“Sometimes 24-hours can change the way you look at things all together”
It was finally there. I had been waiting for this 24 hour vacation for over 3 months now. And it came.
Now, I did my research on what happens during Silvester at Berlin and so on. Watched videos and even spoke to a lot of people about it. Why was this so important to me? Because when entire Chemnitz was at Berlin the year before, I was in my room with 2 of my friends and watched the fireworks from my room window.
Over a million people gather around Brandenburg Gate every year for the massive celebrations and welcome the new years with all zealousness. And this year, I got a chance to go to Berlin with all the people who are equally crazy as I am. It’s awesome!
There are particularly 12 things I learned during these 24 hours. Let’s begin!
Wake up early and travel like an idiot! – No, we didn’t want to go a day early, relax, or look around. Why? Because we are students and we find paying for luxurious (just a bed to sleep on in a youth hostel) a really crappy idea :D
Walk all the way from Berlin omni bus stop to Brandenburg Gate – “Let’s take a bus!”, “Let’s a train!”, “Let’s take a tram”, when all these lines are ignored, in the heat of the moment, everyone agrees to walk. Only 7 km? Sure we can do this! (Big mistake). Yes, there is no better way to explore a new city than on foot. But, when there are 24 hours ahead with no place to stretch your legs, it can be a little tiring. Nevertheless, it was amazing! Saw a building of Berlin university, the Victory Column and along with all this, beautiful weather (drizzling throughout). Just wonderful!
Hungry all the time – This was one of the most important highlights during the entire walk. I don’t know it was the weather or walking or having woken up early, but it triggered the hunger button for the day (all day!). When we were all done with the bag full of food, which each of us carried, slowly everyone started searching for cheapest eat-outs or street food. We were pretty successful, considering we were in Berlin after all.
Source: http://goo.gl/4p5lfK
It will rain if its new year – As much as we all ‘looouvveee’ the rains(sometimes), we weren’t prepared for it as much. Some of us started getting really cold, and I found it really funny, that we had to buy thermals from some passing by show rooms, go to a public washroom or a restaurant bathroom and change into them. Really fun times. You wouldn’t normally do such things with parents, why? Because you would be getting scolded for the reason of not being prepared :D
Source: http://goo.gl/D5ywU3
Get drunk (just a little) – I know that people eat food or drink energy drinks to get some energy, but we got drunk (a little bit). This was for 2 reasons. First, because its new year and second, because hopefully being drunk does not remind us that we will stand for next 12 hours straight!
Source: http://goo.gl/r2PDje
Identical photo session – It was all our first time to Brandenburg Tor (means Gate) and thanks to our generation, pictures begin. One after the other, every single one of us with same pose in front of the gate. It was hilarious at first, but after 15 minutes or so, people stare and you have to just move :D.
Source: http://goo.gl/ajBPI9
Sneak in the alcohol, like a boss! – It isn’t allowed to carry any alcohol inside the 2km premises before the gate. But, students, less budget, new years eve, it all combines to – ‘we will take everything that we have with us, like a boss!’ and surprisingly, we did. I am still unclear on the details, but we did. Not so proud of it, but saving 30€ per head for the drinks, it was pretty awesome.
Source: http://goo.gl/ajBPI9
Develop a taste to all kinds of mixed music – When you have to stand at the same spot for the next 9 and half hours, the best thing is to enjoy your environment. No matter you understand the words or the music, it is absolutely worth it to share those moments with some of the closes people to you :-)
Barely able to see a thing, but absolutely worth it!
Whatsapp location if you are lost – Crowd was increasing by the minute, and we wanted to retain the spot we got, which was fairly close to the main stage and the gate. But there was just one problem – thanks to continuous drinking, we had to take turns to go to the washroom. Now although, it was barely 50m away, with that kind of crowd, you need at least 15 minutes to get out and reach there, 30 minutes to get a free washroom and at least 45 minutes to return to the same spot. After being lost in crowd, twice, we decided to send the location via whatsapp and that person would follow the way back. It was the first time, I had made use of the location services so efficiently! :D
Source: http://goo.gl/5JIdRi
Sing random Hindi advertisements to German songs – By 10 pm, it was cold, we were kinda drunk and after every 15 minutes or so, there was this one particular song that was being played. It was a German advertisement. But, to Indian ears, it sounded like Nerolac advertisement which used to be aired on TV when we were kids. So, each time it played, we sang that song, but in our version. It was absolutely amusing to all the people from various countries. By the end of that, they started enjoying the so-thought Bollywood song and sang along :D Here is that advertisement –
Enjoy the electrifying experience – This was my first live concert/musical show or however you would like to call it. It is just a different world all together to hear and see some amazing musicians playing live. We got to witness people crying at one point of time. Later I found out that they were that happy to see their favorite singers. Such memories are for life indeed. We got a chance to listen to “David Garrett”. For all those who don’t know him, like I didn’t, he is a world renowned violinist who released the album for Pirates of Caribbean movie :-) Please your ears and listen to this particular video below -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kge3xBeuArI
Welcome the new year like never before! – To the moments right before the clock strikes 12, you can literally start feeling each breath. The whole experience of welcoming the new year, along with a million others in the capital of Germany, is simply riveting! It was one of the best new year celebrations I have had, in a really really long time!
Source: http://goo.gl/g9951S
Those 24 hours brought a lot of happiness, excitement, tiredness but most importantly, it gave me one of the best memories during my stay here in Germany. If you live here, call your friends up, plan, take a bus and reach Silvester this year! You are not going to regret it!
12 things New Year in Berlin taught me! Glimpse of what generally happens at Silvester Party! Let me know your experiences in comments below. Keep smiling! :-) "Sometimes 24-hours can change the way you look at things all together" It was finally there. I had been waiting for this 24 hour vacation for over 3 months now.
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