Yesterday was spent almost entirely in the company of the Italian, Mexican, and Australian. We went out to the East Side Galley, as I mentioned we were planning, which was cool. The most famous part is a picture of the two leaders of east and west Germany kissing and there was a large line to get a clear shot in front of it. We were also accompanied by this really weird middle aged Japanese dude who insisted on following us around and acts like a Sacha Baron Cohen character. At one point he refused to believe that the Mexican guy wasn't Jewish because "you look so Jew!" We lost him after a while and spent much of the afternoon chatting in the riverside park nearby. It was perfect weather for this, with cool air temps but very sunny. In the evening, Italian decided to teach me how to make pasta. Apparently Italians make pasta exactly the same way I would except they add so much salt to the water that you end up being extremely thirsty during the entire meal. Oh and they drizzle olive oil over the finished product, which actually might be a decent tip. It was fun cooking with people again, though. I definitely have missed that aspect of life back in Somerville. Japanese guy reappeared and started helping himself to the food the rest of us had made, again being extremely annoying. We gave him the slip when he started bothering someone else.

At one point it became clear that I was the only one who'd ever been to a casino before, so I rallied the troops and we all went out to the nearby casino. It was very small and very depressing, but I think it's a valuable experience to have. German slot machines are much less big on Chinese babies and Plains Indians than American slot machines, which I was disappointed by. We all made money; in my case I came away a whopping 15 cents richer. And they gave us free drinks, which was nice. Overall, a very similar experience to the American and NZ casinos I've been to.

It's been great having a little group of friends here, even after Adam has left. Despite having been in Berlin for a while, I still feel like there's so much that I should see and I almost want to stay longer. Hopefully I can get some of that out of the way tomorrow. Berlin is sprawling and multicultural in a way that reminds me of London, but without so many iconic destinations. In a way, it feels like the realest of the big cities I've visited thus far, and though it's certainly not the prettiest, I like it a lot for that. I'm debating exactly when I should leave for Copenhagen - my Eurail pass doesn't require reservations, so I can just hop on the train whenever I like since they run quite regularly. It is about 8 hours, though, so I do have to budget the time.