After slugging out six shifts in five days last week at the pub in Salzburg, I’ve escaped to the north for a few days of exploring in Berlin!

My train pass is soon to expire, so I was excited to have the opportunity to get a few more days of travel while it’s still good. The railpass has turned out to be an excellent value, considering that the trip to Berlin would have cost me around 200€, and the pass was around 350€.

The train ride was long, albeit quite enjoyable. I spent about half of my time reading a book, and the other half laughing and chatting with a bubbly German girl who is studying the art of toy making and design. Quirky. We talked about our plans for the future, mine consisting of moving to bigger cities, continuing travels and starting up a business. Hers consisted of landing a sweet job with a toy-maker and getting her drivers license.

Berlin’s been a great buzz since my arrival. The public transport is hands-down incredible, and finding my way to a friends’ flat was simple and painless. My stay here for the last couple days have been a blast, not doing much beyond partying, shopping and a bit of site-seeing.

The shopping here has been incredible, and hard to turn away. I wasn’t planning on making any major Euromods to my wardrobe until I was close to coming home, but it’s just too good to turn away. There are countless second hand shops in the vicinity, but I’ve actually chosen to buy some new clothes, as most of the second hand stuff seems to be coming from North America anyways! Tim Horton’s hockey jerseys, summer camp shirts from Oregon and YMCA volunteer shirts from the west coast. Honestly! I keep wondering just how the stuff gets here… Toss it on an empty cargo ship returning to Europe from Halifax?

The nightlife has been fun, despite that we’ve been going out on Mondays and Tuesdays. On Monday we found ourselves at a salsa bar, and I was a bit amazed that that our table — made up of two Canadians, an American, an Australian, a Russian, a Dane and a Mexican — were all speaking German. On Tuesday night I was found in a bar that used to be a bit of an insider cafe catering mostly to the former East German communist party. The place was hip in a über-retro sense, with wallpaper that hadn’t been changed since sometime in the 70s.

The city is bustling with life and history. The buildings — old, new or rebuilt — are all architecturally stunning. And so many unique individuals! Haircuts are wild, clothing outrageous, and everybody seems to just want to get out and do something. Even under threatening rain clouds last night, the restaurant terraces were packed in a square where we listened to beautiful flamenco musicians while discussing local discotheks with an Italian couple.

But alas, my time in Berlin must soon come to an end. In the morning I board the train once more, to return to Salzburg tomorrow night. It is absolutely critical that I rest well tomorrow night because on Friday I must be at my best: I have been honoured with the invitation to play under the Irish flag in the Salzburg Football World Cup!! The tournament begins Friday afternoon, and will be settled in time for partying that night (or in my case, bartending). Twelve teams will butt heads in twenty minute matches, seven players to a side. I’ve been asked to play the critical role of goalie, and although I may not be the best goalie in the tournament, I DO intend to impress everybody with the uniform I have created for myself while here in Berlin. I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures.

Wish me luck!