The Irish Harp
Giesebrechtstrasse 15
10629 Berlin - Charlottenburg, Germany
Being American, Canadian, British or Irish and going to a commercial Irish Pub in Berlin is nothing to brag about. Some equate it to eating at McDonalds while abroad. But in our defense I must point out; it was St. Patty's day! And I figure I'd mention it because of what we experienced there.
We actually had a better time the night before when we strolled into another "Irish" pub, the tourist-filled Kilkenny Irish Pub at the Hackesher Markt S-bahn station (I suspect one company owns both bars -- and FWIW, they are fun places), swearing that we'd only have one beer then move on and find a German pub.
Well, the moment we sat down the bartender told us we'd have to move; a live band would soon be playing where we were sitting. Live band? Hmmmm.... We moved a few feet down, milked our one-beer until the band arrived. They were so good we just couldn't leave. The smart-ass drummer, an American who put on a fake German accent to hide his identity, later confessed his American citizenship to us and told us they'd be playing at the Irish Harp on St. Patty's day. He even drew us a map. "Ok, what the heck." we thought, groaning at the idea of going to another "Irish Pub" in Berlin, "After all, tomorrow is St. Patty's day."
The next night we found it. It was insanely packed and hopping.
Through some fluke of happenstance we got two seats at the bar. But the our band was a no-show. Either I was too drunk the night before to understand when they said they'd be there, or the smart-ass drummer was having fun with a tipsy tourist. The band that was there was hilariously odd -- so odd in fact, that this night became one of our most memorable nights in Berlin. Where else can you see two graying, fifty-something (Brits? Irish? Germans?) playing Jimi Hendrix and -- yes -- John Denver with a violin and acoustic guitar! I'll never forget the spectacle of the entire bar erupting into sing-a-long when they started playing John Denver's "Country Road". "Hoo boy! What's next? We thought, "Is David Hasselhoff going to hop on stage and join 'em?"
I seriously doubt we'll ever go into another Irish pub next time we're in Germany, but I don't regret the good time we salvaged from our night at the Irish Harp.
