Monday, March 1, 2010

Lengthy Tales of My German Experience...

Allow me to just go ahead and apologize for this being...so long. I know it will be because I plan on doing all for days in one go. Haha :)

So to begin - Marcella and I totally planned on going to bed early the night before our flight, but as we are chatty individuals we ended up staying up till about 3 am, and woke up at 5...haha...but hey, when you're so excited for a trip sometimes it really doesn't matter if you're sleepy or not, because your excitement just turns into pure energy...until you crash haha.

So, flew EasyJet, which for the record I LOVE, very cheap and just...yeah. Easy. When we got to Berlin we did exactly what is the best thing to do - NOT figure out things by yourself, you ask someone who knows. It saves you so much time! I love information desks. As were were (mistake!) couchsurfing, we had a random destination we needed to get to and a lady gave us a map of the underground Bahn thing (there were S Bahns and U Bahns, no idea what Bahn means), and we bought a day pass for transportation (6.50 euro each I think) and started our way to this place, which was fairly successful! Sadly NEITHER of our phone works, I think I may need to unlock mine in other countries or allow it to roam, a Hungarian guy in my Danish Culture course was telling me this...so anyways we weren't able to figure out how to buzz into the apartment we were going to stay in for free, so we made out way down to this petrol station to ask if there was a phone nearby, and this is where we had our first...'Oh wow people don't know English here really' experience...But! We asked the guy where a phone was and he just...kept motioning and saying things in German, and we'd pretend we knew what he was talking about, and keep asking him to repeat it, but it was amusing because he was speaking German and we were speaking English, thank goodness we have hands because I really couldn't have gone far in Germany without using hand motions, haha...and then we walked out and both had no idea where he said...and there was literally a telephone booth pretty much IN the petrol station haha...and he was laughing at us from the window. So! we called this guy Jakob, figured out how to buzz in...and he really seemed nice at first, we put our bags in where he said we would sleep, this really big complicated couch, and gave us these maps and stuff talking about the different tours, and also invited us to go out with him that night and we told him we were actually going to need to crash later but alright, we'd be up for hanging out a bit...

Anyways this guy was a chef so worked late, so we had this deal where when we wanted to go back to the flat we'd have to buzz his family that lived on the 2nd floor of the same building and they'd let us in, so yeah, we weren't too freaked out or anything just yet :) We went to go on the free Berlin walking tour, but wanted a coffee first haha, and then (I was the navigator for this trip, which how surprising is that, everyone knows I'm useless at knowing directions and where I'm at...I got lost driving to Sarah's house once!, but I'm seriously good now after my trip to Ireland it's awesome)...anyways, I sort of made us miss the tour because I sent us down the wrong metro ways constantly...whoops! Simple mistake though I swear! Marcella is wonderful she didn't care at all...needless to say we sort of missed the free walking tour, but then we saw Bradenburg Gate, walked around and read historical signs, and just enjoyed wandering around Berlin for a bit, sorted out our museum pass we wanted to get (9 euros for 3 days entrance to about 60 museums, its a sweet deal we got our money's worth for sure), and...saw a lot of fancy cars in windows? Oh, and food is cheap here, so another reason we may have missed that walking tour was because there was this amazing CHEAP kebab place right outside the entrance and being hungry...easy choice to make to get one :) SOOOO Delicious too!!

We actually ended up meeting with the end of the free walking tour on accident, for a bit less than an hour perhaps, so just joined that, learned a lot of history...maybe too much history this guy was into giving us the SMALLEST TINIEST details about the German...peoples lives...in the past...but it was good...and then we ended up bailing before it ended since we didn't want to tip exactly since we weren't there for the whole thing...but yeah, ended up feeling the need to crash soon, wandered into this AMAZING market on our way home and on a search for alcohol (Jakob had told us we might need to get our own bottle cos he had been planning on going to a friends flatwarming party and we were invited to join), turns out we failed at finding a bottle shop and instead only FINALLY found a Netto (which they have here, just a small chain grocery place), and even there it was a small selection so we got something red that was less than 4 euro and had pictures of fruit on it and a decent alcohol percentage...and some juice, haha...

