Berlin

Sunday, January 26:

            The morning came quickly, and soon the alarm at 6am would go off.  Up we got, and dressed, headed downstairs to check out and catch the bus that would take us back to the airport, less than 24 hours later, we were back.  Soon we arrived, boarding pass already printed and in hand, we found our gate and went through security, this time easy and quickly.  Shortly there after, we were sitting at the gate waiting for the plane that would take us to Berlin! 

            An hour and a half later, that plane arrived, we boarded, and once again I was sitting in a row that was empty, and Mallory again joined me.  The hour and fifteen minute plane ride went quickly, we all napped.  Once again we had arrived in our new destination, however the weather wasn’t so happy to see us.  Bone chilling cold greeted us off the plane, and it would only get worse as the day went on.  We began the journey of exiting the airport, finding transportation and making our way to the new hostel.  On the way out, we each bought a welcome to berlin pass that would allow us to ride all the busses and metro for free: 20-euros later, we had our pass and walked toward to the bus.  Once outside, shivering and looking at the map trying to figure out which exact bus, a nice security officer assisted us, we hopped on the bus and off we went. 

            The bus stop we got off at was just down the street from the hostel, which at this point was fantastic, because we were all cold and desperate to get there quickly.  We walked around the corner and there was the hostel, “City Stay: Berlin”.  We checked in, paid the balance, got our keys, and upstairs to the 3^rd floor we went.  This room was different than the last one, more like hostel style, a bedroom with four beds: two singles and a set of bunk beds.  The bathroom and shower were in separate rooms, located at the end of the hallway.  The Wi-Fi was only accessible in the lobby area, so after we got “settled”, downstairs we went, and started looking at things to do in Berlin.  With our pass, we got a booklet of attractions in the area, and we got a discount from 10%-30% with showing the ticket.  We spent a good 2 hours researching, looking and agreeing on a plan for the next two days, well day and half now, since it was the early evening at this point.  

            Tonight we ended up seeing a show called, All Night Long, a soul variety show, at Wintergarten Theater.  Just amazing.  I knew 90% of the music, which included, Adele, Alicia Keys, Michael Jackson, Blues Brothers, Tina Turner, Whitney Houston, Ray Charles, and more (here’s a trailer to the show if interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s64gZjvVm4E).  Plus acrobatic performances intertwined through the music, including juggling, balancing acts, and gymnastics.  The seats were good, considering the last minute ticket purchase and price, but it was a small intimate venue, and I couldn’t have been happier.  After the show, Mallory wanted to check out a bar that was the location for a scene in Inglorious Bastards.  However finding the bar proved to be a difficult task, and no one seemed to recognize the name.  In due time, we found it.  It wasn’t the scene she was picturing from the movie, but she enjoyed seeing the bar/café.  I now have to watch the movie to understand the significance of the visit.  After that, we were on a mission.  Mallory found a vegan café that supposedly has the best dairy free milkshakes.  Both of us were extremely intrigued and desperately wanted to find this restaurant.  The map was a bit difficult to follow as all the side streets weren’t listed, plus figuring out the bus schedule and where the stops actually would take us, and the extreme fact that the temperature had dropped even more, it was now -20 degrees Celsius, a cold I had never experienced before and hope to never again.  A bone numbing cold, a cold that makes your muscles and bones hurt, my body was so cold I wanted to cry.  After two hours of wondering the streets, hopping on and off busses and trams, we finally gave up!  We never made it to the restaurant to try the milkshakes.  We asked many someone’s how to get to this restaurant or at least to the street, and no one knew of the location.  And at this point it was 11:15pm, the place would close at midnight and we still weren’t any closer in figuring out how to get there or where it was located.  Guess it was never meant to be.

            We knew we needed the bus 200 to get home, but finding a bus stop where the bus would stop proved difficult.  Along the way, we saw a 200-bus driving and looking like it would stop, and Mallory decided to run after the bus.  A silly decision as we still missed that bus and would never catch up to it.  But it led us to a different bus stop where a different 200-bus would stop in 8 minutes.  Longest 8 minutes ever…standing and shivering, wanting to cry waiting for the bus to arrive.  Finally the bus arrived, and sat warming up inside the bus the entire way home.  When we returned, we were so hungry; we stopped at a restaurant around the corner from our hostel.  I don’t know if it’s service in Europe, or because they can tell we’re Americans, but every restaurant has had terrible service.  However, I got my Bratwurst, it was delicious.  My goal is to eat at least one meal that is significant to the city I’m in. 

Finally, it was definitely time for bed.

