Already we have come and gone from Berlin.
On our way, we decided that we needed a little sleep and a little relaxation after getting almost everything we could out of Amsterdam, so after almost a full day of travel from there to Berlin, we figured out a new city's public transportation system yet again to find our way to our hostel.
When we arrived in Berlin, we thought we would just pop over to our hostel, but we didn't realize that our destination was about 40 minutes outside of the city center!
After trying to figure something else out, we gave in and set out to find our way.
For the first time in our trip, we were presented with the challenge of being in a place where we didn't speak the language. We couldn't make out a single word on the ticket purchasing booths, and when we went to the teller, she said that she didn't speak English.
Somehow we managed to communicate our needs and embarked on a half mile walk through the bowels of the underground station to the line we needed.
After 15 stops, we emerged on what we worried would be a rerun of our arrival in Paris. And although things were a little rough around the edges, the area was pretty safe and our hostel was only a few blocks from the station.
The hostel wasn't beautiful, but at least we could talk to the people behind the desk. A few young people inhabited the lobby space, using the computers, and playing chess. The girl behind the desk escorted us to a small room with bright orange walls and IKEA furniture and showed us the showers and toilets down the hall.
We were sweaty and cranky from a long day of hot, humid traveling, but more importantly, we were hungry and on a budget.
It turns out we were in the perfect place for such conditions. We left our doorstep and turned the corner to find an Italian restaurant with personal pizzas for EUR 3.50.
We were the only ones in the restaurant and there was a candle burning at our table. It was sort of romantic in a very "budget" sort of way, and finally we were able to relax a little bit.
As the waiter was making change for us out of a wallet at our table, I noticed that he had blue and white nail polish on his thumbnail. I pointed to it (because we had already established that neither of us spoke the other's language) and he grinned from ear-to-ear and said "Argentina!"
We did what we could to say that we liked Argentina too and smiled at our cheerful waiter.
The next day, Whitney slept until 3 p.m. and Collin explored the small neighborhood we were staying in--finding similarly low-priced meals along the way. In the evening, we watched animal bloopers on YouTube and headed to bed early.
Because the Busabout trip was leaving from the city center, though, we had to find a way to spend our third night as close to the pick-up point as possible. So we booked a hostel as close as we could and set out the next day to check into it and acutally see a few sights before we left.
After a mini-crisis of forgetting that we tucked our debit card into a "safe place," we decided that the things we wanted to see most were the Holocaust Memorial (left) and the East Side Gallery, which is the longest stretch of what is left of the Berlin wall.
The Memorial was breathtaking. The first portion is a long wall that gives the history year-by-year of the persecution of Jews and other holocaust victims. Then we moved into a room with backlighted excerpts taken from letters and notes written during the war that were glowing from the floor. We navigated around all 20 3x5 templates and read about the most appaling and frightening things that happened to the victims of the Holocaust in their own words.
It was so moving to learn in such detail all of the disgusting things that happened. What was even more amazing was the geographical span of German occupation. While I was growing up and learning about the Holocaust, I was somehow under the impression that these horrors occured mostly in Germany and a little bit in the surrounding areas. I had no idea that the Germans occupied almost every country in Europe and put into practice their terrible scheme as far as northern Africa.
That experience was worth traveling to Berlin for, if nothing else. After we moved away from the memorial, we saw the Brandenburg Gate, which is where people crossed from East to West Berlin; the Teirgarten, a massive park in the middle of the city; Unter den Linden, which is a street of lime trees that was a place of luxury before the wall was erected but was neglected while the wall was still standing and has now been restored; and finally, we went over
to the East Side Gallery, like I said, the longest stretch of the Wall left standing. It is now covered in art that promotes peace and freedom.
After all of this, we were hot, sticky, and aching from all of the walking (both of us have blisters covering our feet that you wouldn't believe), so we decided that it was time to find a cheap dinner and head toward our new, much better hostel.
The hostel was just fabulous! It had a ton of bright colors covering every surface and all of the furniture was modern and clean. They provided sheets, free Wi Fi, a storage closet, free lockers, and bathrooms in the dorm rooms. There was a bar and a terrace on the top floor and each guest was given a free drink coupon.
We had the greatest roommates! Two guys were from England, one girl was from Canada, and the other girl was from Australia. The girl from Canada went off and did her own thing, but the the five of us sat in the dorm and talked for two hours before heading up to the bar to take advantage of the free drinks (you would not believe how expensive a Diet Coke is here).
We talked about entertainment, school, politics, economics, animals, the things we've seen along our travels, the things we'd like to do in our lives, and all of the history we'd learned while in Berlin.
We could have talked all night with them, but we had to be up at 6:30 to catch the Busabout Coach at 8, so we all headed to bed. It was so safe and nice to be in a room with people we'd gotten to know, and it felt strange leaving them behind in the morning. It felt like we'd made some good friends, but when I thought about facebooking them, I knew that in a matter of months, i would be removing them from my friends list because there would be nothing left to say.
The experience was in-the-moment. It was wonderful. And it ended quickly--the way it is supposed to be on trips like these I suppose.
Now we are moving on to Prague for 5 nights at EUR 6.50 per person per night. We are PUMPED to see how much money we can save in this new city!
