Berlin, day 4

We were all pretty wiped in the morning. It was such a hot day again and the room was so stifling that there was no chance of lying in, so we all ended up having to operate on very little sleep for the whole day. Again, I thought we'd say our goodbyes and all go do our own thing, but was very pleased when we all headed out together. As the barely-knowledgable tour guides, Sach and I suggested visiting the Stasi Museum to the others, which I had not got round to seeing on my 2 previous visits to Berlin. As a subject I have read a lot about, I find the Stasi and the East German DDR a constantly fascinating subject and I consider my tedious catalogue of trivia on it better than most, but the museum was so stuffy and hot that even I was glad of the large sections of German text that we could skim past.

Stasi HQ

Erich Mielke's desk (the big man)

Afterwards, we suggested heading back to the cafe by the river next to the East Side Gallery, and after a few beers and some much needed food, we strolled along the wall to take in the fantastic artwork on display that I'd brazenly ignored 2 days previously. We then took the girls to Yaam, found some chairs on the sand and watched the pyjama-bottomed hippies go by with a few more beers. I think, probably due to our fatigue, we had some of our strangest conversations there. By the way, and I have no idea when I'm going to get the time to write it, but be on the lookout for my trilogy of stories about Bennett Neesom and his continuing struggle against his evil nemesis, the Poo King. They will be written under my pen name, Jack Sharkrider. Yeah.

We went back to the hostel to clean up and change before heading out for the rest of the evening. I suggested Potsdamer Platz as, being the financial and more commercial area of town, it would be very different from everything else we'd seen. Everyone took the piss out of me and accused me of talking rubbish when I pointed out the building at Potsdamer Plat 5 and explained its disjointed lines and optical illusion-esque perspective was why it is one of my favourite buildings in the world. They claimed they couldn't see what I was on about, but as we crossed the square more of what I'd described became apparent to them, although I'm still waiting on apologies.

We headed to the Sony centre and found a place to have dinner, where both Sach and I ordered the pork knuckle, purely out of curiosity. It looked a lot more manageable in the menu pictures, but when it turned up, I found myself staring at a whole joint that would have done a family of 3 for Sunday roast. It was accompanied by potato dumplings and sauerkraut, which didn't make it any easier to tackle. We both tried our best, but hardly made a dent and the waiter mockingly scoffed when I made the universal sign of "I'm so full I may die".

The Sony Centre

We popped into Andy's diner over the road from the Sony Centre for another drink. I know going to an American theme place in Germany is pretty lame, but it was on the way and nothing else appeared to be open. We spent a long time mocking the artwork on their menus, which, in retrospect, was maybe why the waitress was so cold with us. Then we hopped into a cab back to our hostel, hoping the bar would be open, but it wasn't. After a wander round Alexanderplatz, we found the only place still serving drinks; a kebab shop. Yes, we sat in a kebab shop drinking beer. And not just for one either; we stayed there drinking until the sun came up. The others kept saying how terrible a situation it was and how we shouldn't tell anyone about it, but I loved it as it was such a random end to the night and, again, a perfect example of how you never know what you will end up doing in a city as spontaneous and free as Berlin.

The finest clipart on show at Andy's