Princey Lovey Berg
Upon arriving in Berlin, I started attending a weekly expat mixer in order to see what other kinds of English-speaking geezers were making spontaneous mid-life decisions to pull up stakes and move abroad. Well, I am one of the oldest, but these gatherings are a lot of fun, especially if your work hours are EST instead of CET.
These gatherings generally happen at a Prenzlauer Berg bar. Prenzlauer Berg is Berlin's Brooklyn, if that makes any sense. What I mean is that Prenzlauer berg is where all the cool hipsters go to make art and babies. And while I want to hate Prenzlauer Berg for being too cool for school, I have had nothing but brilliant experiences and long drunked nights engaged in the sort of witty, snide, snarky, and sometimes profound conversations I thought I had lost to the good old days of undergrad.
So, in spite of wanting to mock all of the adult men and women who dress like they're teens, in hoodies, Chairman Mao caps, and Chuck Taylors, and in spite of wanting to not cross town to go to a bar that looks like it is both too cool and too young for me, I have had nothing but memorable and exceptionally fun times.
In all but the fanciest clubs in the hear of Berlin, beer is cheaper than bottled water. Going out with friends is always less espensive than going out in Washington, even after working in the exchange rate between the Dollar and the Euro. To my chagin, clubs, bars, bistros, lounges, and the like, are often open until the morning light. If you happen to be in a bar that decides to close at midnight, just go next door. More usually, however, you can just follow your group to the next bar, usually Hairy Mary's if we're in Prenzlauer Berg.
Even though I have been called "a little long-in-the-tooth," no matter where I've been, I have never been ingored, sniped, mocked, giggled at, or pitied. Either I am cooler than I thought or these urban hipsters, Künstlers, and Musiker are very well brought up. Were I to want to mock this bastion of fun, relaxation, and friendship, I would call Prenzlauer Berg, Princy Lovey Berg.
