Panorama is a club in Berlin

Yellow. Our bodies were covered in intense light.

Purple. Colors flashed to electronic beats.

Black. The crowed erupted in cheers.

Smoke illuminated the bright white-purple-green-yellow-blue air. Music blared. Hundreds of people moved on the flooded dance floor.

Last night I had one of the most incredible club experiences of my life. And, as you may be surprised to hear, I was completely sober. The night before I was on an over-the-top pub-crawl that involved nearly unlimited beer and several shots of real absinth. I had drank for two so I made the executive decision to take it easy.

Yesterday started off in a graffiti-ed warehouse. Multiple levels, illegal bars. Art everywhere. It was a cool place, but nothing compared to our next stop.

Panorama is the place to be on a Saturday night. Old power-plant turned multi-story-club, people party until the sun fills the sky and then sets again. I only lasted ’till five.

Getting to the club is an adventure in itself. Several trains and subways, unlit streets, sketchy people overdosing in pay-per-use washrooms. We actually had to walk down a in-construction street in complete darkness, stumbling over piles of sand, ledges, and overturned cobblestones. Somewhat overwhelming, if you don’t mind me saying so.

We were about to give up when we heard the music. Hundreds of taxis lined a small, unpaved road. People made their way to their own line. Once inside, there is no photography. They confiscate your camera. Everything is lit by red, until you hit the dance floor. Old power-plant equipment lines the walls. People line the passageways. I wish I was allowed to take pictures.

Sarah - the Australian girl who accompanied me - and I took every chance we could to explore the club. There were some dark passage ways that we opted not to explore, because we had a feeling there were people inside already exploring them. On one of the levels there is a little food place where we bought ice-cream… with sprinkles of course. I had strawberry. We chatted with the bar/ice-cream tender, and he poured us free jagermeister shots. Ok, yes, I had one shot… but it would have been rude to say no and one shot of jagermeister wouldn’t even get a 6 year old tipsy. Anyway. He was incredibly nice we were completely dumbfounded by the experience. Ice cream in a bar. Wow.

The music was good, the beats were strong, and we moved until the wee hours of the morning. We didn’t realize until we got there that the club was an anything-goes venue, so girls danced with girls, boys dance with boys, and I danced with Sarah. Ha ha. Great times. I’m happy I was sober because it was the kind of experience you need to remember clearly.

Berlin, I love you. I just wish your stores were open on Sundays because I was planning on shopping today and now I can’t. Grrrrr.