Then we went back and crashed big time and honestly hoped we'd not have to get up at all we were so tired, because we didn't go there to party all night, we went to Berlin to see awesome things and just...go out sure and met people but not...not when we are so tired and want to get up in the mornings to fill our days! Anyways, Jakob got home maybe around 11 and besides just being really rude and purposefully talking SUPER loudly walking in and out of the room until we had to stop pretending to sleep and wake up, then just, went on and on about how we had to go to these clubs and stuff, made us drinks with his little brother until maybe 1 am? or 2? and we were both hoping, ok, maybe that'll be good enough, we don't mind having a chat and learning about Germans and things, and finally was like 'ok now we go, don't you want to change, you're just going to wear that?' hahaha...and of course we were just going to wear our normal clothes, we brought backpacks, not party gear, the fools! haha...but yeah, the night was ok, but maybe Germans are just too touchy-feely for our taste and we are used to Americans and Australians who don't need to touch your arm while they are talking to you or your back or your leg or something, it truly may have been a cultural thing, but anyways, sometimes when you're just out of your comfort zone there's quite a bit you'd do to get back in it :)

And for the record we did try to stay at girl's couchsurfing residences, we had messaged about 6 or 7 people total, and the only people who had room were guys, so we just picked one, it didn't seem like a big deal to us as I have guy friends that host girls, we know girls who have stayed with guys, and it's not like either of us were traveling by ourselves, but needless to say staying with a guy EVER couchsurfing will not happen again, and honestly I might not ever even do it again, it'll be awhile before I get the shudder-when-I-think-about it out of my system haha. And I truly never knew that going out with the hosts whenever they want you too was so expected, as we both know people who just stay on the couch for free and do their own thing and it's great, but then I talked to someone who hosts and he said "It's not just a free couch." So, keep that in mind whenever you want to couchsurf! It's just...you feel different when you're staying somewhere else for free, like you owe them and have to abide by what works out for them, where as with a hostel you do your own thing and it's just...haha, worth the money for sure! Least in this situation! So yeah....moving on...

We did try absinthe that night, which I mentioned I think while I was in Berlin, but it was about 70 proof? We didn't opt for the 80 proof one, and I'm pretty sure it was in my system until I was back home for a few days...that stuff...whew! I can't imagine ever trying to drink a stronger drink, and I'm SO glad we had snack mix at the bar we had it at, fancy snack mix yet, but goodness....you just HAVE to ...have something with that I think, or maybe I'm just not living up to the German blood in me...

We also were taken to a gay bar at the end? Creepy. So creepy. What weird Germans. And you know what I will be happy never drinking again my life? Jager. Enough of that, it's never been delicious!

So, went home and passed out till maybe noonish the next day, which I mean since we got home after 7 am that's not too bad, though still ideally we'd be out and about by 9! But, oh well! Feeling a bit tired and slightly achy from the night before we both had half a chicken and some liquids at a really good and again cheap restaurant. Then we went on an alternative art tour then which was 10 euro and worth EVERY PENNY..hmm...they might not call them pennies...whatever! It was sooo amazing, about 4 or 5 hours long, we met cool people, we learned of a hostel we could escape too, we had amazing food and saw the Berlin Wall, were people squat still, and just soo much graffiti and such things...Germany is awesome and crazy basically, and wow to have put up a wall through everything, how nuts...

Then we went home and made up an elaborate lie about how I met people from Purdue, they had a hotel (obviously better than a couch so how could we not leave!) and how thanks so much for letting us stay there, here's our alcohol as a gift, and then RAN AWAY, feeling like we had just escaped prison...or death? Probably not how someone should feel after couchsurfing...we only lost 1 contact case and 1 phone charger in our rush too :) And it was worth it! It was also a free night, but then we had to buy alcohol so not really that free - Note to people hosting couchsurfers, if they say they don't want a drink so then you go order them one anyways so they have to drink it and then make them pay for it...Stop...just...just stop. That's cruel.

So where am I...alternative art tour...oh the tour guide was an American who was UNUSUALLY COOL, and...ah! So then we went to St. Christopher's hostel which I think I called amazing earlier, had a bar at the bottom with amazing cheap food, and we were SO thankful that the first hostel we had had rooms...he even gave them to us at a discount (I think we looked relieved and slightly scared still), and yeah! We just stayed there that night! Had some delicious burgers and Carlsbergs, then met some Australians while we were eating who invited us to come join them before they went out that night, we decided we'd join them but go to bed while they went out, and in the end there was one kiwi, 3 Britons, 4 Australians and me pretending we are vegetables at 3 am. :) Good times....I especially loved when one of the bartenders joined us haha...

