First off. Let me just tell you how tired I am - very very tired. Ok, now my story.
Amy and I had to wake up at 230AM. To catch a metro. To catch a bus. To catch our plane. We did, I slept for about 2 hours. Ate a quick breakfast before we left and unfortunately did not get to sleep in any of those voyages. So, we make it on the plane. I just want to point out that Amy tired to open her water bottle, AGAIN. Boooooooooom geyser round 2, this time all on herself. Take that! ;)
We land and decide to get a “ 3-day Berlin Card” … which is probably not too much better of a deal than just getting a 3-day metro pass, but oh well, it gives us discounts at various museums and attractions. Anyway, get this, it gives free transportation and what not for the whole period. Becca and I jump on a train, Amy is going to meet up with someone else to try and find somewhere to stay… and Berlin has officially begun.
I got off at a different stop than Becca, I had to switch over to catch a metro. If I lived here, I would be fat. There are countless pastry (and doner kebab, but I’ll get to them later) places everywhere! And they are dirt cheap and delicious! So I grabbed a .60c giant pretzel and a 1 euro cherry/glaze deal. Omnom’d those on my way to my stop, and was on my merry way. When I came out of the metro station I didn’t really know which way to go… I had a street name though. That was a start. I asked a few people, no one knew where the street was. Finally, I found a lady and her daughter who knew where it was, the daughter had an okay understanding of English, not the Mom, who knew where this place was. She ended up drawing me a little map on the back of my sticky note. It was perfect and I found the place no problem!
For anyone that doesn’t know, for my stay in Berlin I utilized a website called couchsurfing.org, it is a giant networking site of people who offer up a place to stay in their home cities… totaling over a million+ people. When I got to the place I rang Martin’s doorbell, he answered, showed me in and we chatted for a bit – very welcoming. Gave me some good tips and a little Berlin knowledge. The first thing I had on my agenda was to go to the planetarium, which only has shows on Sunday at 2 and 4… it supposedly was great, says my Berlin Card book. I get there just before 2, walk in, it is pretty empty, I can’t even find where to pay. Ask some lady, she points me to the cashier, whom doesn’t speak English. Luckily, the lady behind me did, she told me that the 2pm showing was for children 1-5 years old. And the 4pm showing you need a group booking and it only in German. Thank you Berlin Card.
I decided I would head back to Alexanderplatz, in the middle of the city, and just walk around. I found a doner kabab place, well, there are probably 2 on every street. The girl before me got something that looked delicious. So I asked the guy what she got, first guy didn’t speak English, and the second guy didn’t really understand what I was asking until a minute later. Now, I have my doner kebab in process. He kept asking what I wanted on it, and I kept saying everything. He laughed and asked where I was from, I said California – his girlfriend is from there! We began talking and then I think I brought up Istanbul on the subject of my travels, he has a good friend there, etc etc. Small world. He gave me a discount on my kebab. Which was one foot long and packed full of deliciousness… for only 3 euro. I am coming to find out that Berlin is a very inexpensive city. I have heard that even beers in bars are less than 2 euro… which is different from the 6-7 euro beer in Stockholm (I refused to give in).
With kebab in hand, I set out on foot through the city. It was ridiculous. There were huge ornate and beautiful buildings everywhere I looked! Literally in every direction! No matter what street I turned on, there was a path of things I wanted to see… which ended up leading me to the next path of things I wanted to see. Eventually, I covered a lot of ground. I even went through a little market on some random street, there was a ton of art there, some of it was just to my taste. I wish I could have bought some and teleported it home. I have decided what I want to put on my walls ones I get back home. One wall dedicated to all my traveling, with maps of everywhere I have been and possibly a big pin map in the middle. Another wall with big posters of brain information, and things that will be helpful study aids. And another wall with art and posters I like. I know that’s three walls, but I’ll cross that road when I come to it.
Anyway, after I walked around for a few hours I wanted to go to the “naturkunde” museum… which was all about evolution, in a few different ways – human, animal, dinosaur, earth, the cosmos etc… a really cool museum to say the least. I got there around 4, it closed at 6. Unfortunately, there was no way I could see everything. I started off with earth, headed to the cosmos, then dinosaurs, human, and kinda rushed through the rest of the animal stuff. It was very interesting, I wish I had more energy, though; I really was dragging throughout the exhibits.
I caught a few metros to get back. It was good timing, I basically jumped into everyone as it was leaving, 3/3! I just got back maybe an hour ago? It is only 8PM. But I figured I would write this now because I am so tired, I don’t think I can hang on much longer. Tomorrow I am thinking of going on a 3:30hr free walking tour (but you need to tip 5euro Martin has told me). That should be great, take me through Western and Eastern Berlin… Amy and Becca might be meeting me as well. Until then, Happy Easter!
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