Let's start off by explaining that due to the new luggage requirements and having to pay to check baggage, all of us brought our belongings in carry-on size luggage. For me, that meant I had to fit in 10 days worth of clothes (plus my straightener, toiletries, and a change of shoes) in my small rolly suitcase and that it had to be under 10 kgs (or 22 lbs). It also meant that my personal item had to be small, so I opted for my UCD drawstring bag. Not the most fashionable, but it could be folding up and take up virtually no space.
Our flight was at 11:45 so we met up at 8:15 to walk to the AirCoach to take it to get the airport. Stevie, Laura, Claire and I trudged up the hill towards the AirCoach stop only to see it pulling up. Not wanting to wait, I did what most people would've down, I ran for it, dragging my suitcase behind me. I made it, stopped it, and we all boarded.
When we arrived at the airport, most of us had already checked in. Through security like pros, and on to our gate. Security was real lax at the Dublin Airport, I'm pretty sure I didn't get IDed until the gate. We sat at the gate, one of the few people there, eating gummy worms and chatting about an array of topics, from the world ending to how bloody hot it gets in Australia (like 113 degrees).
We boarded the plane via the tarmax, with the bright Irish sun shining, and it was a good feeling. Like life awaited us. The sun has that effect on me. I got into my seat, 14F, convienently located behind row 12. I guess the Irish airline is superstitious and doesn't believe in row 13. I fell asleep against the sunny window and slept most of the flight. We arrived in snowy and cold Berlin a little late, but soon we were going through passport control and headed to the Info station to figure out how to get to our hostel.
The information desk pointed us in the direction of the train which would take us to the subway. We headed outside to the station, down a long sidewalk, and the Berlin air was crisp and windy. The train station was located near a Holiday Inn which obviously made me and Stevie burst into some Chingy (who Stevie informed me is gay..who wouldve thought). We found our platform and me and Laura sat on the concrete wall waiting for our train. We followed other peoples lead and got our tickets validated and waited for the train. We took the s45 train to Templehoff where we switched to the Underground to the Stadmitte station. On the train, we found some good "bus people", including a man with rainbow hair and scary piercings. As we waited for the underground we were approached by a homeless man mumbling in german asking for money. We avoided him and got on our subway. My first impressions of Berlin may have been effected by the dreary weather but I didn't find it very beautiful. Instead it is more modern, a major city, with its share of graffiti.
Our first observation when we climbed to street level from the subway was that the Germans were driving on the right side of the road. A comfort in a weird sort of way. Laura on the other hand was freaked out, since they drive on the left in Australia. Using Laura's compass on her suitcase and the setting sun, we pointed ourselves in the right direction and walked to the City Hostel. Resourcefulness if I've seen it. The hostel was not far at all, and it was big, like a hotel. As we walked up, we saw a group of men in wigs and red shirts. Confused until we saw their life preserves and nicknames on the back of the shirts, all versions of the "Hoff". How ironic since we had be discussing David Hasselhoff on the train just minutes before. As we walked in, we passed a man dressed as a woman dressed as David Hasselhoff. We knew it was good times ahead.
We checked in, and found room 205. We had the room to ourself. 3 sets of bunkbeds, so as soon as Jen and Stacy joined us the next day we'd have the whole room full.
We were hungry, since it was passed 4 at this point. (time change in Berlin to an hour later then Dublin). The guy at the front desk pointed us in the direction of "Burger Street". Which I'm positive had a more lengthy German name, but it contained Burger in it. So we thought, let's go. The german language is humorous to me, it has betas in the middle of words and I undoubtably murdered the language in my attempts to pronounce anything. We walked down the main street, passing luxury shops like Gucci, Louis Vuitton, etc. My personal favorite was a store called Marc O'Polo. Clever, I thought. We loved the little crosswalk symbols, the green man had a little hat on him. And we passed a lot of ugly German taxis, they are like this eggshell color..not cute at all.
We ran into a group of American guys who were lost. Me and Claire broke out our multiple maps and pointed them in the right direction. The bond of English in a foreign country build some kind of unspoken comradery.
We found no burgers on Burger Street, but we were too cold to be picky so we chose a Malyasian restaurant named Mirchi. The guy on the street lured us in, and we were feeling cultured. We had these flat crispy breaks with lots of pepper (not a fan) as we waited for our Naom (a type of bread). The Naom was similar the bread I had in Turkey, very good and fluffy. The girls about died as the waited for the drinks after consuming all sorts of spicy food. Service in Europe is mediocre. I ordered Chicken Taipei. We sat back and laughed at the fact that we were in Berlin eating Malaysian food with Americans and an Australian. What a life to lead. Claire and Stevie even had Mango Coladas to celebrate.
After dinner we headed to the Bradenberg Gate which is a symbol of freedom as it used to be the major landmark division between West and East. We wandered in and out of souvenir shops (which all sold fake pieces of the Berlin Wall) and then decided to get some dessert. We found a Gelato Shop with an appealing menu so we head it. Let me tell you, it smelled like wet dog in this place. But diehards for ice cream, we toughed it out. Now we aren't quite sure why it smelled, since the smell varied from a yeasty bready smell to a wet dog smell to as Laura put it "Bread rubbed in Dog". It is quite possible there had been a dog in there, since Europeans bring their dogs everywhere. On the train, in restaurants, in stores. Either way, we enjoyed our glorious gelato. We had spaghetti ice cream (ice cream that looked like spaghetti) that was like a banana split and then this chocolate delisciousness. Everywhere in Europe (esp in Germany) you order the number assigned to the food and they have electronic notepads. High Tech Waiteressing. Like I said service is a lot different, especially because you always have to ask for your check. Americans find it annoying, the Europeans find it courteous.
We headed back home. We took some tourist photos along the way and passed a few of the Berlin Unity Bears, which we googled to see that it was an outward symbol of peace, hope, and harmony.
When we climbed into our bunkbeds, we were all slap happy. It was like camp or a sleepover. We laughed and rapped a little Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. I also found out that Queen Latifah is lesbian. I still don't believe it, but I believe in Stevie's pop culture knowledge.
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