Good day everyone, today’s diary entry comes in the form of a militarised report, for absolutely no reason at all other than I thought it would be a bit different, and this is my site and my word is LAW.
Author: Dan Hackett
The Berlin Diaries – HOLY SHIT
KEEP READING TO THE END OH MY GOD
Thursday came, which meant it was time for another Berlin Spoken Word. I met my ol’ pal Michelle beforehand in a bright, artsy café in the depths of Neukölln for our weekly catch up. Harry came too, and we chatted about their adventures at Pornceptual the previous weekend. It’s funny. They’ve been here for maybe 14 months now, and nothing fazes them. When I asked how the night was, they simply said the music was crap. No mention of the fetishwear and group sex taking place all over the club. Continue reading
The Berlin Diaries – Prostitutes and Orangutans
A week ago today I went to the zoo with my fellow fresh Berliner Victoria. Dave, the stoned Ron to our skint Harry and Hermione, was supposed to join us at 1pm. However, he didn’t show, mostly for financial reasons. It is rather hard to make plans with Dave, as his phone barely works and when it does he rarely troubles to answer it. This is the case with pretty much everyone in this city, except me, Mr Everkeen, Mr Instanttextback. I get bored easily, okay?
Continue readingThe Berlin Diaries – When The Devil Drives
I wrote an article for Unilad a while back, which you can read here, if you fancy. It’s an abridged version of the account of the virtual reality orgy thing I went to a month ago. I was paid £120 for writing the article, however I was told it could take up to 30 days for the money to go into my bank. This wouldn’t usually be too big an issue, except that for the past fortnight I’d been living off around €20.
Continue readingThe Berlin Diaries – Death or Glory
Okay, okay. ‘Death or Glory’ is a bit self important, as far as titles go. It’s just a cool sounding phrase, alright? I’m sorry. An alternate title could be ‘Owt or Nowt’, which is a joke you either will or will not get, depending on whether you are from Northern England.
*****
Surely not. Surely not. It’s too soon to say but… my god, it looks as though everything might actually… work out okay?!
Continue readingThe Berlin Diaries – All The Usual Debauchery
I’m skint as fuck, man. It’s the 20th of November today, and for the past two weeks I’ve lived off about 40 euros. I have 15 left to last until the 13th of December, or when I get paid for some freelance work a while back. Whichever comes first. Being skint is very, very boring. I’ve already paid my rent and I’ve bought enough food to last a couple of weeks, so I won’t die, but christ, there’s bugger all to do. If you want to interact with the world around you, you need money. If I want to see my friends, I can walk 5 miles across the city or pay for the U Bahn. Choices, choices.
Continue readingThe Berlin Diaries – Brunch
Last Friday, Michelle invited me along to a house party, near Schlesisches Tor. I met Victoria first for a couple of beers, sitting in her cavernous flat overlooking the river Spree. It’s a stunning place. The bedrooms alone are bigger than entire flats back home. It’s the kind of place that would cost you a grand a week in London, but here Victoria and her flatmate Klara pay around €300 a month each. I swear, you could work part time here and enjoy a decent quality of life.
Continue readingThe Berlin Diaries – The Poets
I first visited Berlin back in May, just for a weekend. During that weekend I met a bunch of Michelle’s friends, all of whom I loved. One of these many weird and wonderful people was Annie, a writer from Houston, Texas. When we first met in May, Michelle, Annie and I spent a long, hot summer day hanging out and discussing all kinds of peculiar and brilliant things.
Continue readingThe Berlin Diaries – A Jolly Good Battering
The sun rose on Monday morning, and gentle rays of sunlight drifted in through the curtains. The old schoolteacher who lives upstairs was practising the piano again, and the notes floated down to me like snowflakes. I lay sprawled in bed fully clothed, hanging, desperately dehydrated and unable to move, but I was happy. The weekend had been a heavy one. Mike Skinner, Kater Blau, Slaves, all brilliant. There was but one last gig to attend.
Continue readingAn Ideological Revolution
I know, I know.
This is a travel website, and I should stick to talking about travelling. Well you know what, fuck that, because the way the world is heading now, travelling won’t bloody exist in ten years. I’m not going to sit here penning happy tales of beaches and bars while the world goes to shit around me. Continue reading