On our way, we decided that we needed a little sleep and a little relaxation after getting almost everything we could out of Amsterdam, so after almost a full day of travel from there to Berlin, we figured out a new city's public transportation system yet again to find our way to our hostel.
When we arrived in Berlin, we thought we would just pop over to our hostel, but we didn't realize that our destination was about 40 minutes outside of the city center!
After trying to figure something else out, we gave in and set out to find our way.
For the first time in our trip, we were presented with the challenge of being in a place where we didn't speak the language. We couldn't make out a single word on the ticket purchasing booths, and when we went to the teller, she said that she didn't speak English.
Somehow we managed to communicate our needs and embarked on a half mile walk through the bowels of the underground station to the line we needed.
After 15 stops, we emerged on what we worried would be a rerun of our arrival in Paris. And although things were a little rough around the edges, the area was pretty safe and our hostel was only a few blocks from the station.
The hostel wasn't beautiful, but at least we could talk to the people behind the desk. A few young people inhabited the lobby space, using the computers, and playing chess. The girl behind the desk escorted us to a small room with bright orange walls and IKEA furniture and showed us the showers and toilets down the hall.
We were sweaty and cranky from a long day of hot, humid traveling, but more importantly, we were hungry and on a budget.
It turns out we were in the perfect place for such conditions. We left our doorstep and turned the corner to find an Italian restaurant with personal pizzas for EUR 3.50.
We were the only ones in the restaurant and there was a candle burning at our table. It was sort of romantic in a very "budget" sort of way, and finally we were able to relax a little bit.
As the waiter was making change for us out of a wallet at our table, I noticed that he had blue and white nail polish on his thumbnail. I pointed to it (because we had already established that neither of us spoke the other's language) and he grinned from ear-to-ear and said "Argentina!"
We did what we could to say that we liked Argentina too and smiled at our cheerful waiter.
The next day, Whitney slept until 3 p.m. and Collin explored the small neighborhood we were staying in--finding similarly low-priced meals along the way. In the evening, we watched animal bloopers on YouTube and headed to bed early.
Because the Busabout trip was leaving from the city center, though, we had to find a way to spend our third night as close to the pick-up point as possible. So we booked a hostel as close as we could and set out the next day to check into it and acutally see a few sights before we left.
After a mini-crisis of forgetting that we tucked our debit card into a "safe place," we decided that the things we wanted to see most were the Holocaust Memorial (left) and the East Side Gallery, which is the longest stretch of what is left of the Berlin wall.
The Memorial was breathtaking. The first portion is a long wall that gives the history year-by-year of the persecution of Jews and other holocaust victims. Then we moved into a room with backlighted excerpts taken from letters and notes written during the war that were glowing from the floor. We navigated around all 20 3x5 templates and read about the most appaling and frightening things that happened to the victims of the Holocaust in their own words.
It was so moving to learn in such detail all of the disgusting things that happened. What was even more amazing was the geographical span of German occupation. While I was growing up and learning about the Holocaust, I was somehow under the impression that these horrors occured mostly in Germany and a little bit in the surrounding areas. I had no idea that the Germans occupied almost every country in Europe and put into practice their terrible scheme as far as northern Africa.
That experience was worth traveling to Berlin for, if nothing else. After we moved away from the memorial, we saw the Brandenburg Gate, which is where people crossed from East to West Berlin; the Teirgarten, a massive park in the middle of the city; Unter den Linden, which is a street of lime trees that was a place of luxury before the wall was erected but was neglected while the wall was still standing and has now been restored; and finally, we went over
to the East Side Gallery, like I said, the longest stretch of the Wall left standing. It is now covered in art that promotes peace and freedom.After all of this, we were hot, sticky, and aching from all of the walking (both of us have blisters covering our feet that you wouldn't believe), so we decided that it was time to find a cheap dinner and head toward our new, much better hostel.
The hostel was just fabulous! It had a ton of bright colors covering every surface and all of the furniture was modern and clean. They provided sheets, free Wi Fi, a storage closet, free lockers, and bathrooms in the dorm rooms. There was a bar and a terrace on the top floor and each guest was given a free drink coupon.
We had the greatest roommates! Two guys were from England, one girl was from Canada, and the other girl was from Australia. The girl from Canada went off and did her own thing, but the the five of us sat in the dorm and talked for two hours before heading up to the bar to take advantage of the free drinks (you would not believe how expensive a Diet Coke is here).
We talked about entertainment, school, politics, economics, animals, the things we've seen along our travels, the things we'd like to do in our lives, and all of the history we'd learned while in Berlin.
We could have talked all night with them, but we had to be up at 6:30 to catch the Busabout Coach at 8, so we all headed to bed. It was so safe and nice to be in a room with people we'd gotten to know, and it felt strange leaving them behind in the morning. It felt like we'd made some good friends, but when I thought about facebooking them, I knew that in a matter of months, i would be removing them from my friends list because there would be nothing left to say.
The experience was in-the-moment. It was wonderful. And it ended quickly--the way it is supposed to be on trips like these I suppose.
Now we are moving on to Prague for 5 nights at EUR 6.50 per person per night. We are PUMPED to see how much money we can save in this new city!
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