Backpacking around the globe and back again (Part 4)
Suddenly I felt Lija sit straight up in bed, I could feel the urgency in her movement.
"What time is it?!" she asked me with panic in her voice.
"I don't know!" I rolled over to go back to sleep.
"I think we slept through the alarm"
I looked at my watch, "SHIT... shit... shit... it's 7:43!" We had to be at the bus by 7:45 and it was to leave at 8:00. We both jump out of bed and mindlessly throw on our clothing, stuffing out pjs in our thankfully packed packs. "Shit.. shit.. shit!"
We ran out the door by 7:48 and started our penguin run to the meeting spot, "shit... shit... shit!" As we waddled closer we could see a herd of people in front of the hostel still waiting. I slowed down and tried to catch my breath, when Lija caught up I raised a shaky hand to point and say, "they *gasp* are still *gasp* there!" We slowly walked towards the bus our hearts racing. We quickly explained to everyone our disheveled appearance while we waited for the bus. Five minutes later the bus still hadn't showed up, but the busabout guide came out to tell us that there was a little delay and it was on it's way. Fine. Fifteen minutes after that still no bus and I'm thinking "So.. I could have showered!??" Finally, twenty five minutes late we get ushered into the bus, the explanation for the delay? None.
Lija and I never really woke up that morning, I didn't have a shower, which I had badly needed, and we were in such a rush we didn't get a chance to relax before hoping on the bus. The drive to Berlin was long yet uneventful. We didn't have any pickup/drop offs and there was nothing really along the way planned except truck stops, so it was rather boring and I got a lot of reading done. We got into Berlin about 30 minutes late and had to go through this big check in talk at the hostel. They told us that the next day (we arrived on a Sunday) was a bank holiday, so upon paying (the full amount in cash since the promised credit card machine wasn't set up yet) I asked if there would be somewhere I could exchange travellers cheques the next day. They assured me that there would be somewhere, and if I had any problems finding somewhere they would point me in the right direction. I smiled, thanked them and paid my whole amount then ran upstairs to our room so I could quickly jump in the shower.
The hostel was fantastic, brand new and clean! It had only been open for a month and a half when we got there and besides being up to date it was also spacious which allowed some privacy regardless of the dorm room conditions. I wanted more than anything a shower, nice hot water warming me up, cleaning me up, and waking me up. I ran down to the shower, jumped in and was surprised to see no divider between where my clothes went and where the water would hit. Oh well, I wasn't putting those clothes back on anyways. That was just the first issue with the shower, not that there were many, but it was hardly a relaxing experience. The showers had a timer on them so the water would only come out for 30 seconds before you had to push the knob in again. This meant that it took two pushes to get my hair wet and about 15 to get the soap out. It was incredibly annoying and the last thing I needed that night. Nonetheless I was in a rush, we had to meet downstairs for our pub crawl very shortly and I didn't want to be late for any free drinks they might have been handing out before hand.
When we got to the magic meeting spot there were two guys holding bottles of alcohol pouring them into plastic cups and handing them out. We of course grabbed one and drank it down, I discovered that I don't like prune schnapps. Our pub crawl entailed a lot of drinking, as you would expect at a pub crawl I suppose. We drank for about 15 minutes on the street waiting for everyone to show up before heading to our first bar, considering it was a Sunday night I was wondering where all they would take us and how busy these places would be.
The first place was rather small, we filled the bar so luckily there weren't many customers already in there. I didn't much like that place, the atmosphere was very rich and we were just looking to have a good time without the snootiness that richness brings. At each bar we went to we were given a shot, so I didn't purchase anything right off the bat, I was on a rather tight budget and planned on drinking as much between bars as I could so that I wouldn't have to spend a lot of money. It was at the first bar that our guides made us play an introductory game with one another, I hate those games because they usually involve memory (and at this point I had already had 3 drinks) but this one was just a silly game in which you said your name, where you were from and which celebrity you would like to sleep with. I picked Chad Michael Murray.
We had two Canadian girls with us (Miranda and Celeste), we had met them on the bus and then they happened to be in the same room as us at the hostel, so I was instantly drawn to them, at this point we had been travelling for a week and I had yet to meet anyone that wasn't Australian.
