Berlin 2025 Pt.2: Bank Vaults, The Wall, Latex, Tipsy Bears & New Tattoo
Just to be clear, I am one week into my three week Berlin trip, and as David Perceval (James McAvoy) proudly says in the 2017 movie, Atomic Blonde…
“I FUCKING LOVE BERLIN!”
Everything and (nearly) everyone I have encountered have been incredibly friendly and welcoming. There are things which make Berlin like nowhere else I have been, and as I process them, I will conclude at the end of my three weeks a bit of a retrospective to give an overall view and tips, but for now, when I am describing my experiences so far to friends and family, my go to saying is “It’s VERY Berlin”.
Like Finding A Needle In A Bank Vault
Sunday I found myself walking a typcial suburban area of Berlin, where people have sporadic BBQs and get togethers on a cold damp afternoon (because everything else is closed on a Sunday). I had somehow managed to come across a sapphic underground play party. As I roamed around trying to find the entrance to the basement of a non-descript building I have to admit I did think to myself, “you are in a city you have never been to, in a part of town you aren’t actually sure were it is, on your way to hang out with strangers at an address with strict instructions to enter discretly, given to you by someone you have never met, other than on an instagram chat and my family back in Australia would have no informaton to go on, or be aware of my disappearance for oh, at least another 12 hours. I mean, what’s the worst that could happen right?”.
Well I can tell you, it was an amazing experience. I mean having a small needle play session in an old bank vault is the kind of thing that I came here to experience, but never really thought I would. I am not going to write too much else about this though, it’s one of Berlin’s best kept secrets and I felt incredibly privileged to have been able to experiience it. It’s a kind of IYKYK thing. I kind of regret not getting to play with others a little more but I think my jetlag was feeding a little bit of my social anxiety but it was still one of those surreal experiences that will make me form a wry smile whenever I think of it.
The Wall and other Secrets
Monday afternoon found me on a tour of the former Stasi HQs in old East Berlin. For almost two hours we toured the well preserved building, hearing about what life was like for not only those who suffered at the hands of the Stasi, but also for those who worked there. It was a fascinating and informative tour and I can highly recommend it for anyone who either lived through or is interested in Cold War history.
I was also a fan of the Deutschland 83, 86 and 89 television series which is a dramedy about an East German double agent based in Berlin. Being set in the 80s it covers much of the important cultural and social milestones in the lead up to the fall of The Wall and the reunification of Germany. It’s highly amusing and poignent at times and if you get a chance I reckon it’s well worth a watch. Anyway., what ties in in particular to my Monday visit, is that much of it is filmed within the Stasi HQ so when walking around it felt vaguely familiar.
Following this on Tuesday I went to the Berlin Wall memorial, which is just a stones throw away from where I am staying. Its an incredibly moving experience, and I found it quite emotional. Being a child of the 70s I can still recall how much the Iron Curtain played out throughout my early life, with the threat of nuclear anihialation being a common theme. However, I never really thought about the impact for those who lived on either side but I remember the significance of the wall coming down and the way it gave those of my generation a feeling of hope.
The cultural significance and in particular the emergence of sub-cultures I, as a teenager became a part of, has been a major part of Berlin being on my bucket list and I am thankful for being at a stage in life where I can come and experience it in relative comfort.
To follow up my visit to memorial I just on the tram and made my way to the more tourist part of the wall, the east side gallery. This stretch of the wall, on the banks of the river Spree is what you have probably seen the most of in social media, with numerous panels painted by noted artists from across the globe. Messages of hope and protest are displayed in a mix of dark and bright colours, and even on a cold, wet evening I found it incredibly emotional in a very different way to that I had experienced when walking along the memorial.
Tipsy At Tipsy Bear
In stark contrast, and as a well needed form of light relief I jumped on the tram which stops right outside my apartment and made my way to Lesbian Wednesday at the legendary Tipsy Bear bar in Prenzlauer Berg.
What a fucking night, I met some incredibly fun people, all very welcoming and friendly with a special call out to one particular Brazilian individual who kind of took me under their wing and introduced me to a number of their friends.(Thank you so much 🙏).
The night itself was heaps of fun starting with a couple of games under the banner of les-olymics. The games themselves involved inviting a number of those in attendance to firstly answer truthfully 7 questions, with an option for two of them to substitute revealing an embarrassing truth with a couple of shots.
The second game involved willing volunteers seducing and making out with half an orange (again it’s an IYKYK type of thing). This was funny as fuck and seeing how for some, seduction of a fruit comes so naturally, or not in most cases, was an amusing experience.
The end of the night brought the two hosts standing on the bar pouring shots of random alcohol straight from the bottle in to willing sapphic mouths.
I will be back for each of my remaining Wednesdays here as it was that good. Although, that being said, I was a little bit tipsy myself when I left having had one too many vodka and cokes, but you know, I am on holiday right?
https://www.instagram.com/tipsy_bear_berlin/
Latex, Latex, Latex.
I should also give a massive shout out to both John and Max of Darkstyle Latex in Prenzlauer Berg who provided me with incredible customer engagement and support as I browsed the canverous store. To give you some idea of how much latex there is, you can literally smell it as you walk up the alleyway to the entrance. That wonderful smell of latex and heavy rubber……yum.
I will be going back there again as there were a few more things I wanted to buy so I will provide more of a report after my second visit.
Berlin Dominatrix
Thursday was spent with the incredibly and talented French artist, Mathilde of Berlin Ink on Invalidenstrasse. We had speaking for a number of weeks on Instagram and having seen her art deco/20s theatrical inspired art, I knew that she would come up with something uniquely Berlin, sexy but kinky.
For six hours she crafted her design on to my skin and I am incredibly pleased with the result. She is an incredible artist and again, I feel very humbled and privilged to be able to wear her creativity for ever more.
You can find more of her work here at Berlin Ink https://www.berlinink.de/artists/artist-mathilde/
What Next?
My next three days are filled with more BDSM training at Studio Lux and potential parties, so please keep checking back here or on my Instagram channel https://www.instagram.com/thetwistedangel/
