Ireland

Not even a week in Ireland for us, but that’s okay because the Smirnoff team in Dublin had a lot of stuff in store for us. A photo shoot with some of Ireland’s biggest models, a dinner party at one of Dublin’s best Thai restaurants - Diep la Shake - a city tour, a fashion show at Trinity College and a Diageo tour of the Guinness museum.

The first thing we did when we got to Dublin was check into our hotel and map the city to see where we were. Considering I change countries almost three times a month, I do really well with getting myself around these places. The team got together and we took the public transport to the Diagio office, which was also part of the Guinness headquarters. After our brief about what we were going to be doing in Ireland we had a Q and A session and I tell you it was one interesting conversation. Questions about leprechauns, rainbows, drinking, Saint Patrick’s Day and clover leaves started flying from everyone’s mouth and I guess it was a bit typical. Either way the answers were all answered with disappointment and we go on to doing more serious things like check out this Guinness factory.

I have never been to a beer factory before the Guinness one and come to think about it I haven’t even been to the annual beer festival that’s held annually in Montreal, but I will next year. After spending a couple of hours running around the place and discovering the world of beer making, we ended the tour on the top floor and savoured a tall glass of Guinness and for some reason it just tasted that much better.

The Irish team did a really good job in showing us around the city with a city tour that gave us the luxury of jumping on and off buses that came around every 20 minutes. Luiza, her best friend from Brazil Marina, and I got on to the bus and went around the whole city stopping at museums and historical places. I like the idea of having this kind of system because it gives people like me the opportunity of seeing all the famous places and interesting things to do in and around Dublin. At one point we noticed a crowd waiting outside a hotel and I decided to wait and see who would come out and to my surprise it was famous band member and one of the actors from The Sopranos show.

Smirnoff was sponsoring a fashion show at Trinity College with cocktails so the Smirnoff team got almost front row seats to see some of Dublin’s local fashion gurus at there finest. It was my first fashion show, except for one I was in a long time ago, so it was nice to see a show from the audience’s point of view. It wasn’t really my thing because most of the clothes were things I would never wear, but they did have a couple of things I could see people wearing. Like everything in life it was a great experience and something I can say I did on this great experience we’re all on. A couple of days later, the team took us to dinner at a Thai restaurant called Diep la Shake where we met two models and to my surprise they were there doing what they do best - modelling. Trinity College is a really old school and the campus was amazing. It made me wish my school had such historical background.

Soccer game

We hit the Olympic stadium of Berlin where Italy beat France in the last football world cup. This stadium was nothing like the one in Argentina. If you’re in Europe, you owe it to yourself to check out a soccer game, and if you don’t like it then do it for the pictures and experience. The crowd in these stadiums are like lions and the people take the game really seriously.
All in all Berlin is one of my favourite cities I have toured on the Smirnoff journey, I would love to come back to this city and see what it looks like in a couple of years. The team that took care of us did a sweet job and I got to experience things like a European soccer game, the air guitar show, May 1st festival, Carnival 2008 and all the night life, Good times in Berlin...

Bike Tour

Near the end of our trip Luiza and I decided to rent bikes and ride around the city. This is a really cheap and efficient way to see the city, in approx 4 hours we saw everything we wanted to and had some time to check out ones we came across while riding. One of the places I suggest is the central park it’s massive and makes the one in NYC look like peanuts.

May 1st Demonstration

For you guys who don’t know what happens on May the 1st in Berlin, I’ll give you a really short idea. On this day people gather in Krosbrug and protest about capitalism, have a massive party in the streets, a demonstration and a couple of blocks down they block everything off for DJs to set themselves up on the streets and people can go for a beer and meal. I’m telling you I love Berlin… these kind of things are awesome, kind of reminds me of Montréal with the jazz festival and grand prix weekend. Anything that gets the community out of the house and exploring is always good for the people and their well being. Unfortunately there was a tiny riot where people threw beer bottles at the police. I found myself waiting at the wrong washroom while it was going on and it was totally a real experience - it showed me how sometimes things get out of control. If anything it was cool to be in the middle of it and have that excitement however, I like to play it safe so I left shortly after it began. May 1st rocks. It's this massive street party with hundreds of people and good food. Ania, Luiza and I stopped at a friends DJ booth and danced for a while, it was cool to see people in broad daylight having a good time in the streets.


While we were in Berlin, and this is more a reminder to myself, Kung Takashi and I played this card game Kung bought a couple of times and had a blast. I just had to buy myself a pack and sent it home as a memory. The other thing we did together was watch the series Lost, and lost we were… that show is probably one of the best ones I have seen on TV in a while. It was also nice to watch a TV series after a while of not really watching TV. The boys and I lived together for two weeks and we did everything together from cooking meals, cleaning, watching Lost and exploring the city.

