I checked out of my apartment in Berlin. Astrid, the owner was pleased to see the condition of the apartment upon my leaving, as I had spent considerable time cleaning. I took a walk, with a bag of groceries in hand thinking that I would come across a homeless person to donate the food to before I set off for Amsterdam. I sat down in a park and began to draw where I was approached by two lovely women. Petrina and Inge, who were on holiday from Holland. They had been touring Berlin for a few days at that point and were in the area to see the East Side Gallery, a section of the Berlin Wall which was preserved and now hosts a number of public murals. I offered to join along, and we were off. Petrina and I had a talk aobut the Second World War. At the wall, I caught a tag by a sign that said no tagging allowed, which Petrina thought was funny. We walked along and discussed the murals, before splitting off to continue our own paths. Shortly after, I came acrorss a stencil artist who had set up by the wall. He was talking with someone about graffiti and I thought to approach and join the conversation. The stencil artists name was Evan, he was a Canadian who has traveled to Berlin to carve a path for himself on the streets. The other gentleman was Rikard, a Swede who was in Berlin to paint and dance. We werer three of a kind and enjoyed conversation for over an hour. I respected Evan's business mindset with his art and Rikard's curiosity. Evan told us about an abandoned ice factory nearby that had plenty of graffiti and some squat houses inside. Rikard and I decided to check it out. We walked a few blocks and found the building, it was a five story gutted warehouse. The bottom floor hosted two massive retired engines from the Industrial Age. The floor had given in in some spots, revealing a cellar full of debris and garbage. The walls that remained were covered top to bottom with graffiti. Rikard and I climbed up the iron spiral staircase to explore up top. We found a group of models and photographers on the second floor who were setting up for a shoot. That helped our nerves a bit. Up a few more floors and we emerged on the rooftop. It was a beautiful view of Berlin and we took it in. I snapped some photos of Rikard, and he took one of me as well. Back downstairs, we found a commune, where squatters had built tee-pees and structures to support a community. we entered and found smiling faces. I held up the bag of groceries and offered, "Free food?" I was shown to the kitchen, where three young men were smoking. They were happy to see that I'd brought food, and I was happy to give it to such lovely people.
Rikard and I walked back toward East Side Gallery, before splitting off on our own again. We exchanged information. I plan to revisit with him next time I am in Berlin.
I called Braden, as we had arranged to meet up before I left Berlin. I went to his apartment, where he was waiting on his lady friend to come over for a date. Her name was Haley. She was from Maine, and shortly after her arrival, the offer was extended to me to join them for a round of drinks. I happily accepted. Haley and Braden talked scientific circles around me. I was impressed at their capacity to recall facts and figures so efficiently. I found our conversations about German economics very interesting as well. After two tall beers, and plenty of good conversation, we decided we'd had a long anough Wednesday night. I took off for the train station.
To my luck, the departing train which I thought had many transfers, in fact had none. I boarded around 11pm and slept all the way to Amsterdam.
Arriving in Amsterdam, I was exhausted. I was sore from head to toe from the awkward positions associated with sleeping on the train, and I still had residual symptoms from the fever that I'd fought so hard against in Berlin. I met Josine at the gallery beneath the Bloemgracht home to receive the keys. Upon entering the home I found it immaculate. Karen had worked her design magic backwards and forwards on the place, including notes to guide me through my stay. She left a basket of medicine with instructions and books which might be relevant to my upcoming travels. I was wholly grateful. I ran a bath, had a slow lunch, and a slow dinner, and settled in for the night.
