Have you ever had one of those days that are simply just perfect? One of those happened on a Sunday in Berlin. The night before there was a false fire alarm in the hostel I staying at, every tourist there was confused with the recorded message from the alarm just saying something in German to what we all thought was orders to evacuate in order to be safe. You could say it was a little bit of a "Lost in Translation" scene. Outside in the middle of the street at the Mitte neighborhood, amidst all the chaos and joking about the situation I met three Canadians and a kid from Kansas. We agreed to meeting the next day at noon to simply hang out around the city. We all went back to our rooms.
That beautiful Sunday I woke up early to hit the the Berlin Wall East Side Gallery. Berlin is a city of big pains and of big hope, I was nostalgic yet happy, maybe it was the rain and that I had dreamed about this moment for sometime and i had been learning about the city's history. Maybe I felt what Germans call Ostalgie.
I cruised around the Kreuzberg neighborhood. Once I posted pictures on my Facebook page a friend mentioned "Kreuzberg se hizo para ti", meaning "Kreuzberg was made for you". I completely agree with his comment, because it's a place that has some certain funk that only a multi-cultural borough can get.
Around noon I met with my new friends and headed to a Flea Market in Mauerpark. I had never seen anything like it, the place was packed and vibrant and sun had just come out. The day was getting better and better. The Kansas guy challenged us with a game to see who could find the kitschest sh!t for less than 5€ under 10 minutes. The result was this:
In Mauerpark there's karaoke on Sundays thanks to a portable system by Bearpit and people simply unleash the rockstar living inside of all of us... or the popstar. Look, I'm not gonna lie when I tell you that I loved the way a couple of girls sang "...Baby, One More Time" and that I was one of the biggest supporters in that moment.
There were also people jamming and my new friends got into the groove with them, it seemed as if a dreamy band had just formed. And in another spot we were able to dance to other pop hits played in a funkier style. It was just a dreamy and fun.
When the sun started setting in Mauerpark and we were laying on the grass I understood that this had been a perfect day, one I'll never forget thanks to following and believing in dreams, to being open to talk to strangers and to let things flow. That day will always be a treasure in my travel memories.
“Oh, it’s such a perfect day
I’m glad I spent it with you
Oh, such a perfect day
You just keep me hanging on
You just keep me hanging on”
