Thursday 9/18

I had some boxes to check. Thursday, I grabbed a train to Alexanderplatz and made my way to the local Birkenstock shoe store. I reckoned I ought to buy some German shoes in Berlin. Welp, a truly Berlin thing happened to me: my Berlin Birks were made in Portugal. The only shoes I saw there that weren’t made in Germany. Makes sense — this is the most un-German capital of Germany. I like to travel here because lots of folks are from somewhere else and don’t mind a strange stranger like me trying to chat them up. (edit; the cork foot bed is Made In Germany, and the leather upper is marked Made In Portugal.)

The Birkenstock store was just a couple of blocks from Marcus Bräu, so I knew where my next stop would be. Welp, it was closed. So I used the metro to get back to my neck of the woods. I have a very shitty sense of direction — this solo travel thing would be very hard without my phone. I carry redundant systems…

Back in my neighborhood, I soon found myself on a walk. Would you know it? That walk ended at a brewery. Hops & Barley is a tiny brewery with a chill pub. They do the typical German lagers, plus an IPA and a Pale Ale. I did not come here to drink IPA. So after I bellied up to the bar, I said, “Pils, bitte,” and the dude poured me a proper golden lager.

I’ve got to describe this man. He was fit, probably in his 30s. Blue jeans, plain white T-shirt tucked in. Tattoos and a mustache. Dude looked like 1987 with ink. I sat and listened to the fellows behind the bar chat. Sadly, my German isn’t good enough to follow along, but I could tell they were talking about beer. I chatted him up, and he was happy to share the conversation with me.

A customer was complaining about the IPA. Specifically, he said, “This is not IPA.” The bartender poured me a sample. It was a proper West Coast IPA with C-hops — 6.5% ABV and 55 BUs. Perhaps it was too balanced for the customer? I don’t know. It sure tasted like a fine IPA to me. I wished my travel buddy Dave was with me. (Well, he was in my pocket.) He would be ordering all these IPAs, and I’d get to try them all. But I can’t drink IPA the way I do my kind of bier. I like to drink many beers, in a proper session.

After Hops & Barley, I found myself at a place called Döner Dach. ChatGPT had directed me there for a “scharf” (spicy) Döner. I tried to order it in German, but the fellow spoke English to me. I ordered it extra scharf, then sprinkled on some of the chili powder and flakes they had. This was proper spicy — like the Mexican foods I enjoy. Not so spicy you can’t eat it, but spicy enough to make it fun.

I finished my night at Protokoll with a nice pilsner.