I know, carnival in Berlin who would have thought? However, this carnival was nothing like the one in Brazil, don’t worry nothing can out weigh that experience. Berlin kicked ass though. I got to the area called Krosburg, it had a massive demonstration that consisted of half the city being shut down, and this was going to be one massive event. Unlike the Brazil carnival where its main focus is music, Berlin’s carnival was all about people and their cultural differences. If you ask me, this is the perfect way to get a community all together, people can show off where they are from and learn a bit about others. This festival was massive with thousands of people and at the end of it all everyone meets and parties with 5 Camarote that are club owned and dance in the streets. Towards the middle they had a market to buy almost anything you can think of and the food…. let me tell you this, they had food from every corner of the world. I remember getting South African BBQ and it was so good. I picked up some souvenirs and a couple of things for the family back home. This Carnival was full of colours, well organized, and had food, music and the whole community jumping. At one point I remember the DJ saying ‘everyone get down’, and about 500 people crouched super low. Then when the music got louder he screamed ‘JUMP’ and everyone started to jump. It was just one of those things where you had to be there to experience. If you’re going to visit Berlin, make sure you hit there around that time - it’s something you don’t want to miss.

Our performance @ Stage (Air guitar show)

We had Hummers to drive to the show and the Smirnoff Ten showed up in style. We had a blast while in the VIP Lounge downstairs where everyone chills out before they hit the stage. It was nice to see how people relax before their big performance and it was nice to find myself in their shoes for once… we practiced our show for two days and at the end of it we got it the way we wanted it. Myself, Ania, Ben, Steph and Audette performed an air guitar version of RUN DMC’s ‘Walk This Way’ in front of a crowd of about 400, and trust me this is one experience I will always remember on this trip. Going out in front of all those people was a bit nerve-wracking, but at the same time it was a thrill and we did a super good job. The Smirnoff Team got 2nd prize which is really good and if we were asked to do it again I am sure we would. All in all it was a great experience at a cool venue, but most importantly we had fun and met some great people.

Nightlife in Berlin

25

The nightlife in Berlin is awesome and if there is one spot you should check out it’s this hidden bar/club called 25. Now have you ever heard of a venue that runs from Thursday until Tuesday and not closing? I haven’t and I guess that’s why this place was so intriguing at any time of the day, you could just pop in have a drink and dance, and that’s exactly what I did. The music they played is more of a minimal techno, which kind of makes sense - imagine super hyper trance or psychedelic music going on for 5 days… The crowd is around early 20’s to early 30’s, and everybody is welcome. There are also massive swings where people like to chill out on and the venue is half inside, half outside right next to a canal. It’s a really cool joint.

The Buungaloo

Now I loved 25 because it was a really chilled out joint that you can go to at any time of the day, however if your looking for something a bit more upscale, this is where you want to be seen. The Buungaloo consists of four dance rooms and an open-air terrace. As you walk in you’re kind of forced to walk up this kind of catwalk and back down, it gives you a chance to look around and it gives the people already there an idea of who’s coming in. The first floor is where all the action is, it has tables to put your drinks on, stairs to dance on, a massive dance floor, the cat walk (which is also used to show off your dance moves) and it really gets everyone going because there are so many levels to it. On the second floor you get another room that’s simpler, with more commercial music where people can sing along to all the major hits. The third floor consisted of a private white VIP Lounge that lets you take off your shoes slip into some slippers and lay down on luxuries couches while you drink with your friends. The fourth floor is more of a roof bar with open air and heaters in case it gets a bit chilly at night. It’s more of a social floor where people can enjoy a cigarette while they sip on their cocktials. Over all the Buungaloo had great music and when I didn’t like it I had the option of walking to another floor, the people really knew how to dress and were friendly. The VIP Lounge is a great place to relax and the roof top was a perfect place to meet someone, over all it’s a great place check it out.

Watergate

Watergate is an awesome place to check out while in Berlin. What I liked most about this place is the outside terrace, where people can chill on leather couches and enjoy the gorgeous view of the city. Watergate is centrally located and has 2 floors spinning techno of all kinds and on special nights they have r&b and hip-hop. The bar is massive, giving the customer a good chance to get a drink in a reasonable amount of time. The crowd is really varied as well. Watergate is one of those places you can stay at until the sun goes up or if you just want a nice place to have a drink and it also gives you many options while you’re in one venue.


And last but not least…

Stage

Stage is a venue where live performances are frequently featured including the Smirnoff Ten’s performance at the air guitar show. This venue is one of the only clubs I know that has a swimming pool ready to cool the crowd off in case they get too excited. There are two main rooms, one for the performances and one where people can sit at the bar or relax on couches. On the plus side they serve food in the bar and its quite cheap and good. The music was good and the people were friendly enough for me to sit down with and have conversations about everything and anything.


Now that I have given my list a good glimpse I get a sense that I really got to see many different layers of this gorgeous city they call Berlin, and I tell you this city has everything for anyone and you can find a party at any time of the night or day.