Best Berlin Night

I still have the address my Berliner friend gave me:

“Buchhandlung Café”
Tucholskystraße (S-Bahn oranienburgerstraße)

On that warm May Day, I was meeting L, a former university friend, at the Buchhandlung Cafe in Berlin for a beer or two or more. I was ecstatic; it was my first visit to Berlin, well to Germany actually, and I had not seen L. in years. We had a lot of catch up to do, and I wanted to experience a fun Saturday night in the city with the locals.

I met her at the address she gave me at around 6 o’clock in the afternoon. We drank beers, smoked cigarettes, recited poetry (that was kind of our thing), and laughed. She then mentioned to me that she was going to meet some friends somewhere under a bridge and invited me to join them. I gladly agreed, and we walked to our mysterious destination. We arrived at Monbijou Park, where I had coincidentally sunbathed during the day, and sat down on the grass next to Strandbar Mitte, a cool outdoor bar. We were lying by the Spree River, the weather was amazing, there were live musicians playing, it felt perfect. Her friends were welcoming and hilarious; they made me feel comfortable, like I was an original part of the gang.

Not long after it got completely dark outside, and now only the suspended strings of lights illuminated us, making it seem as if the river had its own sparkling stars. Then the musicians began to play Argentinean songs; I even got to dance a tango! It truly was an indescribably magical Spring night. We were a bunch of young drunk people singing, dancing and laughing under the stars. I wished the night would never end.

At 3 am, people were getting tired and started leaving the park, alone or accompanied by a friendly stranger. My whimsical night finally ended and abruptly evolved into a big reality check. I told L that I knew how to get back to where I was staying, I knew which train lines to take and where. I confidently walked to the subway station, only to realize that, duh!, it was closed. I thought shit (or Scheiße!), I do not have internet on my phone, no map, and I honestly have no idea where I am. Oh, and I was VERY drunk.

I started to wander around, completely lost (both geographically and mentally to be honest) and just ended up sitting on the sidewalk. A few minutes later, a police car passed by me and stopped. The police officers were only speaking German, a language I don’t understand a word of (well except the dirty ones)! I tried to explain that I was lost and gave them the name of my hotel. One of the policemen was screaming at me (scary) in German (double-scary); I was clueless. The other one was nicer though. He walked me to the police station, printed a bus itinerary for me (I had to take 3 different buses on unpronounceable street names and stop at 3 different stops with unpronounceable names, and since it was dark outside, and I was completely intoxicated, that was quite the challenge for me).

I thanked the policeman, danke, danke, with my precious itinerary in hand. The officer had told me to turn right when I’d leave the station. I, of course, turned left. By chance, he saw me, sighted, and walked me to the stop. To this day, I honestly do not remember how I made it, because yes, I made it. I arrived at my hotel at 6 am. All I can truly remember is that I was holding on to that piece of paper with the bus numbers and stops as if my life depended on it, because hey!, it kind of did.

I woke up the next afternoon completely hungover, went back to Monbijou Park, and napped. Berlin now felt like home, and I intended to enjoy it as much as possible, but not at that moment. The day after would be better.