new year in berlin

spending new years in berlin was incredible. we had read that berlin hosts one of the biggest new year’s parties in the world, so we were pretty excited. we bar hopped around for a few hours, bought some gluwhein from one of the many street vendors (and paid a bit extra for some shots of amaretto), and finally made our way to the giant crowd around the brandenburg gate. we were too late to get close (people camp out all day!) but met some fellow americans in the crowd and shared a few drinks. when midnight hit, it seemed like everyone had fireworks. they have NO laws about fireworks there, so people in the crowd were shooting off professional grade fireworks - into buildings, into another section of the crowd, etc. it was one of the craziest things ever. by the time we walked back towards our hotel (stopping for some champagne, of course), it was hard to see through all the smoke. several hours bottles later, we finally called it a night and had our first sleep of 2012.

european new years for the win.