Berlin, Berlin, where to Begin? This weekend proved to be my best yet out in the wide world of abroad travel; Berlin may very well be my Paris of the east- clean, historic, energetic and most importantly: full of good cheese!
I arrived into Berlin, late, at about 4 pm, after missing my initial train out of Prague's Holesovice station at 8:40 due to a tres typical bout of hentzly lethargy, and a vampireish hatred of the morning sun. The train ride took about 5 hours, during which I read a bit of my book (White Teeth) and napped using my trusty stuffed lobster as a headrest. The train was divided into cute compartments for six people each and I shared my ride with two pleasant Canadian girls and a rotund little Russian woman who kept staring at me while I slept. Got off the train at Hauf something bahn something station, the main station in Berlin, and wandered around for about 10 minutes looking for an ATM, which turns out, in German are called "geldautomats." After scaling and scouring the mountainous station I finally stumbled upon a money machine, took out too much money (damn you exchange rate!) and hopped a cab to the "Mittes Backpacker Hostel" a few blocks away.
The hostel (discovered by me of course) was perfect, nay, more than perfect: it was quirky and cheap. The walls and doors of reception were painted a bright orange, the furniture a mix of old movie theater seats and a hodgepodge of tacky, well-loved couches, the staff was young, nice and pierced and our room, my room for the next three nights, was also home to 31 other people. Now me, I hesitated at the thought of such a place; I'd heard all the hostel horror stories, but I guess the student mentality of my peers ("it's cheap, let's eat it, it's cheap let's do it") was finally beginning to set in. So, for the low price of 20 Euros a night, I was at home in the Mittes backpacker hostel. The shared dorm room was painted a blinding lime green and was divided into 10 or so single beds and row upon row of metal bunk beds. I quickly claimed a top bunk and waited for Mario, my partner in crime, to arrive. Mario had already arrived in the city 5 hours earlier, but without me, spent the entirety of his afternoon wandering the streets of Berlin, lost and alone! Well, not exactly... I think he went to the German history museum. Anyway, we met up, and after a tearful reunion, bounced off into the heart of Mitte in search of a hearty dinner. That's when we stumbled upon "Amerit," a cheesy looking outdoor Indian cafe with giant plaster statues of the great god Ganesa. Mario, being the better Catholic, had fish, but I could help it (sorry Mom) and devoured a bowl of Lamb Curry and rice, which was sooooooo good. Post dinner we walked around the city looking to be cultured, and stumbled upon a lovely park and gorgeous surrounding museums and churches, we pranced on the grass, spun in circles and then made our way back to the hostel, where we promptly passed out.
The next day we discovered our traveling comrades across the room: Peter, Stuart, Mich, Eric and Leili were fast asleep and hungover from the past night's escapades, which Mario and I were too tired to participate in... besides, we are old souls! Mature, responsible 90 year olds, who prefer a good book and some Ovaltine to getting hit on by strange German men and waking up with a hurricane of a headache. Yeah... I dunno, I think all this going out all the time has just gotten old, a club is a club is a club, no matter where you go, and I've learned to know my body better, when I don't feel like going out, why push it? It's not worth missing out on the possibilities of daytime exploration and cultural immersion! (Dork much?)
The next day we took a year long U-Bahn ride to a cafe I had scouted out in my giant "Let's Go Europe!" book. Turned out that the cafe was smack in the middle of the Gayborhood, for I was the ONLY girl in the whole place. Our waiter wore hot pants, a blue bob wig and bunny ears, and all the patrons of this fine establishment wore leather pants and tank tops. Mario was pleasantly pleased at our fine serendipitous luck and we ate a massively wonderful breakfast at this "Cafe Berio."
After that I had to pop into a drugstore and grab some anti-histamines, for spring had a officially sprung and decided to screw me the hell over in the allergy department. My eyes itched and twitched, my nose was a waterfall of ick and my sneezes were 18 seconds apart.
On the plus side, the weather was GORGEOUS, so Mario and I made our way around the parks and gardens of the city before heading to the Pergamon museum. There we spent the next two hours looking at Greek and roman artistic perfection: The Gates of Ishtar, partially constructed palace steps and entrances from ancient Greece, Islamic art and Mosque ceilings and entrances.
Hmmm, after that we stumbled upon an amazing health food store right by the hostel, a place called "Fresh Friends," where I picked up a block of goat cheese and a baguette before we headed off to meet up with the rest of the group across town. While we waited for them to arrive at the designated meeting point Mario and I downed a pint of Berliner at a local bar and soaked up some of the final rays of the fast fading day....
TO BE CONTINUED WHEN I WAKE UP FROM MY MID AFTERNOON NAP!
(maybe... or a week from now, who knows?)
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