10 Days in Berlin: How I Lost the Notion of Time. Part 1.

Italy is my country of choice, but if I had to live in a European city outside of Italy, I would choose Berlin. I went on holiday for 10 days and it was definitely not enough time. I really want to go back.

The reason for my trip to Berlin, besides being a tourist, was primarily to meet several friends I had made over the past year in Italy. So, it was more fun than tourism as such, because on the day we arrived, the first thing we did was celebrate being reunited.

Well, why did we go to Berlin? I think you can guess the answer. It's a city known for its nightlife and intense parties. A place that has a huge range of parties for all tastes and needs.

We were looking for fun and crazy parties, not sleep. For this, we had to leave Italy. And Berlin gave us just what we wanted with its long nights of partying, some of which even lasted more than one day. How crazy is that?! In Italy, everything closes very early but in Berlin, there are places that are open for up to 3 days. It was madness. I completely lost the notion of time. Arriving at a club at 3 in the morning, leaving at 8 at night, going home, having a bath and not knowing whether I should be eating breakfast, lunch or dinner. So those were my days in Berlin! Forget about asking the time, nobody will know exactly. And for the watches... better leave them at home.

DAY 1

I flew from Rome, where I met two Australians at the airport who were also on their way to Berlin. By the time we landed (around 10 in the morning), we were like lifelong friends. They were going to stay in a hostel and I had already made a reservation at a hotel, but it happened to be very close to where they would be. So we arranged to go out together to explore our area, Mitte.

Meanwhile, I told a couple of friends in Berlin that I was already there. The rest of our friends were going to join us a couple of days later, so for the time being, the few of us that were already there met up. The plan was to go to a bar in Mitte, which I found quite easily after getting to know the area with the Australians in the afternoon.

Once I met up with my friends, we caught up and updated each other on our lives. We had not seen each other for two months, so everyone started sharing their own adventures. The hours passed and so did the drinks.

DAY 2

Suddenly, it was already 2 in the morning. How did we spend almost 7 hours in that place? I'd also like to point out that we knew the time because of a huge clock in the bar, otherwise, we wouldn't have noticed how late it was. But the night didn't end there.

The friends I was with had been living in Berlin for a month, so they already knew the city, its attractions, and of course, they knew the best party places. Suddenly one of them told me:

"Your outfit is perfect for the club we're going to for your first night out here. "

Honestly, my outfit was very cool, but at that time I didn't understand what would be special about the place for them to say that. And also for men to say they liked my outfit surprised me a lot. But anyway, we left the bar to go to the club, but they didn't want to tell me any more than that.

It turned out that it was not only my "welcome party", but also the whole plan was a surprise and they didn't want to tell me anything until I saw it with my own eyes. They only told me that I would like it, and since they know me well, I didn't think twice about trying to solve the mystery of where we were going. I just hoped it would be a great night and that I would love the club.

We arrived at the club at about 3 am. Fortunately, we didn't queue for very long to get in as there were only about 10 people ahead of us. I can see how a lot of people often don't get into clubs because they stand looking at the floor like they're embarrassed. But the people in front were refused entry and I couldn't see why. They looked sober and well-behaved. They were American tourists, that's very clear... maybe they were turned away because they had been too noisy.

Then our turn came. I felt confident that we wouldn't have any problems. Why would they turn us away? There's no doubt we didn't look like the others. I thought from the noise they were making it seemed like it was their first time in a nightclub.

Anyway, we paid about 10 euros and they let us through. One of the bouncers asked me to keep my phone and clothes in a locker. CLOTHES? Why? I asked him to repeat what he had said because he had surprised me and I thought maybe I had not heard it properly, but then I turned around and saw my friends in boxers... I was already beginning to understand what kind of place we were in. The people immediately after us in the queue began to take off their clothes as well. It looked like they were frequent customers. They had exotic and fetish outfits. They already knew what the dynamics were like.

It seemed like it was a special night in KitKat. There was a certain dress code and clearly, it was nothing at all. Everyone had a fetish outfit or was completely naked. I then realised why I had to keep my phone in a locker with the rest of my things.

I had never experienced a place like this before, and obviously, it never crossed my mind that we would end up in such a peculiar place. I thought we would go to a normal club. But it was evident that my friends were looking for a good surprise, something out of the ordinary, and they certainly did that.

Once we entered, we started meeting people and danced to electronic-techno music. As you can imagine it isn't like other clubs where you dance all night until you can't feel your feet. In fact, most people were spread out across the club in the dance rooms, the pool and other areas where KitKat had various activities going on.

I went from dancing with my friends to dancing with complete strangers. There was one in particular who claimed to be from France. Handsome and tall, the fun began. I spent most of the night with him and introduced him to my friends. Although, I did have to go from room to room to find my friends again, who by this point had already made new friends and introduced them to me too.

I easily met about 20 people that night. Some locals, but most were foreigners. KitKat is definitely a very famous club in Berlin. I did like my surprise and it turned out to be a very good day. So good, that we lost track of time again! When I decided to go back to the hotel, the sun was out. I was totally disconcerted because I didn't know what time it was.

