Techno Houseboats and Illicit Mojito Bars...

So, as predicted I don't emerge from my room until late, and I sadly have to check out the hostel today as it's so busy. Manage to find another place to stay, in Alexanderplatz, which is pretty lucky as the receptionist is convinced that I'm not going to find anywhere to stay at all....

Before I relocate, though, I go on a walking tour, which takes in most of the East Berlin sites; Brandenburg Gate, Holocaust Memorial, the course of the Wall, the Museums and University etc. Berlin is such as vast city, with no real centre, so my legs are knackered after a day of nothing but walking. Nonetheless I persevere and in the evening head to the East Side Gallery, which is beyond brilliant. Lots of great graffiti to take pictures of.

Head back to Kreuzberg hostel, collect my bag and relocate to Alexanderplatz hostel. It's very clean and has a bar; the basics are covered at least. Find a cheap supermarket nearby (hello Netto, I love you) and stock up on the essentials....wine, chocolate, cheese and crisps. The staples of every good diet, obviously.

Get chatting to my roommate Jorge, from Mexico, and we head to the bar for a beer (or 2...). We're joined by a few French guys who are beyond hammered (and have taken to calling me Cha-Cha - let's face it, I've been called worse...)and invite us out to a barge boat/night club on a canal in Kreuzberg....it would be rude not to, so we head over.

Berlin is absolutely buzzing tonight, and on our way there we stumble across a man who has set up a little table in the middle of a bridge over the river. He's using it as a makeshift bar, selling mojitos to people on their way to nightclubs. Great idea! We eventually arrive a the club; a very bohemian looking barge with fairy lights everywhere. It's so beautiful, especially with the trees from the embankment providing a canopy and the candles and lights dotted around the place.

And it's a techno-lovers paradise! Packed with people, all drinking and smoking and dancing and sweaty...it almost feels as though we are crashing a house party. Albeit a very welcoming house party.

We make it back to the hostel pretty late, though surprisingly not that drunk, and I fall asleep with a massive smile on my face. The total serendipity of tonight - and every other night so far - has made me happier than I've felt in a long time. :-)