Wacken 2019: First day in Berlin

Breakfast at the hostel was €7.50 so I looked elsewhere, eventually settling on a McDs for €3.50. Probably not as good, but as filling as I needed it to be. After that, I headed back to the hostel to queue for the 9:30 walking tour. The only other person waiting was a chap from India, Ankit, so we headed to the start point at the Brandenberg Gate together, in time to join the main group.

It was another scorcher in Berlin today, but our tour guide Max was superb and held our attention throughout the 2 1/2 hours we were out with him. Not a huge amount of ground covered, but a wealth of information about subjects he obviously both knew and cared about. He left us at the end not just knowing more than we did at the start, but wanting to learn even more. Yes, Berlin may well end up on my “I have to come back” list.

Ankit and I decided to keep plodding around and ended up finding a Lidl for lunch. I attempted to eat a sandwich I’d kept from London but, despite being in date, it tasted a little odd. Probably down to the mayo and the fact that it had been in my bag in direct sunlight for two days. Still, the €0.69 beer we bought wasn’t bad at all, and a slightly scruffy gentleman who sat next to us for ages was quite glad to take the empty cans off our hands. Deposit systems are great.

The heavens opened in the early evening and it absolutely hoyed it down as we hit next to one of the government buildings by the river. It did clear the air, to be fair, but I worry that it’s going to warm up and just get more humid again tomorrow.

Dinner was a very tasty €1.99 pizza from the supermarket in the station. And more beer.

Ankit was heading west to catch up with his girlfriend, and then back home to Delhi. We kicked around for a bit and then I saw him onto his train. Safe travels, my friend!

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