Notes from Abroad

[Note: for those of you reading by feed, notesfromabroad.net now lives at http://travel.jennvargas.com. Also check out some the photos I've posted so far on Flickr: http://flickr.com/foreverdigital.]

Berlin. The last stop. Wow. Where the heck did the time go?

As I mentioned a bit ago, I decided to cut my trip short for a multitude of reasons. I burnt out pretty quickly. I probably should have taken some time just after graduation to just sleep and things before I took off on this adventure, but you live and you learn. I’m still perfectly happy with having traveled for 6 weeks and there isn’t a single place that I say “boo, I wish I’d gotten to go to X before I left” – and I think that’s the ideal point to wrap up my European Adventure.

I knew coming into Berlin that it was going to be a much larger city than what I’d seen during the rest of my trip, but I really wasn’t expecting it to be this modern. It was a lot like New York City at points, but less crowded and generally more pleasant (though drivers are just about the same). I guess it makes sense though, since the figure is something like 70% of the city was destroyed during WWII.

My first night was pretty low-key. After settling in and chatting with my roommates for a long, long while (2 from Israel and 1 from Brazil – it’s about the most diverse room I’ve had! Finally!), I went down to the lounge to check emails and all of that good stuff. I updated my twitter mentioning that I was in Berlin and within seconds I had a message on Facebook Chat from Carly, one of the people I went out to the beer halls with back in Munich. She and her husband Dan had also arrived in Berlin that afternoon! Sweet! We decided to meet up for the walking tour the next morning. I also spoke to Kay to see if he would be around to catch up for lunch or something. We sorted out the details and before I knew it, my entire next day was booked!

Two of my roommates and I went up to the hostel’s bar to take advantage of the free drink they give you at check-in. I went for apple juice. Lame, I know, but they carbonate it in most of the places I’ve tried in Europe. It’s tasty! Anyway – the hostel has a rooftop bar that overlooks the city. It’s a pretty amazing view from up there! The TV Tower, some old buildings that I never actually learned the names of, and all that fun stuff. Soon I was back in my room and in bed. I had to be up early to meet up with Carly and Dan.

With my map in hand, I started the walk to Carly and Dan’s hostel. It didn’t look very far on the map, but I gave myself an extra 30 minutes on top of the estimated 15 minutes it would take to get there. We all know how easily I get lost and we also know how I hate to be late! The walk was actually a lot shorter than I’d anticipated and it was a really neat neighborhood. It reminded me a bit of the Marina in San Francisco. Unfortunately it was so early that the shops were still closed, but I expected to walk back through that neighborhood on my way back to my hostel in afternoon, so I would be able to stop in the Crumpler store then.

Carly, Dan and I walked to the Brandenburg Gate, where our free walking tour started. It was really nice out and the whole place was abuzz about something! We couldn’t exactly tell if they were setting up or taking things down, but there was all sorts of commotion. Anyway – our walking tour set out and we stopped by places like the Brandenburg Gate (where we also saw the Adlon Hotel, where Michael Jackson dangled his baby from the balcony!), the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, some government buildings – both past and present, etc. When we got to a section of the Berlin Wall, it started to drizzle. We walked quickly to our next stop, which I think was the former HQ of the Luftwaffe, along some more roads and BAM. IT STARTED TO POUR. Torrential Downpour. Of course, my rain jacket was neatly stowed in the bottom of my backpack back at the hostel. For some reason or other I always thought it a better idea to carry my other jacket which is nowhere near waterproof. We were getting absolutely drenched. At first I tried to stay dry – or at least keep my camera dry, but eventually I just gave up on that effort and walked as if it were sunny blue skies, still trying to shield my camera, of course.

The guide decided that would be an opportune time for lunch, so we stopped at this restaurant which was now PACKED with tourists from the free walking tour, so we decided to walk down the block a bit until we found this coffee shop that would do the trick. It’s a good thing too, because about 2 minutes after we got to our table inside, it started to rain even harder! We felt so bad for the people on the bike tours who were just standing under any available awning with ponchos that weren’t doing their job very effectively. A quick snack later and with the rain all but gone, we headed back to the rest of our tour and continued on. We didn’t even make it a block before it started to pour again. Our tour guide brought us under a building for some cover as he tried to fill time until the rain calmed. About 10 minutes later he was still blabbing on and all we had to look at were some rain drops and the Mini Cooper store we were standing in front of.

At this point I began texting Kay to organize our meetup. We’d settled on 2PM at the S-Bahn in Potsdamer Platz. While the tour guide was blabbering away, I took a look at my map to see how far our meeting point was from the Mini Cooper store that was keeping us dry. It looked to be about a 10 minute walk, so I decided to leave the tour at that point and hope to make it to Potsdamer Platz before the rain attacked us again. Carly, Dan, Lindsay (another girl we’d met) and I had decided to meet up for dinner the following night and they continued on the tour.

The walk to Potsdamer Platz wasn’t too bad and the rain took pity on me and stayed away for nearly the entire walk! I waited for Kay outside of the giant green S for the S-Bahn. Though we’ve been talking online every once in a while since last summer when I worked at Flickr, we haven’t met in person. We decided to go to this Asian restaurant that Kay knew of. I have no idea where it was – somewhere on the U-Bahn, but it was called Good Times and let me tell you – it was!

