Day 9
Airports 5
Train Stations 3
Bus Stations 3
Currency Exchanges 2
Miles Travelled = who knows

Berlin rocks! I cannot say that enough times.

It didn't start out so nice and rosy, getting on the airplane I had to go through a separate security line. The woman inspecting my passport says, "Look at the camera please," and pointed overhead to a small surveillance camera in the corner of the room. I was a little weirded out, but looked up at the camera and smiled as if posing for a picture. Hummmm.......
THEN when I got off the plane in Berlin, I easily made my way to the train station in order to take the train from the airport to the city center.... it was not evident, however, which train I was supposed to take. I was expecting a nice little English translation on every sign outlining ever possible route. I tried to purchase a ticket, but had absolutely no idea which option to take. So I crossed my fingers that once I got on a train I could purchase one. Through somewhat of a common sense guess (matching street names with train stops), I figured I needed the S9 S-Bahn to Friedrichstrasse. So I got on the S9 and just hoped I was on the right train. A German guy who smelled of alcohol and had a weird Parkinson's like head twitch got on right behind me, sat down across from me and then began speaking to me in German. I admit I hadn't yet looked at my little German speaking basics guide so all I could say in reply was, "Nein." So he kept talking and I kept saying, "Nein." Luckily he got off the train in a few stops and right before he exited he grabbed my hand, said something in German, and rolled his eyes. Needless to say, I was not upset to see him go.
About five minutes later, the train stops and everyone gets off. I didn't think much of it (there were not too many people on board to begin with) until the conductor comes walking through my car and begins to shoo me off the train in German. Between incidents I had consulted my German basics guide and was at least able to say, "Sprechen sie Englisch." Luckily he nodded yes so I pointed to where I had written down Friedrichstrausse and he points to a train adjacent to us that, as luck would have it, was JUST pulling away. Apparently I was supposed to change trains. Who knew.
Everything went a little more smooth after that. Another S9 came along in 20 minutes and I hopped on and made it to Freidrichstrausse with no further ado. I easily found the hostel... down a run down (former) East Berlin street with graffiti, techno clubs, and people with lots of piercings. I felt very wholesome.

Despite initial apprehension, the hostel and the surrounding area freakin' rocks! It's modern, it's creative, it's edgy and gritty and a little scary, but everyone is so welcoming and friendly... and the area is really safe.
I met a crazy group of male and female solo travellers from America, Australia, Holland, and England and we all went out to a "Laptop DJ" club. All I know is that people would sit on some sort of stage in front of a laptop and (I guess) they were picking songs. I dunno. But again, it reaked of alternative edge and was quite interesting. After being there for about 30 minutes, the funny Brit (who was quite lit by this time), says "I found the party, come with me!" I guess we were all quite curious because we all paraded out of the club and into an old, bombed out, crumbling, concrete building with a center stairwell that was absolutely covered in graffiti. Every inch! I think we were all in a state of shock, I know the curiosity level was peaked... so we began to follow him up the stairs in awe as every floor was similar, completely covered in graffiti.... and not just gang slang, it was artistic graffiti, full of creative angst. When we reached the top, there was a small balacony bar with just a few couches and just a few people. Outside in the parking lot below was a huge IMAX sized psychodellic projection of constantly shifting shapes, bubbles, colors, etc.
It was the coolest place I've ever been.
I ended up staying up late that night, but it was well worth it.