It was a happy coincidence that I happened to choose the Pride weekend to be in Berlin, and an even happier coincidence that friends were going to be there as well. 

The last time I’d been to Berlin was 20 years earlier, when Glen and I went with two friends on a five-week holiday to Europe. The trip was so bad that it pretty much destroyed our friendships and put Glen and I off travelling with anyone else for years. Despite that, I’d always harboured fond memories of Berlin itself and was really keen to go back. 

I had about a week of fun ahead. I arrived on Friday afternoon and checked into my hotel, which was extremely close to Checkpoint Charlie. I found this surprising, despite “Checkpoint Charlie” literally being in the name of the hotel. I’d expected it to be a couple kilometres away, not one block.

That night I went to a nightclub and a friend who’d been before had recommended I get there very early, like 7:15pm, even though doors don’t open until 10, because the queue could take hours to process. 

So I arrived there early…only to find no one else doing the same. 

I wasn’t even sure I was in the right place, so I went for a drink opposite and waited. Eventually people started arriving and I joined the short queue, with my friends turning up not long afterwards. Fortunately, we only had to wait about an hour before they opened the doors, earlier than usual because of Pride.

I stayed for about five hours, had a good time meeting people from all over the place, then shuffled off relatively early, not wanting to be too wrecked for Saturday’s parade.

The Christopher Street Day parade started sometime around midday, but I met up with friends – mostly from Melbourne – around Nollendorfplatz at 2pm. Despite having planned to do pretty much everything myself on this trip, I was really glad to have this group of five to spend the day with. 

We eventually settled on a spot in the shade and waited for the floats to reach us, each one loaded up with people and pumping out a different type of music.

Unlike Sydney Mardi Gras or Perth Pride Parade, you’re free to join the procession and walk behind whichever float you want. I think we joined the fifth or sixth and continued with it, along with everyone else, towards Tiergarten and the Brandenburg Gate. While it was cramped at first, the crowd gradually spread out and the floats picked up speed.

At one point we cut through the gardens, eventually ending up at the Gate, where we ran into even more friends from Melbourne. It felt like every day Australian man was in Europe that summer. Eventually, we decided that we’d seen enough and walked enough and it was time for a nap.

That meant we were safely out of the area when, later, a man deliberately drove into the parade near Tiergarten, killing one woman and injuring others. He disappeared afterwards and was tracked down the following day, dying from police fire. 

The first I knew about any of it was while walking to that night’s party, when Monika, a German friend, messaged to ask if I was all right. Having no idea what she was talking about, I thought I’d maybe posted something online that made me look unhinged or in distress. Then she explained what had happened and I looked up the news.

Messages from people back home in Australia soon followed. I’d never been happier to be old and tired than I was at that moment. 

To be honest, the weight of what had happened didn’t really hit me until the following day when I read more details about it. I remembered noticing how visible the police presence had been during the parade and wondering whether anything bad might happen and how it would be handles. Afterwards, I also found myself wondering about a similar attack happening at Amsterdam World Pride. 

The attack made international news and raised a lot of concerns within the community about safety at these events. It was an awful thing and cast a shadow over what had otherwise been an incredibly joyful day.

Despite the tragedy, the partying continued, although the big event at Brandenburg Gate ended early and the crowd told to disperse. The party I was at was well attended, but I just didn’t gel with the vibe. I did run into more friends from Sydney and Perth, though, which was nice. Meng, Martin and I called it pretty early and headed on home.

On Sunday I had a ticket to a pool party, but the weather had turned bad so I gave that a miss and went to another club later that evening instead. I met a whole lot more people – again, many Australians – but also, strangely, a large contingent of Minnesotans, one of whom I caught up with a couple days later for lunch. Another late night, though not as late as some, then home for a sleep.

Monday was very chill. I spent most of the day lounging around before heading out in the evening to see Meng and Jeremy at another club but finished early. Afterwards, Meng and I went for dinner, although I’m still not sure how he convinced me to stand in line for an hour for a damn kebab. 

Lining up for food when rationing isn’t a thing is dumb, but I stayed. 

The kebab was fine but not life-changing.

On Tuesday I met up with Jon from Minnesota for lunch, which was a lot of fun. In the evening Monika arrived from Bremen so we could hang out for a few days. I think it’s been about two years since we last saw each other, so it was a good chance to have a proper catch up.

On Wednesday morning we went to the Jewish Museum, just down the road from the hotel. I’d visited it about 20 years earlier with Glen and remembered thinking it was excellent. It’s still really good, although my attention span has shortened considerably since then. We spent about an hour and a bit in here. Excellent interpretation and all well done.

That afternoon we went to Hamburger Bahnhof, a contemporary art gallery, with Mon’s friend Tomas. I very quickly hit a wall and left them to it. 

I flaked out in the hotel and cooked dinner for Mon and I for when she got back. We hung out for a bit longer, then said our goodbyes. The next day I was off to Amsterdam while she was going cycling for a few days.

Berlin was once again a lot of fun. Going during Pride made it even better as it gave me a chance to reconnect with friends from home and Germany, make some new ones, and experience the city in all its vibrancy.