Berlin

When I first got on the train I was lucky to find a seat, it was the last seat  in the compartment but a seat is a seat, especially when it comes to long train rides. I struggled to find an outlet, as there were no outlets... So no catching up on my blog for me then.  Eventually everyone else in my little cabin gets off so I get to lie down and put my feet up.  This peace and quiet only lasts for a little bit as a few stops later a ton of people get on. Joining me were an older german couple, then I saw a woman with two pugs walk by. I saw the dogs and tried to look as friendly as possible so she would choose my compartment. She keeps walking. But, she comes back!!!  So I had these two cute pugs on the train to Berlin, they were so cute, until they farted... It kinda ruined the atmosphere.

I had a friend with a 12 hour layover in Dusseldorf so I took a 7 hour bus ride to meet her at the airport, we spent the whole night going to all of the local microbreweries and drinking beer. Yummers. Beer and cheese at five different places, or was it six? Also, as soon as you sat down they brought you a glass of beer and kept on bringing them as you finished them. No water, just beer. Sweet sweet German beer.

"What kind of cheese is that?"
"Is that even cheese?"
"Don't ask, we're traveling..."

 

Picture courtesy of our friendly water, Udo

The kitchens closed after 10 but luckily we still got some bread with butter and cheese. It's a thing.

Instead of waiting at the airport all night and waiting for the trains to start running at 5am, I just stayed at the bus terminal all night from 1am to 6am. In the McDonalds... No wifi, just a small container of very gross fries for table rent. First and last time eating McDonalds. It was a bit of a miserable experience but the night of beer and cheese was worth it.

The first few nights in Berlin, I stayed with my cousin, who I haven't seen in years. The last time I saw her, she came over to my apartment and I was being the stereotypical jewish mother host. It was her turn this time and she did quite well. Major cousin points! The first night we went to an Italian restaurant where the salads are not made to order. They just bring you all the ingredients and some tools like a peeler or grater and you assemble it yourself. Kinda feels like how they changed the box mix brownies from just add water to add water, oil and an egg; to make you feel like you're actually doing something!'
 One of the other nights we had dinner at home, we got some random fish and we didn't really know what it was but it looked like it had fins and scales so we just bought it, no questions asked. Well we tried to ask but the workers didn't exactly have expert english on all the fish in the world. Ahh traveling. After dinner, I break out my new favorite card game. Black Stories. I get, what I feel is, a particularly hard story. "A woman comes home and is elated, but she drops dead when she saws sawdust on the floor." To the suggestion of my cousin who was loving this, I start acting it out. To see the solution, just highlight the black lines- The woman suffered from dwarfism. When she came home that day, she felt she had finally grown, because for the first time ever she was able to see across the table. Then she noticed sawdust everywhere and realised that some malicous prankster had 'shortened' all her furniture. This was too much for her weak heart.

I believe it was Thursday night, my cousin, a friend of hers who I couchsurfed with for a night and I  went to this giant indoor food market in Berlin, so many choices and so many things eaten. However, the kimchi quesedilla was a mistake. I waited online for maybe twenty minutes for some beer. It was pretty good. There was also a fish and chips vendor that may have misunderstood that chips are supposed to be french fries and instead just gave thin crispy slices of a baguette. Odd.

One of the other nights, I met up with another friend in Berlin. We met by a KFC, where they were shooting something for a movie and they had a prop Volkswagen, not sure if it was functional but it was fully furnished and bright yellow. Kinda cool. We went to dinner first got Thai food and then wandered a bit until finding our destination. Pub. At first we weren't sure if we wanted to stay as they weren't so sure about there being tables for us but we eventually got seated with two other people, who you can see in one of these pictures. I'll give you a hint, its the picture that doesn't have a dog in it. This place was pretty cool because at every table you had your own beer tap and could pour yourself beer and the screen would measure how much you were drinking. Very different than Dusseldorf. You could also order from the menu on the screen. What's a waiter again? Well in this place, they were all really friendly. So friendly, one of them let me use his phone so I could message my couchsurfing host about my change of plans for the night. I was in shock for a good few minutes about that level of trust.

• A few more Berlin details without lovely cellphone pictures to back them up. I got my first few rolls of film developed in Berlin, cost me 50 euros. It costs about $6 at the CVS 2 blocks away from my house. But I couldn't wait and really wanted to see them, link is coming shortly!
• By my cousins house there was a cemetery with a playground just meters away, very creepy. Didn't take a picture but I will when I go back. 
• I had an awesome couchsurfing experience, even got to make bread for my host and her flatmates, it didn't last very long though. I also go to teach some hebrew to her and practice. She keeps a book for everything she is learning so every so often she would just start writing again, but I was amazed because she never stopped walking while writing. Not once. Impressive.
• We went to an old abandoned airport that is now a giant public park with a small urban garden. There were a ton of people running, biking, windsurfing and all these other cool wind related sports that I don't know the names of. There was also just a random kid tied into the ground while also attached to a parachute so when it got windy enough he would just fly off the ground at least 9 meters. 
• Had baby food for dessert one night, it was one of the better impulse buys from the organic super market. People in Berlin are almost obsessed with organic. There is also amazing graffiti all over the place. 
• Some houses have these bronze tiles in front of them, in memory of people who were taken from their homes by the nazis. It lists the date they were taken, where to and what happened to them. Something I never read about alone or would've noticed unless told. There is such a conscious effort to not let that be something forgotten. 
• Berlin was such a great city to visit, felt like you really need to live there to experience it and you can't just be a tourist there for a week or two. Luckily, I'll be going back to see my cousin before I go home to pick up the stuff I gave her from my backpack to lighten the load. First time travelers always pack waaaay too much. I was/am no exception.

Next post Amsterdam? Then maybe I can catch up to Paris, where I am for a few more days, then Lyon and then trying to figure out spain/portugal, then Italy, Berlin, UK and Ireland for St Patricks day, then finally home. Or at least those are my plans right now.