Berlin and such

Note: Finally, I am posting this (it is now May 1st) because I am taking a break from "studying" so I can be bothered to deal with the pictures and such, haha. I wrote this April 14th and I was super tired after walking the entire day so sorry if this is a crap entry. Also, these travel-entries will probably be ridiculously long because I also want to remember this stuff in the future... in detail (sort of).


So yeah, evidently I suck at blogging but seriously, traveling is exhausting so I'm often just ready to sleep when I actually get back to the hostel and stuff. If only I had data or something so I could blog on the go, heh.

Anyway, so I am already at my second main destination on this little journey around Europe, but of course, I am only now getting to blogging about the first. So around 10PM on Friday (4/08) night, a friend and I headed to the Wien Westbahnhof to start our journey to Berlin. We were taking an overnight train (12 hours)... in seats. We figured we would be okay. Of course, we were wrong. First off, taking a seat in a overnight train is really uncomfortable. I mean, you'd imagine that it would be uncomfortable anyway (like an airplane), but in a way, it is worse than an airplane because you are stuck in a compartment of maybe 6 people (if you're unlucky like us) and it's difficult to breathe... especially if one of the people erm... does not smell particularly pleasant. Yeah. So at first, we were like, "HURRAH! This train is empty! We will get to lie on the seats and actually sleep." Well, no. At first, we were like, "What the heck. Why is this train half Russian?" (Its final destination was actually Moscow and half the cars were Russian and half the cars were Austrian ÖBB...). But anyway, we thought we would be lucky. However, then the train stopped at Wien Mitte, and we were sad because random people got on and the compartment was full...

When it was around 11:30-12AM, we tried to sleep. Keyword: TRIED. It totally failed. Not only did we have loud, screeching stops in random places in the middle of nowhere for really long periods of time, the stench of the one man was unbearable. Furthermore, it's pretty much impossible to sleep in those seats when you're crammed in there. Oh yeah, and in the middle of the Czech Republic or something, tons of random policemen got on the train and just stood in front of our compartment. It was super sketchy.

Basically, both of us only got a few hours of sleep. There was one part after the sun had already risen where the compartment was FINALLY empty, so I think I got 2 hours of sleep or so. At around 9AM or so, on Saturday, we finally made it to Berlin. First of all, Berlin's central train station (geez, I keep wanting to type Centraal... so much Dutch. But I'll get to that later), is FREAKING HUGE. It's like... ridiculously huge/awesome. However, we were so tired that we didn't even notice. We were just trying to not freeze to death/figure out how to get out (multiple levels). Finally, we made it to the hostel, checked in, and saw that there were free walking tours at 10AM. We had originally planned to do one at 1PM, but we figured we might as well do the 10AM one because we wouldn't have to search for the place where the 1PM tour started. So yeah, we dropped our stuff off and left with the Australian tour guide dude.

We spent an hour walking around to other hostels in the Berlin Mitte area before we finally made it the Parisien Platz where the Brandenburg Tor is (also where the walking tours started). The tour guide we ended up with was from St. Louis originally, and he was AWESOME. Despite the fact that we were running on practically no sleep (or food, for that matter), we still managed to enjoy ourselves. In the 3.5 hour tour, we learned so much about Berlin's history and we were also quite amused. A few memorable moments: The guy was telling us about the Reichstag and how they used to just let anyone in for tours. However, due to terrorism and stuff, they now make you make reservations/appointments -- "So, if you're a terrorist, you should make a reservation and then you can go right on in!" I think it was funnier when he said it. Another quote (about the TV tower): "Right, so that's our disco ball tv death start thing." Oh, and he told us exactly how the Berlin Wall fell. It was super interesting. In short, the official people had decided that they were going to start letting some people cross into the West but there were a bunch of rules (like you had to have a passport, apply for some permit, have X amount of money in your bank account, etc.) but the International Relations dude who was supposed to do the press conference announcing all of this was lazy and skipped the meetings... so he thought that it was a normal press conference and just talked about all the normal, boring stuff. However, the press started asking questions about the Wall because there were rumors that it was going to be opened, but since he didn't actually look over the notes he was given about the whole situation, he was just like, "Yeah, so people are allowed through! And it's effective immediately!" Obviously, this is being aired live on the news so everyone freaks out and rushes to the checkpoints to see if its true. The 2 guards at one of the checkpoints obviously don't know what is going on so they're just like, "Wtf mate?" so they call and find out that yes, they are supposed to let some people through... Thus, they let 1 or 2 people through but now there is a huge crowd and everyone is freaking out and storming through... and voilà. The Berlin Wall fell.

