Words of Interest

This weekend was Eurofurence and I had agonised for months over whether we should go. In the end, the cost was the main reason why we didn't, although a busy weekend of events in Berlin also aided the decision. We made that choice back in July and I immediately contacted Procyon, who seemed to be in a similar quandary to us over EF. Knowing he would like both Berlin Beer Week and the Berlin Chili Festival, we mentioned it to him, and due to the super cheap flights out of Liverpool these days, he bought a flight almost immediately.

Usually, we meet up with him in Spandau on the Friday evening, but with this being Berlin Beer Week, we wanted to go to a few of the events. Wolfie decided to work from home that day, meaning we crafted an itinerary that saw us go to Fuerst Wiacek Brewery in Siemensdamm before meeting up with Procyon at Ostkreuz, where we were to hit the 'It's Czech, Mate' Czech beer tap takeover at Home Bar and the Two Chefs tap takeover at Space Medusa, a space-themed bar at Schliesses Tor that we hitherto hadn't known about. We grabbed some frikadelle to give us the soakage we needed and then headed to Fuerst Wiacek for around 8pm. This was when things started to get strange as the barman gave us the first beer on the house on account of the fact that we had been working (we had missed the start of their taproom opening by four hours). Then, upon finding out that he was from the exact same town as me in the UK, he gave us discounts on all subsequent beers we bought. This meant we bought more than I had initially anticipated, but sitting in the parking lot watching the sun go down over the charred metal remains of an abandoned railway station was quite hypnotic in a Berlin kind of way. We left after about 75 minutes, needing to meet Procyon, with promises we would return.

I nearly messed up the train route between Siemensdamm and Ostkreuz, picking up the S-Bahn from Jungfernheide rather than an RE service, but we did make the FEX at Gesundbrunnen and with Procyon taking the FEX the other way, we met on the platform with just seven minutes wait between us. After struggling to get out and me fearing I was already too drunk, we managed to get over to Home Bar, where the owner clocked us once again. We picked up some decent Czech lager, but we only stayed for one beer as there was no seating, meaning we were stood idly in the doorway. Still, the vibe was good and Space Medusa was my main interest. This was a pink-themed planet-based bar that had a rocking vibe which I would say was typical Berlin. Two Chefs Brewing had a portable stall tucked in one corner and we got samples of all three of their beers. The brewers came over and chatted with us too, as we were at the table directly in front of them, and there was a real sense of camaraderie associated with the craft beer drinkers there. I was also interested in the space-themed cocktails on the bar wall, but we didn't know what they were - they just had planet names and the number 14 or 15 next to them. Procyon could not be persuaded to get one. We left at around 1:30am and headed back home, picking up some ketchup-flavoured Pringles from the Spati.

We awoke a little worse for wear on the Saturday, but with a busy day ahead. We had booked one of the six Brews Cruises as part of the Berlin Beer Week, but with this scheduled for 5:30pm (with a 6pm launch), we had a little time to kill beforehand. We thought eating something would be the order of the day, so we went down to Nola, a New Orleans-inspired fried chicken place that we particularly enjoyed when trying it back in March. One advantage of here, apart from it being en route to the boat, was that it's near Sandy and she came out to meet us too. I'll be honest, the burger and fries weren't as nice as the fried chicken, mash and gravy combination we had six months ago. Indeed, the oil on the fries got somewhat cloying after a while and coated the mouth, with even the ranch sauce being unable to neutralise it. We had a distinctly average pink iced tea which was far more bitter than I would have liked. The company was good though and the chicken burger itself - I opted for the one with cheese - a real plus. However, it sadly didn't hit the high standards we had enjoyed in the Spring.

