Travelling through London, Brussels, Amsterdam and Berlin

Jack Hamilton
Oct 1, 2019
10 min read

Updated: May 25, 2020

Picking up where the previous post left, we flew out at 12pm from Tokyo and landed in London that same night.

Back in 2017, Caroline and I were living in London from October to March 2018 and one of the hostels we stayed at was Dover Castle, which we had chosen again for this trip. It was quite central and close to transport, being across the road from Borough station, So we decided to stay here for the week we were in London.

When we arrived at the hostel, we forgot about all the stairs, but luckily we were put on the second floor and not the fifth.

We got in quite late so we just went to bed when we got to our room.

First stop on the list in London was no other than Blame Gloria, which use to be called Adventure Bar, and was where I worked while living in London. It holds a special place in my heart, being the first bar I've worked in, the first job I had overseas, and the team I worked with, which became my London family. We used to work 40-50 hour weeks, even 60 hour weeks during December, so work was life and life was work. We had to make it fun and entertaining to survive, and luckily that was easy because everyone who worked there loved to party and get rowdy. It was hard work but also enjoyable most of the time. Working 4pm to 2am most shifts, with some shifts going to 4am when deliveries came on Wednesday and Deep Cleans happened. But that's just how it was.

When I started there I was a little shy and quiet but that soon changed when they said dancing and singing was compulsory. We would do the Macarena on top of the bar stations on most weekends and get the crowd involved. We had Spotify playlists we knew every song by word to, and we'd even play the main parts of the songs with our muddlers and barblades on the stations. A song that comes to mind straight of the bat is Pompeii by Bastille.

So when I arrived to Blame Gloria, Sofia was at the entrance and did not know I was coming to London but recognised me straight away, even after a year and a half without seeing me. We went down the stairs to the bar and Olga was working that day too. When I left to return home back at the start of 2018, the bar had gone through a complete makeover with new decor, lighting and bar layout, which was nice to see because it definitely needed an update. They had also hired some new staff, so quite a few new faces but if they got the job here, they definitely fit the energy required for the job. I got spoilt with free drinks and Olga and I updated each other with what has been happening since I left. It was nice to be back and honestly didn't feel like much time had passed.

After being at Blame Gloria, I went to visit Sophie, my old bar manager who no longer worked in Blame Gloria but still worked for the company who owned several other bars. She was now located in Shoreditch at Nikki's Bar, which Tonight Josephine is also attached to. Both great venues.

I arrived and she was out the front and gave me a big ol' hug. We went down to the bar, and of course, made me some drinks. I felt like royalty, served beverages all night by great company. I waited for Sophie to finish work and then we went out to a few other bars, checking out Be At One which was always a great bar to go to after we finished work back in the day. And we also went to a Karaoke bar that Sophie always goes to. The Karaoke rooms were closed that night, but we stayed anyway and got served some free drinks AGAIN since her friend was working that night. Absolute legend. We grabbed a seat and just talked, catching up over some lost time. It was great!

We called it a night and I went back to the hostel.

The next day Caroline and I went out again to Blame Gloria but also explored around a little bit. Went to the markets down under the bridge near Southwark Bridge and London Bridge and enjoyed the good weather. The only good weather I have had in London since when we were here last it was the cold season. We caught up with some more staff I used to work with that night at Bar Elba in Waterloo. Georgia and Pops! We met on the rooftop and had dinner with the amazing view of the city. I also caught up with Nathan who worked in Adventure bar with me.

The next day, the one, the only, the legend himself, Alex Dewy arrived in London. We used to work in Melbourne at The Osborne when he was doing a working holiday visa in Aus but now he's moved back to UK to study. The man knows how to down a pint.

We caught up at Boxpark Shoreditch over a beer and some food. He came down from North Yorkshire for a couple days to catch up. We went to some bars and then I showed him some cocktail bars I used to go to and ended up having a late night. The next day we went out and saw John Wick 3 and went to an overly expensive sushi place. He got a room at the hostel I was staying in and we went out to Blame Gloria so I could show him where I used to work. Another late night, we ended it at the hostel bar with some pizza and a few games of pool.

He caught a train back north in the morning and I went past the bars one more time to say bye since tomorrow Caroline and I were off to Brussels.

We caught an early bus from London Victoria Station, through the underground sea crossing into Brussels and stayed at a hostel called Train Hostel Schaerbeek. On the way there we caught the wrong train and it skipped our stop so we got off at the next stop. It doesn't sound so bad right? One station only? Pfft, why complain. Because that one station distance was an HOUR long! so when we got off at the next station we had to wait another 35 minutes for a train and then finally got to our station 2.5 hours later. When we arrived it was almost dark, we got shown to our rooms which we were expecting but were still shocked at. We decided to book the top floor room as it was a bit of a gimmick. They have actual old trains on top of the roof which you can sleep in. The sides of the carriage have fold out beds/seats that we would sleep on for the night. We thought we would be given a pillow or blanket for the night. We did not get either. So when it was time to sleep, there was a thunderstorm that night, so it got cold and we had packed for summer so the only thing we had was our beach towels to wrap up in.

