which were a little on the sketchy side. For example, two days ago, after i ate at Burgermeister, i was sitting out side of the Drink Shop, getting a start on those huge water bottles i bought, when i heard some commotion a little up the street. I saw a young man, walking backwards, clearly taunting an older man, who was moving toward him at a steady but angry pace. I was about ready to move anyway, so i got up and walked away, thinking i would get ahead of whatever situation was coming.
    A moment later, i heard a strange sound behind me, and turned to see the old man lifting a god damn street sign out of the ground, and then chasing the younger man with it. Literally, running with a dislodged street sign. He pursued for several meters, and then threw it like a javelin, missing, but scaring/shocking/angering the younger guy. The old man yelled some ragey things in German, and turned to go back the other way. The younger guy kept yelling, but i do not think he followed.
    I've had a couple other moments where i've seen people getting angry and shouting at each other on the street. I haven't seen this anywhere else in Europe.
    This still all seems pretty low-key, compared to, like, when you think of the stories you hear about actual rough streets. But still, what i'm saying is, Berlin seems a little rougher than any of the other cities i've been through so far.
    Niels had tried to warn me, back in Riga.
    I mean. It's still no Los Angeles. And i was never really afraid in LA, either.
    There were times that, maybe i should have been.
    It's probably fine.