After a short, pleasant flight from Vienna, we had arrived in Berlin.  Harrison, who had not been to Berlin in over a year, was bursting with barely-contained excitement.  

So much fun to be had!! A bustling, electric city, all at our fingertips!! Until...

We had to wait for our bags at baggage claim.  This was not a detour that Harry had mentally prepared himself for, and we watched as the life drained from his once-exuberant form.

He stood like that, shoulders slumped and defeated, occasionally looking back at us and whimpering in protest, until our bags finally puttered out on the little belt. They were the last two bags off the plane.

Berlin is a vibrant place.  The city is huge, full of parks and remnants of the old ways, communist era buildings and old war memorials.    For our first day, we walked around our neighborhood and took in some of the sights, moseyed through some parks, and went to a couple bars. 

Bars in Berlin are very chill places, like this one on the water that we went to.  They're open pretty much all day and all night, and you can go at any point and see a combination of people who just woke up, and people who are still awake from the night before. 

Our air bnb was in Kreuzberg, or "Krotchenbork" as I called it.  It's one of the hipper neighborhoods in Berlin, right alongside the river.  We had an awesome pizza and beer bar right downstairs that I think we went to 6 times by the time we left the city. 

The next day, Harry led us on a biking tour of Berlin.  EVERYONE is on a bicycle in Berlin, it's insane.  They're everywhere. The city is huge but also really flat, so it's a pretty ideal form of transportation.  Often, biking somewhere is faster than riding the subway.

We cruised around, and saw some of Berlin's more traditional attractions. 

 This is the Fernsehturm, or as I like to call it, the Foofenstoofen.

We biked to this old abandoned airport called the Templehof, or as I liked to call it, the Teefenhawfoof.  As you're probably starting to notice, I developed an interpretation of German words that everyone definitely found hilarious, and not at all constantly annoying.

This is a community garden we stumbled upon, obviously Grace was very excited. 

Harrison is a great guide, he knows a lot about history, and also has a wealth of experience from living in Berlin for years, back when he was in grad school.  Everywhere we went, there was something to see, or a story to tell, or historical knowledge to be bestowed.  This was an invaluable resource, and constantly entertaining, and also is the inspiration for my newest photo series:

Harry Pointing at Things

Of course, one of the most key aspects of Berlin is the nightlife.  We made a quick stop by the grocery store to get supplies for the evening and some food for the week.  This is what Grace bought. 

We also got a bunch of Vodka and Club Mate to get ourselves ready for going out.  What is a vodka Club Mate you ask?  Well luckily for you I've prepared this handy instructional video, so you too can learn of the wonders of the vodka Club Mate. Enjoy.

Unfortunately, most clubs in Berlin, whether they be day or night clubs, have strict no-photo policies regarding the use of any camera once inside.  Some even go so far as to put tape over your phone's camera.  

As a result, I don't have many pictures to report from our adventures at night, but we had a blast.  Clubs are fun, the music is good, everyone stays out till sunrise, and drinks are served all night. 

This one night in particular, we went out to this cool outdoor hipster bar called Ipsis, or as I called it, Ipsenhoofenwakkameerbeinhoffenschnitzel.  

We had been out all day, biking and drinking in the sun, and then proceeded to go out all night, and it was just too much for Grace.  She got SO TIRED.  She was actually having trouble physically staying awake, at one point she laid down with her head in my lap on a bench and started to nap through the blaring music.

Drunky Magoo (right) and Sleepy McGoigan (left)

Harry and I were still going strong, and I decided that in order to help Grace power through she needed vodka and Club Mate. So, I started buying rounds of drinks for everyone, in the hopes that Grace would wake up.

After a while, it became clear that this plan wasn't working.  Grace was still just as tired, but now, drunk and loopy.  Furthermore, Harry got wasted and energetic from all the drinks, and turned into a hyper tornado of belligerence.  In a moment of exasperation, now unable to wrangle either of them, I renamed them "Drunky Magoo and Sleepy McGoigan".

