Jason's Daily Notes

Manuel was up early and off to Hamburg. I joined him for a quick breakfast and a bye. For the rest of the week, his room would be mine. The weather was getting sunnier and warmer, so I went out.

I took the U-Bahn to Jannowitzbrücke and walked outside. I followed the river to Museuminsel, taking pictures along the way. I ended up doing a lot of walking - to Friedrichstraße, Unter den Linden, Brandenburger Tor, the memorial to murdered Jews, and all the way to Potsdamer Platz. By the end of it all, I was hungry. I figured why not get the awesome Mustafa's Gemüse Kebap. So I took the S-Bahn one stop to Anhalter Bahnhof and walked (a longer walk than it looked on the map) to Mehringdamm. There was an insanely long line at the kebap stand, and also at nearby Curry 36, so I suddenly changed my mind and decided to go back home. I bought a tantuni, a type of Turkish wrap, from the kebab shop just nearby.

In Berlin (and Germany overall), each apartment doesn't have a number, but is instead identified by  name. Everyone is also very concerned about keeping things orderly (such as recycling bottles to get the pfand deposit back). Unlike London, people here generally don't cross the street unless the light is green.

I arranged to meet up with Topi, who was now living in Berlin (since September, after his exchange time in Barcelona). I was still sort of hungry, so I got a currywurst from Konnopke's Imbiss before heading to his place which is in between Alexanderplatz, Mitte, and Prenzberg. Topi had had a job, which he just left, and so was searching for a new job, and he was also relatively new in his current flat, having had some flatmate chaos (girlfriend making the bf aggresive, etc.) He also had a friend who had just attempted suicide, and so he was making an effort to reach out to that friend. We chilled for a little bit, having a tea, etc.

I had arranged to meet Steffen for drinks. He had plans to watch the Dortmund (Champions League) game with friends, so Topi and I joined. We first got a falafel from a vegetarian little restaurant near Schönleinstraße (where Topi had been living). Then, we walked to Brauhaus Südstern, where Steffen had reserved a table. Two of his friends joined us. We had drinks and enjoyed the game (though they weren't playing the bigger game - Real Madrid vs Man U).

After dinner/drinks, Topi and I walked all the way to Martin's place. We chilled there, after walking to Görlitzer park. Topi ended up returning with me to my place and crashing on the floor.