Amsterdam to Berlin

Following a wonderful time spent in Scotland I fly back to Amsterdam just for one night to then head off into the direction of Germany. My hitch hiking is not as successful as usual as I take a lift into a slightly the wrong direction and end up having to take the train to Hamburg to visit Julia, a good friend of mine. On the train journey I see a woman with a large box, probably containing an instrument. "What intrument do you play?" I ask as I sit down in the seat opposite her's. "It's a saxophone, and it is beautiful." She answers proudly and smiles. After a brief conversation we figure out that she grew up near Tamera, an ecovillage located in the south of Portugal (if you've read some of my older posts you might remember it). We knew some of the same people and actually grew up in quite similar ways. To this day these sort of coincidences never stopped happening to me. In a way it has become the norm to meet people that I hadn't seen for two years in some little street in Berlin or to stumble into someone that I met in a children's home in Meru in a small bar in Mombasa. It's like that not only with people but also with events which so often just align perfectly with my plans. "This is my stop, it was nice meeting you Olympia. No doubt we'll see each other again someday." I say hurriedly when noticing that we had already arrived in Hamburg, our conversation had made me lose track of time. After a two day stay in Hamburg the journey continues to Berlin with a short stop in Siebenlinden, the ecovillage I grew up in, to visit my beautiful godchild Navi. On arrival in Berlin I get picked up by one of my best friends Dario, at the Savignyplatz station in Charlottenburg. Just the day before my arrival the weather had gotten really quite hot for this time of year so we all decided to meet up one of the following days and go swimming in the Badeschiff, which is basically a little swimming pool floating in the Spree with some chill out areas built around it. What ever you want to describe it as, it is the perfect place for a hot day if you manage to get a nice lazing spot. To get there I walk a little along a main road and then turn into a small street which is framed on both sides by red brick buildings. Between those two walls long rows of lightbulbs had been hung, sort of like christmas decorations or Chinese lanterns. However, the big pipes leaning out from some of the buildings give the scene a touch of steampunk flair and add nicely to the rugged atmosphere. As I reach the gate leading into the 'Badeschiff' area there are a couple of people giving the man behind the counter money. A sign in the window advertises rental of towels or swimwear, both of which I didn't need. I walked by without giving it any further thought. Only after reaching my brother Ben and his friend Laura - who had been relaxing and waiting for me in the sun for some time already - I realise that I probably was meant to pay an entry fee when getting in. Oh well, I thought to myself, there are worse things than getting in somewhere without paying just by being a little confused as to what is going on. After I had enjoyed the sun for a little Samuel & Dario (twins that I have known pretty much all my life) join us and as this was a (translated) 'Swimmingboat' we went swimming in the cool and refreshing water. After relaxing in there for a little, one of the employees shouts to one of the swimmers who was sitting on the edge of the pool. She informed him that it was unsafe and would damage the boat itself. The person being talked to didn't take this nicely at all and in his (it must've been) drunken state he shouts back and starts walking towards the employee, using the edge of the boat as his walkway. Just before reaching the end of this 'walkway' one of the tiles below his feet gives way and he tips head first into the Spree. Creating a loud splash and quite a lot of laughter from the people around that had been witness to this sudden intervention of karma.