We got up for our free breakfast and then caught our bus into Amsterdam. Unfortunately we didn't get to explore Brussels because of the weather and lack of time. Next time. We arrived to Amsterdam on the 6th June in the afternoon. We stayed in that night at our hostel Dutchies as it was raining, but we had all of the afternoon tomorrow to explore since our bus to Berlin was leaving 7pm. So we went across the road to the store and bought some 90 cent beer, along with some food to cook back in the kitchen and snacks, and just played the PS4 they had there. It was a really solid night, just taking it easy and enjoying the comfort of entertainment and cheap beer. Our hostel dorm was an 8 bed share and one of the guys staying in the bed across from us was in his late 40's. Nothing wrong with age, but every time he got up from his bed, his balls would be dangling through his shorts and he wouldn't realise.

In the morning we hired bikes from the hostel and rode into the town centre to explore. This was one of the things on my bucket list to do, so it felt good to tick that one off the list.

It took us 30 minutes to ride into the centre. We locked the bikes up to a fence and went by foot through some of the small streets. Cafes were everywhere, which were mostly weed cafes but we did managed to find a none cannabis cafe to eat at. We walked through the Red Light District which was a little different but also interesting. We saw some cats on the streets, lots of plants and greenery around, and many, many other bike riders. We tried to find the I Amsterdam Sign but discovered they had removed it from its location because it was drawing too big of a crowd to its location.

After a bit more bike riding, we headed back to the hostel to collect our bags and give back the bikes, then headed to the bus stop for our overnight haul to Berlin.

10 to 12 hours later, we were in Berlin!

We arrived around 6am and our hostel check in was at 11am. We decided to just head to our hostel anyway to see if we could get in early. Surprise, surprise, we were not allowed. We were however, allowed to pay for some breakfast to have, which we did. After the long wait for check in, we got our rooms. The hostel was called Sunflower Hostel, and the staff were not that friendly to be honest. But we had booked in advance for a week, and the location was good. We were in a dorm room of 6 bunk beds. Most of the other guests were pretty cool. We shared our dorm with an American girl who told us about Strasbourg in France and said we should visit. At the time we didn't really know where we were going after Paris so we were like "Why the hell not" and added it to our trip plans. She was in Berlin for a Uni trip with her class, and so a bunch of other Americans were at the hostel too, which we met up with at the hostel bar and chatted. The next day we went out and did a free walking tour in Berlin centre, starting at Brandenburg Gate. The walk was based on Historical events and our tour guide was a local German girl who was studying the history of Germany at Uni. She was one of the best tour guides I've had. She knew what she was talking about and did it in a fashion that was interesting and funny. Swearing alot and really getting into the details. We walked from the Gates, over to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. From there we went to Hitlers actual bunker location which was an empty carpark behind a hotel with no signage or statue. His bunker was filled in with rocks and concrete and built over with no monument. The way our tour guide put it was if they built a monument or sign saying what was once here, they would be paying respect to Hitler. So they left it blank. Unlike the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, which has 2,711 columns dedicated to those who passed. She also told us about his Wax sculpture in the Wax Museum need a protective glass box around it because people kept beheading him.

We then went to where part of the Berlin Wall was still standing, and followed the brick line in the ground down the street to Konzerthaus Berlin. The tour was a really awesome insight to how much history Berlin has gone through. They had a rule that everything that got damaged during WWII would either be left alone if it wasn't substantial or completely replaced with a new colour or shade. Such as the Pillars out the front of most buildings, you can still see the bullet holes in them, or if it was too damaged, they put a new colour in the pillar so you can see where the damage once was.

Another cool thing about Berlin, is how open they are to expression of self and sexual orientation. Out of this whole European trip, I found Berlin to be the most expressive, which was awesome. Lots of famous street art based around Gay Pride and self expression, as well as night clubs, decor around the street, and of course, the people. Almost everyone had a way they expressed themselves. Mostly through style. Tattoos, clothing, lack of clothing, hair, piercings, etc.

We went to some nightclubs here and they were so different. Tucked away in small shops and sheds. Built in the weirdest places, like old warehouses or factories. And such a great bar scene. That night we went out, the weather decided to take a turn and we ended up stuck in a thunderstorm. We had to run back to our hostel, and of course, we got drenched. So we decided to watch Netflix (told you it became a bit of a routine). The few problems we had here in Berlin were that the hostel had no kitchen, just the breakfast they do in the morning, which isn't included, and for its price, was not that good. We ended up just going to the bakery down the road and got a bigger breakfast for the same price. We had a change in some dorm room guests and a group of guys stayed for a couple nights. I woke up one morning and saw there was a porn magazine in front of one of their beds with some used tissues... Yeah, not something you'd want to wake up to.

Other than those moments, Berlin has a lot to offer. Such a great city, and if you were to step off the main streets, you're bound to find something awesome and unique.

Some places we went to were Mauerpark Flea Market, Museum Island, Telediscko in Holzmarkt (thanks Sophie for recommendation), Green Door Berlin, Hardy's Pub (best pub I've ever been to, 3 Euro pints), Billard House Friedrichshain. We made it a routine to go to the cheapest and closest Italian restaurant to us and order Pizza and Pasta for 4 Euro each. The restaurant is called Donner Pizza. Best place to eat. If you're in Berlin, go here!