And no on even noticed my missing cufflinks

I was up early true to form and set out for some breakfast, finding a backerei 10 yards from the flat. It had been snowing overnight and the idea of wandering round Berlin in a suit was not one that filled me with delight. The stroll back from the restaurant the night before made me recall the advice of the owner of the place I was staying. Not dangerous, never a problem. So as the police were interrogating one of the dealers outside the park it struck me that ok they weren't actually hassling me but potential problems between these guys and some of the locals might be best avoided.

I decided that later this evening id opt for the 10 min longer non scenic route.

The thing with Berlin that a non-party animal like I forget, is that if you do party hard, odds are you'll be sleeping in til 11am the next day.

The snow covered streets again were empty and I wandered over to the bride and groom to be's house. 2 minutes before getting there I get a message, can I bring my passport and some carrots. Come on, the guy's an artist. Quick chat with him and I was dispatched to get said items and some ingredients so I can make a pasta dish for later. Ok so it looks like I am being given the witness/best man role, I love a bit of notice, even 1 hour 35 mins.

Passports and the rest collected, last minute check of things to be done and off we go to the registry office.

All guests present and correct, beautiful bride arrives, papers signed, photos taken, someone pronounces them Mann und Frau.

Reception buffet follows, nice food, wine and jazz music, I give a speech, again good job I was alerted of the possibility of this happening 3 days prior, which raises some laughs but boos that the humiliation aspect was not pushed more. It certainly made for an interesting counterpoint to his uncle's entertaining speech. My mate reckoned mine was like a eulogy.

Met some very interesting people and our team won the quiz on a decider, guess the mashup tracks. The song played I knew it as one of the kids' recent faves and I was apparently the only person in the place that knew a South Korean hit with a gazillion views on YouTube. We are the champions.

It was if we had won the world cup, we did a football huddle group jumping session, and I had met some of them 15 minutes earlier. Great fun. It was like Never mind the Buzzcocks - wedding special on acid.

After this, and I think so much has been missed, pasta dish prep at the newly weds abode, a trip back through drug deal alley for a change of clothes, shoes and some silence for 20 mins.

Back out to a club where my mate DJed (highlight of his set the wonderful Disco Disco Disco by the American Song Poem anthology) and then one of his DJ mates who has a club in Edinburgh, which I'll be taking Madame to some time soon, continued with the music and I stayed later than I should have but left earlier than I wanted. I think the club was open til 5am.

Walked home avoiding potential drug bust action and failed to find some late night spaetzle. Next time.

A truly stunning day. Wish the whole family could've been there.

-2°