This restaurant was definitely one of the highlights of the latter part of my trip and it was so nice to have some proper food for once – food that wasn’t fried or battered. It didn’t have bread or cheese or pasta. It was MADE TO ORDER. Sounds lame, but do you know how exciting it is to be in a real restaurant after eating sandwiches and schnitzel for the last however long? Very! We decided to take a chance and sit outside. They had huge umbrellas up and the rain had stopped for more than 30 minutes at this point, so we thought we’d be OK. The rain, however, had a different idea. It came down just as much as it had earlier, but luckily for us, this time we had this giant umbrella over our heads. And the food was too amazing to let a little water get in the way.

Poor Kay had to translate the entire menu for me, but I settled on some sort of Peanut Chicken and a drink that was called something like a Lime Cooler. Now came the cool parts: The napkins were folded like lotus flowers. Our drinks had real flowers in them (I think it was a hibiscus flower, but I’m not really sure). It was all so amazing! And then there was the actual food! I think my stomach actually sang it was so happy! Real food! Fresh food! Unfried food! Hoorah! Everything about the meal was spectacular and I had excellent company to boot!

Post-lunch, we hopped back on the U-Bahn (I think?) and Kay showed me around for a while. We, of course, took plenty of photos. Soon we found ourselves back in Potsdamer Platz and it was time for dessert. Kay knew of this ice cream place so we went there.

It was every bit as amazing as lunch. Had I known the ice cream was going to be that good, I might have cut back on my lunch! But then again, it probably worked out better this way! After flipping through the menu for longer than I probably should have and looking around at the other tables to see giant martini glasses filled with sundaes and generally large plates and bowls, I decided to get the one with 2-3 flavors (I really wish I could remember the flavors!) and all sorts of in-season fruits. The bowl turned out to be MASSIVE. Like the size of my head. Overflowing with ice cream, fruit, and whipped cream. Amazing. So. Amazing. I honestly considered licking the bowl when I was done, but I decided that it wouldn’t be the most appropriate thing to do in that situation. If only…

After we finished our ice creams, which took quite some time, Kay and I headed back to the S-Bahn and parted ways. It was great to meet him in person and it was definitely the tastiest afternoon of my entire trip! I also got to see some more of Berlin from someone who actually lived there, which was awesome!

I hopped back on the U-2 and headed back to my hostel. I was so incredibly full from an entire afternoon of eating (well, with a good bit of walking thrown in too). I was hoping to take a nap, but instead I decided to take the opportunity to start to pack up some of my things for the trip home. There were a lot of things in my bag that I intended to just throw out before I left – like the t-shirts that were beginning to get holes in them and the pants that were also starting to get some holes and were also a size too big at this point. I kept my jeans and anything that I bought while I was over there, but for the most part my bag was now filled with souvenirs and a few bits of clothing.

The roommates came back and we also had a few new people. We all chatted for a while again and went up to the bar to hang out as we decided whether or not we wanted to go out for the evening. I’m so glad we decided to go up to the bar, though, because right as we got up there, I saw some fireworks in the distance. I’m not sure where they were coming from or why they were going off, but there was some sort of fireworks show and we had an amazing view from the balcony of our hostel. Framed by the TV tower and some old buildings, we caught the last 5-10 minutes of the show. What a great day it was turning out to be – even with all of that rain!

We did decide to go out, but made it about 1 block away to one of the clubs recommended by the hostel. It was…umm… interesting? The crowd was certainly different than we were expecting – a lot grungier and almost had a 1990s Seattle look going on. We decided it wasn’t for us and after heading in a few other directions, we just decided to call it a night.

The next day was my last full day in Berlin and I only had one item on my to-do list: The East Side Gallery. It’s the part of the Berlin wall with all of the graffiti and artwork. I hopped on the train to the Gallery and walked the entire length. I have to say, I was slightly underwhelmed by the graffiti itself, or lack thereof. It had all been repainted in May of this year and it just seemed too new. I was expecting something more like the John Lennon wall in Prague. There were still some spots that were more “aged” – the paint was chipping, there were layers and layers of spray paint, posters had been stuck and peeled away over and over again – but for the most part the “history” of the wall seems to have been painted over which was kind of disappointing.

Before I got there, though, I stumbled across this festival in Alexanderplatz. I’m not entirely sure what the festival was celebrating, but it was a nice little detour on my way to the train station to get to the East Side Gallery. I stopped back there on my way back to get lunch and just kill time before dinner. There were people bungee jumping off of the side of one of the buildings which was pretty cool. I uncharacteristically considered doing it for a bit, but decided against it. Maybe next time. I moseyed my way back home (read: I got lost and basically took the very long way back) and found this neat little shopping center that I got lost in (nothing like getting lost while you’re already lost) but eventually found an Ampelmann store and stopped in to buy myself a cool post card that I’d seen earlier. It turns out that this shopping district eventually led me to the Marina-esque area I’d found on my way to Carly and Dan’s so I finally got to stop into the Crumpler store (I didn’t buy anything) and a few other cute shops.

Dinner was amazing once again (Berlin seems to be a great food city!) and it was the perfect way to end my European Adventure. After chatting with Lindsay, Carly and Dan for a few hours at their hostel, I hopped back on the U-2, back to my bed, and sorted out my transportation for the next morning. I had to be at the airport by 7AM so it was definitely going to be an early start. Luckily for me there’s a bus that goes to the airport and it was only about a 10 minute walk away (well…15 with the two backpacks on). Before I knew it I was on the plane and Newark-bound.

Berlin was one of my favorite cities of the trip. I’m so glad I didn’t cut it out! It’s an incredibly walkable city and it feels really safe, even at night. I would love to be able to live there for a year or two sometime in the future! But for now, it’s back to the good ole’ US of A – a few weeks in NJ and then off to my new life in San Francisco!

What a trip!

Tags: Adventures, Berlin, City, Germany, Journal