546: Sziget festival, Berlin '24 tips, and bowls of heavy cream
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I turned 33 yesterday! And boy do I feel it, living out this fantasy Eurotrip and feeling jaded, tired, and burned out about yet more experiences. The real treasure is the friendships deepened along the way….
I spent the last two weeks at Sziget Festival in Budapest, and Berlin. Tips:
Sziget: nothing to say here except I was very impressed by this festival. Very commercial of course, but with 12+ stages of every conceivable genre, smooth lines and bathrooms, and all within town. The audience didn’t dress up in costumes or lights for some reason however - which obviously would improve everyone’s day!
Budapest: We majored in festival and minored in the city itself. The ruined bars and the thermal spas are as fun as they were on my last visit, though my tastes have waned away from the alcoholic. Taking a boat tour down the river was well worth it.
Berlin:
I don’t know how I didn’t make it to Sisyphos in my last 2018 visit. Skip the Berghain line shitshow and go here, seriously - there is nothing like it anywhere else on Earth I have seen or heard of, and I would know. City block size Burning Man complex meets club with only the best of vibes.
KitKatClub is legendary as a kink/fetish club the world over, but to my party spoiled SF self it was just a really good techno party. Fun to have an indoor swimming pool though.
I finally did make it to Vabali, and it was amazingly huge and easy to exist in - but has no hot tubs somehow! Only warm tubs and hot saunas and massages.
We stayed by Boxhagener Platz, full of restaurants and bars and culture.
Things I didn’t make it to but heard great things about:
I hear the Plotzensee is the best beach/lake scene for communal parties.
I didn’t make it to Rave the Planet, the techno parade that replaced the previous one cancelled when people got trampled a decade ago, but now that Berlin Techno is a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage status they’re going even harder. Note the political demands they make to treat it like real art, too!
Bucht Der Trauma festival also happened this weekend, also about the Pinky Promise sex positive party nights.
Suss War Gestern bar/ club in Friedrichshain.
Technology
From reader Brian, watch Waymos try to return home to their parking lot at night and honk endlessly at each other as if humans are driving the other cars, ahahah.
Ideologies
I dove deeper into the Enneagram and am taken aback by how well the 7 description describes me: constantly seeking novelty, freedom, and happiness, worried when there are no plans for a day, tends to ignore admin tasks in favor of excitement.
Plus it turns out its origins are entirely from self development and psychology, so it is nothing like the woo Human Design types or the capitalist Myers Briggs.
Take the test and see if the descriptions resonate! It’s been fulfilling for me to act the way I normally do and explain it via my 7 ness.
The Relationship Design game is yet another deck of cards game to help you talk with your significant others about the assumptions/expectations you have of them.
Memes
This power metal band Sabaton write songs about true historical events (mostly wars and such) with impressive production value on the music videos.
Also from Brian, this artist filmed fans dressed up outside music shows with the relevant music overlaid on the video.
Comedian Nick Kroll’s deadpan lampooning of European lifestyles and cuisine has me and the whole Eurotrip crew in stitches: