Circus Hostel - my icon in Berlin

I have many fond memories of the Circus hostel in Berlin. In 2000 and 2001 I stayed here as I was visiting and also while I was working in Berlin. It had a huge sofa on which you could fit two people laying down head to toe. They played cool music and always let the backpackers play their CDs. The staff made the best hot chocolate I have ever drank. There was a bookshelf with "give a book, take a book." The place was clean and not too loud.

Things change. They now have expanded to incorporate two locations. The original location has been changed dramatically but it still located across from the Berlin Volksbuehne in the East. The place used to be very underground but now looks very modernized. My favorite sofa is gone, now replaced by rooms. They added a pool table.

Things stay the same. The hot chocolate is still the best I have ever drunk. Now I finally had a chance to share this nectar with Carol. The upstairs has the same hallway towards teh bedrooms with the same old cigarette machine and the same old German pay phones, which I used quite frequently since I never had a cell phone in Europe.

I would say that this was the most shocking experience for me in Germany to see just how much my favorite hostel had changed, showed just how much the world had changed and me with it. This was more jolting than seeing the infiltration of Starbucks all over Berlin.