When I got to the hotel reception I didn't know what greeting to use. Good morning, good afternoon or good night?

I opted for a "Hallo! ", and I was somewhat embarrassed that I was wearing the same clothes as the day before so I walked quickly.

I got to my room (I should clarify that I wasn't completely sober), and I was dying to let myself fall on my bed (which looked amazing). But I felt like I needed to wash, so I bathed before getting into bed and ordered room service. It was around 3 in the afternoon. I spent around 12 hours in the club! I had broken my record!

I finished my meal and must have fallen asleep within half an hour. It had been a long night. My body demanded the rest.

DAY 3

I woke up at 2 in the morning and couldn't get back to sleep, so I turned on the television and watched a couple of movies until it was a decent time to start the day. In the meantime, I also talked to my friends from Mexico and my parents, who were slightly worried as I had not shown any signs of life for 2 days. How could I explain to them that it was because I didn't have my 5 senses? What would be a valid argument to justify losing the notion of time? I lost my charger. That was my answer.

At 7 I decided to go down to breakfast at the hotel restaurant because I couldn't stand the hunger any longer. My friends hadn't answered my messages yet so I didn't know if they were still alive after KitKat. They had probably had a much longer night than mine and they were only just going to sleep now. It was just a matter of waiting.

While I finished my breakfast I received a message from the Australians I had met, inviting me to eat with them. The plan was great because I still hadn't heard from my friends. But another Spanish friend was about to arrive in Berlin at noon. So I thought about waiting for her and then we would meet the Australians together.

I met my friend María from Spain at 1 and then we met up with the Australians at a restaurant called YamYam Berlin, a Korean food place. Personally, I'm not a fan of this type of food, but I'll tell you that it's not bad at all. Good food and affordable prices.

I introduced Maria to the Australians and we spent almost 3 hours chatting in the restaurant. I told them about my crazy 48 hours in Berlin and the three of them demanded I take them to KitKat. How could I refuse?

You have to have an open mind to be able to go into places like this. If they wanted to go, they would have to know in advance what they were about to find, because if they didn't like that kind of environment it would not be an enjoyable evening for them.

We planned to return to KitKat that day because the Australians were leaving Berlin soon.

That afternoon, when we left the restaurant, we explored the streets in the area and went to some clothes shops that caught our eye. We then drank beers at María's accommodation until about 11 pm when we decided to go to the party, feeling ready with our "fancy" looks.

DAY 4

When we finally arrived, someone in the queue in front of us told us that he thought it was the "gay night". Maria's eyes lit up. But the others were unsure of what to do. But María begged us to stay.

I was the only one they let in. María was told that she didn't seem gay enough. What did that mean? What did I look like? I didn't know how to take it. Amusingly, something else unexpected happened later. On entering I found a friend from Florence. We were both really shocked to see each other there! I was really surprised because back in Florence he had asked me to go out for dinner on four occasions. He was very nice, polite and cute, but a bit young.

"It's not what it seems", was the impression my face was trying to give because of the situation we were in. We had both managed to get there by pure luck. We knew that very well.

He came with his sister and his girlfriend. It was definitely going to be a boring night for him. He said he had only gone to take care of them and when I told him I was about to leave to go and find another place with my friends, he insisted on staying with me. He did so, and we had a really good time.

DAY 5

Caring for his sister? We were with them for no more than an hour. Then we lost them. I couldn't tell you how, but this time we spent almost a whole day there. 17 or 18 hours, I can't remember exactly. We got back to my hotel at about 6 in the evening. Destroyed. I felt I would need a whole day to recover this time.

Give me a bath, food and sleep. The same routine as last time. It was what my body asked for. Or demanded, rather.

DAY 6

We woke up around noon. At least this time it felt like a normal day. Waking up late, but at a more reasonable hour. Although this time I didn't feel rested at all. In fact, my head hurt. My body hates it if I delay meals and sleep for hours on end. So it repaid me with a headache. I was about to get a migraine. So I took a couple of aspirins before it got worse.

Honestly, my first 5 days in Berlin were totally crazy. Incredible, but they wrote me off. After practically having changed my pace of life in those days I spent the sixth day locked in the hotel. I was tired and had never been more so in my life. I was literally a zombie, so I had to sleep longer to get rid of the migraine.

Because I woke up feeling awful my mood was obviously not great that day. The boy I know didn't want to leave me in that state but I ordered him to go so I could sleep for longer. Luckily, I woke up later that evening feeling much better, so I decided to go down to the restaurant to sort myself out.

Curiously, although I was feeling better, I didn't feel the urge to use my phone. For the second time I hadn't used it for over 24 hours, so I assumed the battery would be dead. I knew that turning it on would involve confronting a thousand messages from my friends asking after me and organising other plans for that night... it would all be too much.

The rest of our friends were joining us that day. If I were to look at my phone, the first thing I would find would be messages from everyone deciding on a plan for that evening. That was something I wasn't ready for because of my bad mood.

So without thinking about it, I went back to my room after a while and lay on my bed to watch German programmes that I didn't understand. It didn't take long to fall into a deep sleep. But unfortunately, I woke up really early the next day and couldn't get back to sleep.

- Bianca