Right. So the tour ended and we were at the Museum Insel (Museum Island). Basically, as you can tell from the name, there are a bunch of museums on Museum Insel. We decided to hit up the Pergamon (awesome/most popular museum that holds the Pergamon Altar and the Market Gate of Miletus). We had originally planned to visit the Pergamon on the next day, but because we were already there and had so much time, we decided to do it. It was a good and bad decision. The good thing was that this allowed for intense exploring on Sunday and the museum was great. The bad thing was that we thought we were going to die because our feet/legs were in so much pain and we were so tired and hungry. After the Pergamon, we literally just sat on a bench for an hour or so. Finally, we saw some random girls from our hostel/the walking tour (Berlin was weird like that... more on this later) so we decided to follow them to try to get back to the hostel (we had no maps, haha). So yeah. Back to the hostel. Currywurst/kebap for dinner (I had the currywurst, which is pretty popular in Berlin. It's quite good!) Knocked out. Good first day.

On the second day, we got up kind of early-ish and bought a day pass for the U-Bahn. One of the ticket machines almost ate my debit card which was a bit alarming, but it was okay. With our day tickets, we basically took the U-Bahn to random stops, got out, and walked around. Somehow, we saw this dude who stayed in the bed below me at the hostel TWICE (in random locations around Berlin). It was so weird. Anyway, our only goals for the day were to visit the Stasi Museum and the East Side Gallery (section of the Berlin Wall that is painted by various artists). At one of our random stops, we actually got out and did A LOT of walking. I'm still not sure which "borough/district" thing we were in, but I'm guessing it was either Kreuzberg or Prenzlauer. Either way, it was really awesome. The neighborhood was super pretty, and there was SO MUCH GOOD FOOD. Gah. We had planned to be cheapos and not actually eat meals except for dinners, but then we walked by this Nepali restaurant with an amazing menu and good prices... we succumbed. I had this amazing duck thing with basmati rice. It was super tender and the skin was fried to perfection. Plus, the portions they serve are huge. Seriously impressive. I think the restaurant was called Nepali Haus, nearish to the Gneisenaustr. stop if you're ever in Berlin. Afterward, we wandered a bit more and then headed off to find the Stasi Museum in Lichtenberg (another district). That museum is IMPOSSIBLE to find. First off, it's in the middle of nowhere. The whole area was basically residential/random and looked like an apartment complex in China. Also, even after you find the random street the whole complex is on, you will probably never find the silly museum because the sign is randomly behind a tree. Basically, you just see a random bit of white behind a tree, so you'd probably be like, "Eh, whatever." Even IF you do see the sign and you actually manage to get into the complex, the museum has basically no signs and is also... behind a tree. The only reason we found it was because we creeped behind a random Swedish couple and they finally noticed us/pointed us in the right direction, haha. Oh yeah, and we had to go in a random hotel just to find the street. Obviously, we asked with accented German, but miraculously, she actually replied to us in German instead of in English. Score! Right. So, the museum is ALSO behind a tree, like the sign. I guess they're keeping the spirit of the Stasi alive... kind of sketchy. Anyway, the museum was interesting and we saw a lot of random stuff, including all the things they hid cameras in (crazy stuff). Afterward, we tried to find the East Side Gallery, which is near the Warschauer Str. U-Bahn stop. We never found it (that day, anyway). Instead, we walked the wrong direction and ended up at the Frankfurter Tor, where we sat for an hour and just contemplated... stuff. I don't know. Either way, it was really nice. I quite enjoyed relaxing, chatting, and people watching on the steps. Then, we took a tram randomly and got off at a random stop. Luckily, Berlin's TV tower allows you to have a landmark throughout the city, and we saw that it wasn't far so we just walked back to it (basically, Alexanderplatz, where we could make our way back to the hostel). OH. Another thing -- so in Berlin, there are the "S-Bahns" and "U-Bahns". U-Bahns = subway and S-Bahn = trains that run above ground. This was super confusing because in Vienna, U-Bahns run above and below ground (I actually still don't know how this works), and S-Bahns are street cars or trams. But yeah, by the end of that day, we were pretty much adept at navigating the U-Bahn/S-Bahn system in Berlin.