At the second bar, which was just two doors down from the first, the atmosphere was a lot friendlier. We felt as though we could be loud and have fun, there was youthful music playing and beers being served. I bought a beer and accompanying it was another free shot. Generally I go with the "Beer before liqueur never been sicker, liqueur before beer and you're in the clear" saying but this night I just didn't care. Lija mixed her shot with her drink, it was pineapple with vodka I believe so it was just a lot more vodka than anticipated.
I should probably just sum the night up, it involved a lot of drinking and included Lija and I taking a picture of ourselves in the most disgusting bathroom at one of the bars. At the end of the night I remember walking to Mick's hotel where three of us got our pictures taken, but I don't remember walking from his hotel to our hostel through any of the many secure doors with swipe card access, nor do I remember changing into my pajamas but I do remember changing the batteries in my MP3 player.
I woke up the next morning in my sleep sheet on the mattress because I hadn't made my bed the night before, and my hair a mess because not only did I sleep intoxicated but it had rained while we were out bar hopping. Despite the late night, we woke up rather early, it wasn't as early as we had been getting up previously, but it was still pretty good considering how we were feeling. Lija hadn't drank very much the night before, so she was up at the crack of a god-forsaken hour doing her laundry. When I woke up I was planning on doing the same, but the way it worked at the hostel was you paid them and they did it for you, wash and dry. Fantastic! Well, no. I didn't want a large majority of my clothing to go in the dryer, and since I couldn't stipulate which clothes were and were not to go in I decided against using their service.
We had decided the day before to do a walking tour through Berlin which took place in the afternoon, so while everyone else in our room was still asleep, Steph, Lija and I took off into the city to visit Checkpoint Charlie. On our way we searched for a cash converters, we found about six, none of them were open, they lied to me, I had exactly 26.15 euros in my wallet and a full day to go, Lija said she would lend me money but I was determined to somehow make it work.
The walk to Checkpoint Charlie was kind of long (for anyone familiar with Berlin our hostel was right by the TV Tower) but very nice, the weather was perfect, not too hot yet not cold with a nice breeze. We stopped to get some breakfast first off, I got a .99 euro cent croissant and about an hour later when I was dizzy from dehydration an iced tea. Everyone else had these delicious looking baked goods with cappuccino and orange juice, but I was happy with my cheap selection. Checkpoint Charlie is said to make people step back and say "Wow" and while I did find it very interesting it also had a very museum-ey feel so you didn't quite get the suffering that these people were going through. For anyone who isn't aware, Checkpoint Charlie was one of three gates in the Berlin wall (which was erected in 1961 to separate East and West Germany) named with the NATO phonetic alphabet. Checkpoint Alpha was situated at Helmstedt which is the autoban checkpoint passing from West Germany to East Germany. Checkpoint Bravo was at Dreilinden where the motor vehicles left East Germany and entered West Germany. And Checkpoint Charlie which for residents meant separation but also for Easterners freedom. It was through Checkpoint Charlie that many tried to escape, some were successful but many not. Inside the museum they show different ways that people tried to escape, inside guitar amps, under trunk covers, everything really.
On either side of the street just outside the entrance to Checkpoint Charlie is an art installment of crosses. There are rows upon rows of these crosses all reaching over 6 feet tall and adorned to them a little sign with a name and how that person passed away while trying to escape. I found that with things marking situations like this you need to almost block out emotions or else they will overwhelm you.
After Checkpoint Charlie we walked back to the hostel, Lija and Steph got lunch but my budget just didn't allow for it. The walk covered pretty much everything there was to see in Berlin, it was 4 and a 1/2 hours long so we hiked a good distance. Half way through I had to get some food because I was a little dizzy and still had a lot more walking to go. We passed all the historic landmarks, the buildings, and monuments that make Berlin's history. We were told that all the black we could see on the buildings was caused not from pollution, but from nearby explosions during the war. A very disappointing thing about Berlin is that while authentic looking, many of the buildings had to be recreated after being blown up.