Monday, January 27:

            This morning we got to sleep in, till 10:30am, just glorious!  Haven’t slept in since arriving in France!  After waking up, we slowing got ready.  It was a bit warmer today, and I say that lightly, as it was still -15 degrees Celsius.  Shelby wanted to see the Berlin Wall, I wanted to see the Anne Frank Exhibit, plus there were other sites we all wanted to check out.  As we were walking around, we happened upon an I Love Berlin store.  In the store they were selling tickets for a sightseeing tour bus, 20 Euros for a two-hour tour of the city.  The bus would allow us to see the majority of the city while staying warm.  We agreed it was a good deal, purchased the tickets and waited for the bus to arrive.  The ticket came with ear-buds to plug in and listen to the history of each site as well as the city.   We saw the Berlin Wall, Brandenburg Gate, Berliner Dome, Reichstag, Checkpoint Charlie and the TV Tower. Plus we also saw a concentration camp memorial site, wish we could have stopped at each site, if only we had picked up the bus earlier; so many sites in so little time.  

 We went back to the hostel to get Wi-Fi for directions to the Anne Frank Exhibit.  After arriving in the general area, we wandered down the street, Mallory stopped in H&M for a new hat.  Lindsey pointed out a gelato shop, a goal of mine while in Europe at least once, and of course we had to stop.  I got coffee and salted caramel gelato, and they serve it in a cone in the shape of a flower.  After that, after continuing to wander, we finally found the Anne Frank Exhibit, however it was closed, closed only on Mondays, of course.  I took a couple photos of the outside and sign, hope I can go back someday.  After we kept walking down the street through the shopping district, we happened upon a burger joint.  All I can say is delicious, I have missed beef: a bacon cheeseburger and fries, YUM!  Following dinner, we went and checked out the TV Tower in person.  When built it was the tallest building in the world.  Due to the dreary weather, it only cost 8 euro to ride the elevator up and check out the view.  After reading about the building, we decided to grab a quick bite plus dessert in the cafe at the top of the tower.  After the food, we headed back to the hostel, relaxed for a bit, checked up on Wi-Fi, and went to bed.  Tomorrow was travel day. 

      

 

Tuesday, January 28:

            The alarm woke us up at 6am, we got dressed, packed, checked out, and off on the bus to head back to the airport.  We had already checked in online but needed to get our boarding pass.  Finding the Brussels Airline gate proved to be a difficult task, at the other end of the airport.  Waited for the gate to open, grabbed our boarding passes and went directly behind the gate to security, which fed right into the waiting area to wait for our plane.  An hour later boarding began, and once again I was seated in an empty row, and once again Mallory sat with me.  On our way back to Brussels for our layover. 

            Arrived in Brussels for a 3-hour layover.  Bought a burger for lunch, wasn’t good, undercooked, under flavored, and overpriced, but I was starving at that point so just needed food.  Couldn’t link to the Wi-Fi, so just played games on my phone until it was time to board the plane. 

            We once again boarded the plane, once again I was in an empty row and once again Mallory sat with me.  We backed away from the gate, circled on the ground and got ready to take off.  The engines revved, ready to take off, and then something occurred, a noise that didn’t sound good.  The plane made another loop, tried to rev again, and the pilot came over the microphone “we seem to be experiencing some technical difficulties, going back to the gate to get a technician to check out the problem”.  We sat at the gate for a little, seemed to be fine, circled again and revved.  Again the pilot came over the speaker, “the problem can’t be resolved, and we need to switch planes”.  Sat for a while longer, noticed a bus show up next to the plane, and the pilot came back and said “you will be exiting the plane now, we have an empty plane we can use to get back to Lyon”.  So we exited the plane, boarded the bus, drove all across the grounds and arrived at the new plane.  We reboarded the plane, went through regular protocol, and off we went.  By the time we left the first plane, we should have just arrived in Lyon. 

            Finally we arrived in Lyon.  However because our plane was delayed, we missed the train to take us back to Retournac (a city outside of Yssingeaux).  We thought we’d have to pay for a fast train (the only viable option) to get us home for class tomorrow.  We grabbed the second to last shuttle to take us to Lyon Train Station.  As we walk into the train station I see a large group of people standing in the center of the station staring at the screens, waiting for the track to be labeled for future arriving trains.  All of a sudden I notice someone that looks familiar, and what do you know the rest our JWU group is standing in the train station.  What do you know; we didn’t miss the last free train and can ride back home with our group.  The track was displayed, we all boarded the train and away we went.  Because of a change in travel plans, there were extra spots in the taxis the group had reserved and we were even able to take the taxi with them, which ended up being even cheaper than originally planned.  Got back to Retournac, loaded into the taxis, and drove back to Yssingeaux.

All in all it was a good weekend.  A few hiccups, a few unplanned events, but an enjoyable weekend with lasting memories.