On the final day, we finally made it to the East Side Gallery and had a nice stroll. It was probably good that we didn't go on Sunday evening, like we planned, because we would have been super tired (the section of the Wall spans for quite a distance). It was really nice and definitely a place to check out if you're ever in Berlin. In the afternoon, I met up with a friend who lives in Berlin and we walked down the "Ku'damm," as they call it (big shopping street) and checked out the top floor of the KaWeDe, a huge department store. The top floor just has food from all over the world, which was quite fun to see. We also went to Potsdamer Platz (where the Sony Center is). The day ended with a nice kebap. Oh, and the kebap in Berlin is different... they put Rotkohl (like the purple cabbage, but pickled) and you can have it with cheese. It was delicious, but I think the kebap from the Naschmarkt is still better. Finally, we walked over to the main train station to find our platforms (we were leaving on Tuesday). At that time, we actually realized just how ridiculously enormous the station was. But yeah. So that was Berlin. It was a city that I somehow didn't expect to enjoy as much, but I really ended up liking it quite a bit. It's quite modern so it doesn't feel that typically "European" at times, but it's really quite interesting and awesome to explore.

When Tuesday rolled around, I parted ways with my travel buddy (she headed back to Vienna to bum for the rest of break -- part of me was slightly jealous because I was super tired), and I headed off the Brussels, Belgium. I feel particularly... sentimental about Belgium somehow, even though I hadn't visited before. The reason for this is because my parents were either going to immigrate to Belgium or the States (obviously, they chose the States) when they were deciding all of this stuff. Thus, I often wonder what life would have been like if I had grown up in Belgium, you know? Like would I be pining to go to America? Where would we have lived -- Wallonia or Flanders? Would I be awesomely European with multi-lingual skills? What kind of person would I have been/life would I have had? I don't know. Maybe I'm just weird.

Anyway, everything went smoothly until I reached Köln -- the place where I had to switch trains to get to Brussels. Somehow, the train was about 10 minutes late arriving in Köln so I basically had 2 minutes to run onto the train to Brussels. It was a SUPER NICE train (fancy with lots of wood and glass) but there were no seats because I guess its a popular route. I ended up having to sit on this half-seat thing next to a rather strange woman from Calgary (Canada). She was super nice but a bit odd. I can't really describe it so you'll just have to take my word for it. Basically, we started talking and it turns out she's doing a 3.5 month journey around Europe. She toured Germany (her family is German) and then she was staying at the Belgian coast for a week (I have no idea why she wants to do that -- apparently it's not too spectacular) and then going to southern Europe (Spain, Italy, Greece, etc.) She was dying because she had so much luggage. Seriously, the woman had 3 suitcases, (1 large one, 1 medium, 1 small), 2 purses, AND a backpack. Insane. I had to help her lug her luggage off the train or else she would have been screwed. I hope she made it to her destination safely because there was nobody in Brussels to help with lug all her stuff to her next train.

After those... incidents, I had another challenge ahead of me -- how to find the hostel. The internet in the Berlin hostel died so I basically only had 1 vague note and my memory to guide me. Getting around Brussels Zuid/Midi was already a nightmare because everything was in French or Dutch (going to a country alone where you can't understand the language feels weird). After much wandering (and amusement because I found a Carrefour -- a French grocery store chain which I actually go to often in China), I finally found the Metro. Getting a Metro ticket was also crazy because I didn't understand the machines at all. The man at the next machine didn't either so we just shared a moment of laughter/despair, haha. Finally, we figured it out and got tickets. I headed off to what I hoped was the right train (it was, luckily) and got out. Of course, I had no idea what road the hostel was on so I basically wandered around the metro station like a weirdo until I found it. That evening, I tried to find some food so I walked halfway down this huge road, but found basically... NOTHING. WUT. Where were all the fries and waffles and kebap places?! It was crazy. At that time, I was basically just like, "What the... do Belgians not eat or something??" But yeah, I finally found a place and got a durum for a pricey €4. At least it was good. Funny thing -- they put fries in it, haha. How Belgian... But yeah, so that was my first day traveling alone/in Belgium.

Today (Wednesday, 4/13), I went to Antwerp, but I'm tired so I will write about it at a later time. Besides, this entry is like 5 million pages long already so I'm sure you're all bored as heck now.

Pictures and such
Note: Blogger seriously destroys the quality of the photos so... well, that's just sad =/.

Checkpoint Charlie

Französischer Dom at Gendarmenmarkt

Rathaus

Fernsehturm at Alexanderplatz

Some random sketchy place

Frankfurter Tor

Brandenburger Tor

Streets?

Part of the Berlin Wall

Pergamon Alter

"Wien ist die Hauptstadt von Deutschland" - Vienna is the capital of Germany ;P

Seriously? Who puts a sign like that...

Currywurst

Nepalese food (DUCK!!!)