We walked past the Berlin wall, there is so little of it left yet it had such an impact on the lives of thousands of people. I don't know if there is anything you can say about the Berlin wall besides historical facts, which you can find online easily. The main emotion you feel when looking at the wall is anger. Anger that this could have happened and that people let it happen. Anger that so many people died trying to escape, anger that it is even part of their history. Now the wall is just this small piece of concrete covered in spray paint and exposed metal.
On the walk we went by where Hitler killed himself. He had a lair underground which he lived in and it is where him and his wife died. The spot is now a parking lot, they try not to advertise it because they don't want scary people coming and doing bad things. We went past another tribute this one for those who were killed in and those who survived the Holocaust. Past the Brandenburg gate and to the Parliament building.
It was already dinner time by the time we finished the tour, so after getting back to the hostel we went to a restaurant in the "square" near by. We went to this large restaurant that doubled in size by it's outdoor patio, it was full so we were lucky to get a table for all 13 of us.
We realized that with such a large crowd expecting fast service was asking too much, however we did expect some service. After being seated (we asked if they would rather us split into smaller tables but they said no) we waited about 20 minutes before our drinks orders were taken, which was still fine, we saw that it was busy and understood the delay. When we had eventually ordered our food we figured it would take longer than normal but not too long. We waited 50 minutes for the fist batch of food to come out, but the other 6 never came. Never. After everyone had finished and it was 2 hours since we had been there we finally got a manager out since the waitress didn't seem to understand the problem (again, the language barrier was something that we expected). The manager told us, too bad that they still had to pay for their drinks but the food had never been imputed into the system. If they wanted to wait another 40 minutes for meals to be re-ordered they could, but there wouldn't be any sort of discount nor apology. We were absolutely floored by the lack of service. Those who had not eaten (Lija was included in this group) decided that they would rather leave and got food at a local Thai restaurant. This was our first meal in Germany, and we were very disappointed.
Those of us who had eaten went back to the hostel bar to hang out, we played some Euchre (my team won.. I think..) But mostly chatted.
The next day the first thing I did was exchange money, I had somehow managed to live off my 26.15 Euros for the Monday but needed more for the Tuesday. Also, we had to exchange money into Czech as the next day we left for Prague.
We had decided to go to the outskirts of town to Schloss Charlottenburg (Charlottenburg Palace) which was supposed to be incredible. It was just a big house and to be honest, it wasn't that great. We were really disappointed, especially since you weren't even allowed to enter without a paid guide and the gardens were closed because of rain. We didn't stick around long because of the above.
It took about 35 minutes to get to the palace via public transportation and our tickets were only good for 90 minutes so we really had to hurry to get back without having to purchase anything else (which we didn't want to do). My feet were absolutely killing me, I realized while walking around that they had zero insole left and no support, they were so painful that it felt as though my feet were bleeding. Nonetheless we still walked a ways from the train station to the Jewish Museum. It was very big, and because of my pain I am sure I wasn't attentive enough. One of the girls ended up spending like 4 hours there, we spent around 1.5. They had pictures on the walls with stories under them about the people, how they lived and often how they died. It was very sad to read some of the stories, especially those about children.
On the way to the museum we had stopped and gotten some food as well as picked up some shopping items, which for myself was a new pair of insoles. The second I got back to the hostel, and I mean the second, I cut them to fit my shoes... *ahh heaven*. Okay so my feet were still sore from everything else I had been doing but it was a large improvement.
We decided to avoid going to a restaurant for dinner that night, it had gone so poorly the night before that Lija and I just went to the Thai place she had been to already and got some dinner. After, we did as we usually did, and went back to the hostel for some drinks in their bar.
Berlin was by far one of my favourite cities, while there it was my favourite but that was only the start of the trip, things would change but Berlin would always be special to me. Berlin is so clean, while it is a big city you would almost be able to eat off the sidewalk. The streets are wide, so you don't feel cluttered and there are trees everywhere. It is definitely a place I would recommend for someone to visit. Once you get over the shortness that many German people have you can live to love it, they are very abrupt but very intelligent.
Pictures so far
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