After saying goodbye to Sandy about an hour and a half later, we made our way down to Markisches Ufer for the boat. We had been told to get there early and even though we arrived about 5:20pm, we were stunned to see the length of the queue. We got to the back of it though and as I was flicking through the tap list that had been emailed to me earlier in the day, I started noting the beers we had not yet tried. Upon mentioning one from the Bådin Brewery, the bloke next to us piped up and said that this was his brewery. Cue a long conversation about a variety of things, including the town of Bodø and its famous Bodø/Glimt football club, before he got to jump the queue on account of him needing to check his lines. We were let onto the boat soon afterwards and instead of swarming to get drinks from the 27 options on the lower deck, we grabbed a seat on the upper deck as we knew these would be in demand. We sat on a table of six in the middle of the boat, with the life jackets underneath, and soon two Canadians joined us. They had been attending a burns conference at the Estrel and we were unsure whether they were colleagues, friends, lovers or a combination of all of them. Our Norwegian friend joined us shortly after as there was a free space and we spent the next three hours hurtling down the Spree to Köpenick and back. I was surprised how fast we travelled, and that we headed east out of the city rather than west (one of the reasons I wanted to do the cruise was I thought we'd be passing Berlin's main sights), but this was beautiful in its own right. Going out, the sun shone in my eyes somewhat, but on the way back, we were afforded a stunning sunset with some of Berlin's top tourist attractions silhouetted against the colourful sky. The bridge near Warschauer Strasse was one of them and on the way back in particular, everyone got very excited going under all the bridges, making cheering noises as we did. I may have started a couple of these. Particularly romantic was the cement factory we passed, which was hauntingly romantic against the summer sky. I also liked seeing the trains at Jannowitzbrucke, where, once the event was done, we got to meet one of Wolfie's colleagues ordering a kebab. Unfortunately, he wouldn't let me teach him my special song about their manager.

This was a really good event and we got to try 14 different beers, albeit shared 200ml measures. There were bottles of limited edition stuff we could try too, so it felt very much like a British beer festival, with much of the quality to match. The friendliness of everyone was great too - we also bumped into a guy who was wearing green and black striped tights who clocked we were furries quickly - while it looks like we may be meeting up with the Norwegian brewer to go to a beer festival in Bodø next June. He joined us after the boat trip at the after party up at the Vagabund Brewery. I was sure we had a free drink there, but I wasn't sure how to redeem it, while it was odd that the party was a good 40 minutes from where we docked. With this being Germany, their little outside beer festival shut at 10pm which considering the boat docked at 9pm, wasn't great for us. Still, we did manage to get some interesting beers inside including a very refreshing lime pilsner. The same fellas from Two Chefs Brewery were there too and we introduced them to our Norwegian friend, so there's a chance that a deal may come of it. It was a lively night at Vagabund and we stayed a couple of hours, before heading back to Spandau. We hadn't had anything to eat since the Nola chicken place aside from some crisps, so when back home, we called at the new pizza place that was still open as we past by. The pizza wasn't great - everything you'd expect from food that had been clearly left in a window for a few hours - but the orange spicy smoky sauce was nice and it did the job we required of it. I certainly didn't want any kebab, so full I was of beer. What struck me over the weekend was how easy I find it to meet new people, except when there is anything with sex involved, where I just clam up. This experience compared to my experience at Folsom last week was very much like night and day.

Sunday was a more casual day, with Wolfie staying behind to rest his foot. He had done incredibly well to be out on both Friday and Saturday, so I didn't begrudge him staying back. Indeed, I don't think he could have done this even a fortnight ago, which is certainly encouraging (he knew this weekend would be an aberration too - he's been largely off alcohol for a month, but made an exception for this weekend). Procyon had flirted the idea of going to Frankfurt an der Oder so we could walk across the Polish border, but with little to see on that side, we didn't really see the point. Instead, we decided to constrain ourselves to Berlin, and with the weather being nice, this meant a few outdoor things. Our first stop was Natur Park Südgelände, the nature park that has sprung up from the old railway works near Südkreuz. We entered it from there, walking by the railway tracks and getting our €1 entry tickets after walking over a metal bridge. There was a spare ticket here, to which I alerted a family, and soon we were casually strolling through the woodland punctuated by turntables, railway tracks and other industrial paraphernalia. At one point, there was a kid lying in the middle of the track and as we got closer to the Priesterweg section, we realised there was some sort of event on. The Sommertag Traum event was basically a fairy tale thing for little girls, where you could create a flower crown, learning about recycling old plastic bottles, and do a few other things too. The cafe was doing quite well and the place was certainly busier than I had seen it before, but then I had only ever come down early evening on a Tuesday. There were a few tents there and about too and the atmosphere was rather good.

