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..:England&Germany Review&Pics (56K Beware):..
After asking everyone and their grandma to come with me to Europe, Christmas and other obligations meant I was flying solo once again. Around 8:30 p.m. Dec 16th my flight left Orlando for London. 8 hrs later I arrived in Gatwick Airport. I met up with Dave (UKTA , thesuperfunk) who by the end of weekend was like my little bro. We were only in London for a few hrs when we hopped on a plane to Berlin. We stayed @ The Argon Opera Hotel in Kurfürstendamm! The hotel was super nice and had an amazing view of the city. All the trees had rows and rows of lights covering them.
The room was very comfortable and had one of the coolest showers I have ever used. I was beyond tired from flying all day and he was equally exhausted from catching his train down to London and meeting me. So we decided to take Wed night easy and just sat around watching TV and pretty much still in shock that we were in Berlin. Thursday night woke up early and planned a site seeing mania day. We hit all the spots. The most amazing stop imo was the Victory Column. It was absolutely breathtaking. We stood outside just staring at it and decided to walk all the way to the top. We walked through the underground tunnel which smelled like pee. As we slowly walked up the stairs out of the tunnel there it stood. I had always seen pictures of it and video stills but it was crazy actually being there. As we walked up the endless flight of stairs to the top I also smelt pee again. The view at the top was well worth the walk. It was amazing to see where the Love Parade takes place every year. You could just close your eyes and imagine the thousands of people that come to this very place every year.
Our next stop was passing the Reichstag on the left followed by the Brandenburg Gate. All the statues and buildings in Berlin are incredibly massive. Standing infront of the Gate was also a highlight of the trip. We ventured on through the Gate stopping by a local marketplace. We had hit Tiergarten, Mitte, and now headed to Kreuzberg where we stopped and snapped a few shots of the Checkpoint Charlie Museum. We had dinner and walked around abit more before heading back to the hotel to get ready to go out. That night we stopped by a retro clothing store where a girl told us to hit a club called Cookie.
I was a bit skeptical at first, due to the name “Cookie”. I mean wtf. Anyways that night we went to Cookie and I had a fucking blast. It was a really chill club with a loungey feel. The crowd was filled with 20 something luscious blondes and brunettes. Drinks were mad cheap and me and Dave ended getting wasted and leaving about 5:00 am. The DJ’s mixing seemed to improve as the more beer we drank. Highlight of the night was hearing New Order - Blue Monday and watching everyone sign and dance to it. The DJ kept it 100% cheese free dropping some minimal dark house.
Friday had finally came and we spent the majority of the day resting before the big night. About 6:30 PM we left the Hotel to meet everyone @ Escados. We arrived @ Escados about 8:00 ish and met about 20-25 Ukta’s and Gta’s inside. I made the rounds and met everyone who seemed very cool. After dinner we all took the train two stops to meet about 10 more GTA’s. After everyone was introduced and counted for we heading to Briana’s hotel room where about 35 of us sat around and had drinks before Paul van Dyk. I met so many people but I will do my best to remember: Cheers to Dave (of course), Mike H, Sykadelic, Lam, Ric, Toni, Bloodflower, Deekay, JP, Bri, Lisa, Frode, Stiff, Campy, Michi, and about 15+ others I can’t remember their names. Around 11:30 ish we finally started heading to Casino. By this time I was freaking out and everyone was laughing at me. I have never been so anxious in my life. On the way to Casino me and JP snapped a photo next to the Berlin Wall.
Minutes later there we were walking up a dirt road to Casino which looked like an old abandon warehouse from the outside. When I finally got inside it looked like nothing I imagined. For some reason I thought the club would be super glam but it was the total opposite. The club was pretty massive and had featured one of the best sound systems I have ever heard. The ceilings were relatively high. Not as high as Space in Miami or Avalon in Boston I would compare it most to Roxy in New York. When you first step foot on the dancefloor your eyes catch the huge disco ball at the top of the dancefloor. The only negatives of the club was the rotating red and white strobe lights. I fucking hate strobes. The warm up DJ was Stef who I had never heard of and was rather boring. He did drop a few dope tracks like Spork - Freek Like Me and Luke Chable & Danny Bonicci - Ride (Alternative Route). Around 1:30 Bri grabbed my arm and we rushed with the rest of the crew to catch Paul. Paul came on about 2:00 am and played til about 9:45ish. Even though the set wasn’t super cutting edge it was prob one of the funnest nights I've had clubbing ever. It was great to be surrounded by die hard pvd crack heads like myself. I chilled the majority of the night with Dave and Mike who are prob the two best pvd track id’ers out there. The night was promoted a requests night where peeps were given the chance to txt Paul requests and he would play them. He dropped some classics I thought I would never hear out like Liquid Child - Diving Faces and Three Drives - Greece 2000. Imo Paul played alot faster and harder that he does in the states. I was pretty impressed he stayed away from the Reflections Promotion Agenda only dropping Crush and TOOL. I've seen Paul play all along the East Coast and Vandit Night was by far the happyiest I've ever seen Paul. He was smiling and jumping around all night.
Anyways I am fucking tired of typing but all I have to say is that I had an unreal time. I kinda wish someone I knew really well from the states could come with on all these fun trips (one day) but meeting randoms is equally as fulfilling. It’s amazing how something as simple as music can unite people from all different background and cultures. Everyone I met was super friendly and just out to have a good time. No bad vibes or attitudes the whole weekend. Just wanna say a quick Oi Oi to my partner in crime for the weekend Dave. If you wouldn't have convinced me to come I would have missed a phat party. Bri it was awesome to finally meet you when I wasn’t on like 4 pills. JP you are my idol, but you must stay the whole time next time. Mike, Sykadelic, Toni, Ric, and Lam you UKTA’s rock my world. Even though you bitches loved taking the piss outta me for my bitch drinks. Hope I can make it out NEC or something sometime soon. To all the GTA’s Deekay, Frode, Overseas, Michi, and Campy nice meeting you and thanks for interpreting for me. That’s all folks and hope to see all ya’ll @ WMC next year.
Danke
Alex (the yank from florida)
Last edited by Dahippieman on Dec-25-2003 at 14:51
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