At this point it was about 5 in the morning anyway, so we decided to head home.  Sleepy McGoigan was too tired to walk, but that was ok, because Drunky Magoo had a lot of energy to burn off.

Here's the dynamic duo in action

The next day, we walked to this park that had a flea market, and did some shopping.  There was a huge amphitheater that was having a public karaoke contest, so we stopped and watched that for a little while.

We sat down and wrote a postcard to Kathi, the girl we met back in Wolfgang Se.  "Harrisno" over here was so hungover from the adventures of Drunky Magoo that he signed his name wrong on the card.  That's like, wow. Next level. Good work, Harrisno. 

Harrisno had to go home after that, because he is an adult with a job and had work.  We were very sad to see him go :(.  We still had a few days left in Berlin, and did our best to make our way around and see things without our trusty guide.  

This is the Soviet war memorial from WWII, which we biked to, among other things.  We did a lot of sightseeing, and Grace took lots of pictures, so be sure to check them out as they go up, at www.bygracehelen.com when you get a chance. 

 Not now though, obviously.  Now you finish reading MY blog.  

Grace found this big bench, and she wanted to sit on it and be a cool hipster so I could take a picture of her.  I helped her exactly 0 and it was massively entertaining.

hrrrrglmmmphh

mmmno not that way  

eeeeegh

worth it

After Berlin it was off to Leipzig to visit Dan and Maria!! They were very gracious and let us stay in their apartment, which was ESPECIALLY exciting because....

THEY HAVE A  CAT ooohee it's Frau I love Frau

This picture would suggest that Frau let me get close to her.  Or rather, liked me at all, when in fact, true to the form of a cat, Frau really could not be bothered with my existence in the slightest.  It's ok, I was content to coo and giggle at her being adorable from afar. 

Obviously she loved Grace, which wasn't fair at all. 

The weather was great, and we went to the park near their apartment to hang out and play some frisbee. 

 Leipzig is a really pretty city, that is a lot of fun to explore, but also just to chill in. 

We played some frisbee, but tragically, I accidentally threw the frisbee into this pond.  It was my fault, so i felt like I had to at least TRY to retrieve it, but you guys this pond smelled SO BAD it was one of those ponds that basically just emits sulfur from underneath a bed of half-decomposed, scummy reeds. It was the worst smelling pond ever and it was gross and slimy and I have a fear of seagrass. But I had to try!! I failed obviously. 

Maria had to use the water they'd brought to cleanse me. 

After we gave up on the frisbee (sorry again, guys) We retreated back into town so 

A) I could wash the smelly pond scum off and B) we could get ice cream. 

Turns out that people LOVE ice cream in Leipzig (maybe just the world, actually? And I hadn't noticed?), and every local restaurant with a patio also offered an assortment of ridiculously ornate ice cream dishes. 

The face of a man who is lactose intolerant 

We went to the top of one the tallest buildings in the city, to get a sweet panoramic view of Leipzig.  The view was amazing, and Grace's hair was doing all kinds of funky dance moves in the wind.  And that damn backpack flap. always flapping at me.

We rented bikes, and headed around town and through the park out to the river that runs through the city, so we could rent kayaks!  It was a great day, and really nice to get exercise for a change. 

The river had these adorable, fat little otters in it that would just chill on the banks.  I wanted to try and catch one and keep it, but we decided Frau would be upset.  

That night we hung out, and Dan and I DJ'd together on his vinyl turn tables, and it was awesome but there are NO PICTURES OF OUR LEGENDARY SET TOGETHER wow thanks Grace really dropped the ball on that one she was busy playing with Frau thats why

And that was it for Germany! Thanks again to our amazing travel companions slash hosts, Dan, Maria, and Harrisno, we couldn't have done this trip without you!  

Next: Prague, and inevitably more than one "czech it out" joke