Weekend in Hamburg - Now in Berlin

I arrived this morning in Berlin. So far I've just checked into my hostel, got used to the metro system here (very extensive!), walked around the Postdamer Platz centre, had the ice cream at the famous Italian gelato store, and bought a ticket for the Berlin Philharmonic concert tonight at 8pm.

After a fantastic time with Meng in Oxford where we spent the last evening listening to a girl's choir from Acadia in Nova Scotia (Ali, i clapped extra loud for you!) in a gorgeous chapel at Exeter college, and where, as a side note, Matt's Grandfather attended University years ago, I flew out to Hamburg to spend the weekend with Matthew.

It was a blur of meeting people, walking around, seeing the sights and of course trying out all the German cuisine, which included a large assortment of cheeses, breads, currywursts, and all that other delicious and heavy German food.

I'm not one to get a sore stomach after eating spices or greasy food, but ever since I've been consuming an extraordinary amount of heavy starches, butter and fat, my stomach is pleading with me to go easy on it.

On Saturday night, I met several of Matt's colleagues from work. A really nice bunch of people, we dined at a very typical North German restaurant by the river. Famous for their fish and green cabbage, we gorged in amounts i never thought humanlypossible.

Yesterday we spent five hours walking non stop from our hotel to the Rathaus (government building) along the river to a big city park and back down again where we eventually ended up at an outdoor skating rink.

It's been a couple years since I've laced up and I've almost forgotten how much i enjoy it. The absolute best was the blaring techno and German pop music that deafens everyone within a 3 km radius.

Getting around the city is very easy and relatively cheap. The metro system in Germany is based on an honour basis, where there are no ticket booths or officers, just automatic machines to buy a ticket (single journey, day pass, greater city area, etc.) So to regulate travellers, there are plain clothed officers that come around and check your ticket.

If you're lucky, you won't meet one, especially if you chanced it and didn't buy a ticket to begin with, but while on my way to the hostel from the train station I got stopped. I had a ticket but the officer thought it was from a different day because i hadn't put it through a machine that punches a hole it. I didn't know i had to do it so after a lot of not understanding each other in German/English, he let me go. Phew. The fine is 40 Euros, which i didn't have in my wallet anyways.

I'm nursing a sore throat right now and although it was almost a given that I'd get one having come to a colder climate, i just don't like how my energy is drained so quickly. There will be no testing out the infamous Berlin nightlife for me, that's for sure. I only hope to stay awake during the concert tonight. Conducted by Philippe Jordan with Nikolaj Znaider as solo violinist, tonight's repertoire includes Debussy, Szymanowski and Tschaikovsky. And all for a mere 10 Euros!! What a great incentive to encourage more people to attend such concerts, I don't understand why it's not as common in Canada.