Our next stop was the Berlin Chili Festival over at Berliner Berg Brewery. To get there, we had to get off at Sonnenallee, which was right next to the Estrel, so we decided to grab a beer in their beer garden for old time's sake. I always feel a little sad going back there as I remember it being so vibrant, whereas yesterday, only two other tables were occupied. Still, we grabbed a bottle of Berliner Berg Pale Ale for €5 (plus a €1 Pfand for the glass) and sat in the sunshine by the canal. After this, we regaled the olden days by walking right past the whole complex, along the canal and towards the brewery. Outside, we were collared by a man who had two spare tickets to the Chili Festival and he asked whether we wanted them. We assented and he only charged us €10 for the pair, when the full price should have been €6 each. Once inside, we made a beeline for some food, with Procyon having some spicy tofu Maultaschen and I had three lurid yellow crispy empanadas from a Colombian concession. One was chicken, one was beef and one was cheese. All were good, but the sauce they came with wasn't too spicy. After this, we grabbed ourselves a beer and went exploring, trying a myriad of different sauces as we went. I always avoided the super-hot ones but at most of the tables, I started mild and got to the second hottest. We also got chatting to loads of vendors, mostly in English. Indeed, it was very much an English language event, with most of the customers being non-Germans. Germans don't really do spice so that wasn't really surprising, while the vendors came from all over the world. The event did seem to be slightly smaller than last year's, but there was still plenty to try, while we snagged another beer too as the queue was long and my mouth on fire. In the end, I picked up two bottles of hot sauce for Wolfie as I had neglected to buy him a birthday present and we were soon on our way.

We could have waited until early evening to see The Fuckheads take to the stage, but I had booked a table at an Ethiopian restaurant called Addis Ababa at Mierendorffplatz at 8pm. We got the M13 bus over there, stopping off at Rathaus Schöneburg en route. We could have gotten off at Muted Horn instead - and indeed we were tempted - but a bit of culture is always good. I had been here at the start of August as this was the place where JFK did his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech. It was good showing Procyon the building though and indeed seeing it on the other side of the main road, where you can appreciate its grandeur. I also showed him the golden stag water fountain in the park and some of the other greenery on offer, before we decided to have a quick drink in the beer garden. This was a pleasant way to spend a late summer's evening, even if we did move on to topics of a more political nature, while their toilet being locked meant I had to deal with the porta-potties over the road. These weren't quite as bad as the hideous one in Kopenick back in June, but still far from great. It was then a walk to Bayerischer Platz then a 15-minute ride on the U7, where were to meet Wolfie.

Procyon has had experience of Ethiopian cuisine and jumped at the opportunity to have it again. It was on my mind as it was where we were going to go the previous Tuesday, before my friend cancelled at the last minute. We decided to get one of the combination platters to be shared among three people, as this gave us the greatest insight into the widest range of foods they served. We opted for some meat and some vegetarian dishes: Ye-doro qey wot ke-ayib gar (cooked chicken in Ethiopian spicy homemade cheese paprika sauce and cheese), Ye-doro alicha wet (cooked chicken in Ethiopian mild curry sauce and cheese), ye-beri qey wot (cooked beef in Ethiopian spicy paprika sauce and homemade cheese), ye-bere alicha wet (cooked lamb meat in Ethiopian mild curry sauce) and Ye-Tsom Beyaynetu (lentils in spicy sauce, white cabbage, chickpeas and kale). This was served with egg and their traditional injera flatbread, which was rather spongy in texture. It was perfect to pick up the food though, with the flavours being both subtle and delicious. We also had some Ethiopian beer, but Procyon had an accident while swatting a fly, causing his glass to shatter. The staff were very attentive though and really looked after us, although I was a little concerned I was a little too drunk having had four beers already by this point. I liked the straw hat cooking top that kept the big plate of food warm, with its revelation being particularly exciting. We left quite a big tip and they were clearly delighted. This is definitely a place we'll go back to.

After this, we had the option of going to Spandau Brauhaus or BRLO in Charlottenburg and opted for the latter. It was quite quiet when we got here, despite it being earlier than 10pm, and one of the staff accosted us on the way in. In the far corner, a handful of people were watching the US Open Tennis final between Alcaraz and Sinner, while we tucked ourselves away on one of the tables, oddly not our main one by the door. We only had one beer here on account of my struggling stomach and headed back home. Here, we made sure to give Procyon his Simon fix - having not seen any adverts featuring the diminutive raccoon, I showed him all of them on YouTube. I also showed him a few videos from Rose Tinted Spectrum satorising Rainbow and Rosie and Jim, ending with the first episode of Through the Dragon's Eye, which was a staple of my childhood. With Procyon having an annoyingly early flight - the only frustrating thing about these weekends - we headed to bed at about 1am, getting up at 7am to let him out. I then went back to bed ahead of the working week, while he travelled to the airport. As ever, it was a great weekend. We always love Procyon coming over and the people we met along the way over the last three days have made it magical. Hopefully, we can repeat it all again soon.