So day three we met those Americans who were on the alternative art tour at the German parliament building, the Reichstag, which was free, really pretty, and had this large glass dome on the top that you could see pretty much all of Berlin from (or so we felt), then we went to some markets, had a nice German sausage (these markets we just wandered into...that type of thing just happens you know, you're just walking, and then you're in the middle of craziness, it's nice), and hit up about three museums...not really any German history ones, to be honest they didn't seem keen on bragging about their history, we more just saw stuff like their ancient art and stuff that had been there but then when Berlin was bombed the art was damaged, things like that.

After the museums we went to try to find movie tickets as the Berlin film festival (60th year) was going on, and we didn't really care what we saw so long as it was good, turns out no one really knows about the film festival? But I guess there are a lot of people in Berlin so, maybe we just asked all the wrong ones. We did finally end up in the ticket office, where all of her presale tickets were sold out, so decided we'd try to see a movie at 9 called 'The Family Tree" (but in French), and went there, tickets were 3 euro each which is cheaper than at home and it was amaaaazzzzing!! So that was our last night in Berlin, very classy I thought. I just LOVE film festivals they never disappoint, and I found it extremely interesting that there was so much anti-German sentiment in the French film...it's seriously just CRAZY being in Berlin, being in Germany even, just knowing that...not long ago pretty much everyone was insane....

On our last day we really wanted to see a Concentration Camp, Sachsenhausen, which we were told was a 'model' camp the Nazis built to model all the other concentration camps after, and while part of us thought, ohhh....just a model, so no the real deal, part of us was a little relieved because how sad would it be! Turns out it was a model but then it was also used and they killed way too many people there :( It was super creepy...especially when we got to the trenches and where people were gassed and stuff...this camp was farther away, still in Berlin but about an hour on a train, and ok, so this bad (my life of crime continues right? haha), but we sort of....didn't buy any more transportation passes after the first day, at first it was a mistake because we were really concerned with our running away plans, but then it turned into the fact that we couldn't be bothered and no one was checking, all the time people are just waltzing onto the trains and metros or whatever they are called, the S and U Bahn things, and playing music or standing with a paper ranting in German and looking at us all and I guess wanting money? Haha, it's so amusing having no idea what they are saying because then how COULD we give money to them you know?

Oh, but the amazing thing - we didn't think people were really checking tickets like they do here in Denmark quite often, yet when we were on the train and we left to go into the C zone of Berlin (most major parts are in the A and B zone), a man came on and was looking at everyone's tickets, and we were just like...Shizen! (is that right?) and pulled out our day pass from Friday that says FR on it, and just planned on feigning 'what we are confused tourists!' but this girl next to us didn't have the right ticket, or something else, I don't really know, it's all German, and then we were holding ours just totally scared we were going to have to argue and feign dumbness with this harsh looking German man, but he just looked at our tickets and nodded and walked on :) hahaha...we were slightly tempted (well at least I was) to get a ticket just for the way back since it'd only be a few euro probably, in case of us not getting that lucky, but turns out we remained lucky for the rest of the trip, we even restamped our day pass from Friday when we made our connecting bus trip to the airport :)

Other things we did the last day....stop at Charlie's checkpoint on the way back :), very nice, then go back and quickly pack/change shoes while the AWESOME hostel guys said they would give us two huge burgers, tons of fries, and two Carlsbergs for 10 euro total both of us to go, so yeah, soon as we were done we got that and made our way back, stopping and eating as much as possible the whole way back, SUCH an amazing happy day! :) Berlin was just a huge success really, and the couch surfing experience was just one more experience to learn from and NOT repeat haha, makes for an interesting story perhaps :):) The flight back was nice too, basically i loved everything about Berlin, the food and just ...SUCH old things, such....crazy history! I mean the Berlin wall was still up when I was even alive! Oh no maybe that means I'm old....

Oh, interesting side note - there were all these gypsies that came around asking for money for their children, holding a card explaining whatever eastern European country they came from, and pretty angry it seems when you just keep saying no... they just TARGETED Marcella and myself, but in the end we were good with saying no and looking straight forward. They always wanted money for their kids and stuff too, but later we heard there is something like a gypsy mafia and with a gypsy lord that gets all the money so the kids don't get anything anyways, nor the woman begging/speaking about 30 languages asking for money. What a sad, sad skill.



Anyways that's all for now :) I LOVE BERLIN! <3

























































































this was a partially bombed awesome church outside the movie theatre...














































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