We signed up for all-you-can-eat burgers at the hostel NYE party so stuck around playing cards and eating until around 9pm. Full and mildly drunk from happy hour booze, we grabbed a train to Potsdamer Platz with the intention of walking right up to the Brandenburg Gate. This didn't work out so well as they'd cut off the whole area and were funneling people through small gates. We joined the masses on what I'll call a silent cold death march through the Tiergarten. Once we reached an opening we were bottlenecked and spoken to in German over a loudspeaker. This was a slightly scary moment. They were just checking for alcohol and then let us through. The main street was lined with beer vendors, food stalls and people selling flashing lights and warm hats. We grabbed a couple of drinks and tried to make our way as close to the stage as possible. We had to pass a massive ferris wheel and a hundred of the same stalls but made it close enough to the gate, but also where we could see the big screen. I'm assuming 'very famous' german celebrities sang and chatted while we shivered and waited for the countdown. I must have missed the 10 to 1 but definitely saw the fireworks display. Awesome. I tried to capture it on camera but was barely successful.
One of the coolest things, apart from being in Berlin of course, was that David Hasselhoff was on stage! I just turned my head and saw him up there dressed in all black with an ankle length leather jacket. Sadly, the audio was shocking and I couldn't hear him sing but check out this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvY3MW5Pd9A
Brilliant.
Surprisingly we made it home with relative ease. The train station was a little scary due to random fireworks being shot around but there were plenty of security and police directing people. We managed it home safely around 2.30 and were asleep by 3am.
The hostel was winding down when I got up around noon the next day. People looked very sad and hungover, draped over couches in the common room. We decided to pursue this restaurant Timon had researched that sold GIANT schnitzels. We didn't realise unfortunately that as it was New Years Day, most stuff was closed. We found a very German-y restaurant and ate away the afternoon. Ross went to the bus station soon after for his 19 hour journey home while Timon and I grabbed a quiet space and watched hours of Friday Night Lights.
We headed to the airport the next morning, after a quick Back Factory, and said goodbye to Germany. It was fun but we were exhausted. And my shoes had started to let in water :(
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