My alarm went and I got up, ripped up some cardboard boxes into signs and made breakfast. The nerves were kicking in and therefore I immediately forgot my two peanut butter sandwiches and headed off to the IKEA where we started our journey. While hitchhiking we encountered all sorts of people: some going to work, others heading back home from vacation and we even got a lift from a man who was going hunting for wild boar. The most memorable lift we got was from two girls in their white/beige Fiat 500 going shopping in Köln. The little fiat got a flat tire on the Autobahn, this unfolded itself into a new adventure as we found our way through farmland to get off the Autobahn on the search for a hitchikeable road. The hitchhiking part of our trip would soon be over as we decided to call it a day, looking back on many interesting and unexpected turn of events while enjoying a schnitzel and some beers in the biergarten in Duisburg before taking the Flixbus through the night to Berlin. Half awake but ready for the city we treated ourselves with croissants, orange juice and prosecco.
While exploring the city I found Berlin to have a rough character in terms of architecture: big colossal concrete buildings, wide streets and remains of industry that mostly left the city center. The amount and scale of community initiatives is amazing, these initiatives fill up otherwise unused spaces or create new ones resulting in a vibrant city life. Examples that we encountered were a bar on top of a parking garage; Tempelhof, a huge park what used to be an airport; Mauerpark what used to be part of the death strip between the two walls and now is a huge attraction on Sundays for its flea market and live music.
Berlin has to offer something for everything and everyone, from history to nightlife and from flea markets to currywürst mit extra sosse. All who went enjoyed Berlin to the fullest in their own way making this trip so great. I think everyone left the city looking back on a very fun trip.
Joep
