A haircut can lead to unexpectedly seeing lots of happy naked people.

If there is one thing Nick and I have learned in the past few weeks, it is that in Berlin, you will never be bored. It's impossible.

Yesterday, Nick had an early haircut appointment at 2.45pm and I offered to be the translator and come with.
Have you ever thought about how much power it gives you if you are the translator who tells the hair dresser how to cut someone else's hair? SO much power! I could barely handle it.

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All went well and Nick is now sporting an awesome haircut, of course :o)

And check out this chandelier! I just had to take a picture of it. I would probably hate to clean it, but I would loved to have secretly taken it with me when nobody was looking - don't worry, they had 4 of them anyways. Unfortunately, it wouldn't have fit in the basket on my bike.

Riding towards home, I was surprised by the number of hipsters that crossed our way. Where did they all come from all of the sudden?

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I thought we left all of them in Hampden when we moved here. I guess the trend it spreading the word.

Anyways, Nick was way more concerned with the amount of police blocking off streets and redirecting traffic. Yes, I clearly know how to prioritize.

You may not know this about me, but approaching policemen really freaks me out. I think I would feel obliged to tell them that I have run at least 7 stop signs in my life and then they may arrest me. Or even worse - want money. That just freaks me out.

We then pretty quickly found out what all the police, security, and barriers were for:
It was Christopher Street Day in Berlin! Aaah! I can't believe we almost missed it.

If you have never heard of CSD, you should come and experience it in person. It is the biggest LGBT celebration/ demonstration in Germany and most likely the largest party I have ever been to.

The first thing we saw was a parade. A very, very, very long parade.:

And then we tried to follow it. The only way we could do that was by riding right behind a police car that was driving down a bike lane next to the actual road. (Yes, I was worried the entire time if it was illegal to ride so closely behind a police car. Is there a minimum distance you have to keep when doing that? Please get back to me on that.)

Our flashy escort.

There were thousands of people at the Siegessäule already and we knew that the parade would continue for another mile and a half to end at the Brandenburg gate. (One of the pros being a runner is that you know so many distances by heart.)

So we just cut through the "Tiergarten" (the huge park that surrounds this area) and came out here: 

So many people! 

 You can't see it in the pictures, but at least 2/3 of the people were dancing to pop music that was blasting through a gazillon speakers. So awesome!

Dancing on top of the street light.

However, what you do can see is that everyone is smiling! I have never seen so many happy people in one place. It was absolutely incredible. Have you ever been surrounded by people that are just having the time of their life? It is contagious!

His big green sign said:
"Schwuler Frühling in Russland" - "Gay spring in Russia"

As you can see, we we had our bikes with us (see the two super sporty rides behind me?!) and with the amount of people around us, it was impossible to get anywhere. So we rode home, got changed, and took the train back to the party. 

Not before getting ice cream, though! Don't forget to always fuel with ice cream before a bike ride, thank you. 

Obviously, I had to be focused on the food and
didn't have time to smile for a picture.

After we came back, it seemed like nobody had left. 

yes, that is his butt looking out.

The greatest thing about yesterday was that it really did not matter to anyone how you looked. Everyone was just having a blast together. 

We saw so many naked or incredibly creatively dressed people, it was insane! I told you before that after coming back from the U.S., I felt that Germany is much more tolerant about showing your skin while sunbathing. 

Let me rephrase that: I feel that Germany is much more tolerant about showing your skin.

And then I found heaven. 

In the middle of this happy, awesome party, someone had prepared a little something just for me:

Have you ever seen anything like this?!

Yes, that is only half of the table. Thousands upon thousands of pounds of Haribo. A buffet of pure happyness. 

And then this happened: A butt "photo-bombed" my Haribo picture. I guess it happens... 

If you ever want me to take pictures of your wedding, or your graduation, give me a shout. I got this. 

 Those of you, who follow me on instagram (StinaOnTheMove), have already seen these two pictures:

 We just spent the rest of the day in the middle of this.

I had beer. For the first time in years. It was gross. Nick had to help me.

We watched people jump from a crane:

And then we decided that I am very lucky that Nick never wants to do that. Right?!

After some of the people moved towards the main stage, the clean up crew was starting to pick up things.

Because there were lots of these laying around:

 By the way, it is about 10pm in those pictures. The many hours of sunshine are incredible! (Again, you should all move here so that we can hang out in the sun at 10.30 at night!)

Around 11, we headed home and picked up dinner on our way. Yes, the day DID get even better.

There is a sushi place around the corner here that has a never ending happy hour where you get 2 for 1 maki rolls.

What they don't tell you is: if you order 1 of those, you automatically get 2!
I am suggesting that you don't waste any more time and plan your trip to Berlin right this minute so that I have an excuse to overeat on sushi we can eat there. (Shannon, I am looking at you!)

Awesomeness to go.

Can you think of a better way to spend a Saturday?! I can't. Especially when it ends with a ton of sushi for dinner and King Kong on TV. 

Have a great start into an awesome week you guys!!

P.S.: There were no leftovers.


How did you spend your Saturday?

Did you ever go to a LGBT parade? 

If you had to pick what is your favorite dinner and movie combination?