Big Bites in Berlin

What an enervating week. Hospitals in Berlin, cancellations of Tel Aviv and a lack of sleep in Rotterdam.
Quite the journaliste type already, non? Just kidding, this previous announcement is slightly dramatically formulated. But all is true, actually.

As for the lack of sleep in Rotterdam, that was just because of the North Sea Jazz festival and the after party of Snarky Puppy in Bird. Not that interesting perhaps, just another 20-year old music lover in action. Not much more to say about it, except that I had a great time at Pharrell, Kelis and Outcast and was blown away by Gregory Porter, Snarky Puppy and Paloma Faith.

But when it comes to Berlin, there's more to tell. I traveled to my favourite city in Europe again, last week. Went to visit some South-American friends of mine, who came up with the idea to go cycling and camping in Germany, and if we could make it, even in Poland. Adventurer as I can be, I said: 'Oh yeah!' Couple of years ago there would've been not a bit of it. Now, I was looking forward to life on the road, where everything luxuruous would've been a relief and we would've accepted it much more.

Things started fine, we cycled 50 km the first day and more than the double the day after. Very well, the second or third day I got stung by some insect. It felt like a mosquito at first, but like a giant horse fly later. At one point, we experienced a gigantic mosquito attack cause we were near the river. What a nightmare. A hundred mosquiotos that sting you the moment you see them. Finally, we escaped them but what is done, cannot be undone. 

That's what I experienced the day after. All was fine again, we had a shower, a coffee and a great lunch of scrambled eggs, avocado, tomatoes, cheese and olives. Then, when we wanted to relax and sit in the sun, I felt my legs irritating. When I had a look, I saw 4 gigantic mosquito bites which seemed to grow bigger and bigger every next moment I checked them. All the tiny bites I had on my legs, seemed to swell up as well. 'Yes, an allergic reaction', one of my friends said. Get out of nature, my instinct said. So I acted responsible, took the first train back to Berlin and rushed to a hospital.

Let me give you one good advice, don't go to a Berlin hospital if you don't need to. Same goes for Holland, come to think of it. But well, Berlin hospitals are a mess. You have to wait half an hour to get a registration, then an hour for the first check of blood pressure etc. By then, I was pretty much in shock cause of the legs, so I decided to change the trip back to Amsterdam to a day earlier. Finally, I was called in and 3 doctors came to see me in half an hour. Meanwhile, all I heard was: 'Oh how terrible!', 'It's a long time ago I've seen something as bad as this'. Great, guys. Thanks. After what seemed ten hours, I got pills and creme and my two legs were taped in to keep me from scratching.

Back in the Berlin house, I died of the itch, but I survived. Despite a negative travel advice, I went home the next day anyway. Ready to spend a weekend with my parents. Sad, but good for my immune system, my rest and my heart ;) Next trip would be Israel, and that's a long story to tell. Be patient, you'll hear it all!