Summer '16 Trip: Day 16

LAST BLOG POST AHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Or at least it’s the last blog post for this trip. Who knows where I’ll go next………………..

But anywho, we got up a little after 9 or so, which was lovely. I had been dying to try this bagel place right next to the apartment, so that’s where we went for brunch. The service was iffy (not surprising, but always annoying), but MAN were those bagels good. They were real bagels (the boiled kind), and were just absolutely perfect. I got a cinnamon raisin bagel with GOAT CHEESE CREAM CHEESE and honey (the spread was called “Sticky Goat”). I also had a white hot chocolate, something I hadn’t had in ages. I loved it all! There were also all kinds of books on display (I guess for sale? We couldn’t really tell), so it had that cute literary café look going as well. Honestly, I’m surprised we didn’t go back for a late lunch or dinner.

While we were traveling, Kayla’s study abroad roommate (who’s in a longer program) had been keeping watch over Kayla’s other small suitcase in their apartment. After brunch, we went to go get it. We were just there for a brief moment, but from what I could see, it was a very nice apartment. Maybe I ought to have studied abroad in Berlin! …Just kidding.

We took the suitcase back to the AirBNB, and then set out for some last Berlin adventures. Kayla’s favorite German chocolatier, Ritter Sport, has a big store in the city center, so we of course had to go there. Fortunately, they’re actually open on Sundays! It was super cute. Kayla got a bunch more chocolate to give as gifts, and I just got a small square to eat right then (my suitcase was looking a little too full for any more goodies).

Giant chocolate squares!

The next stop was Checkpoint Charlie, which had a neat little outdoor gallery/info/history area. There were also guys dressed up as US Soldiers that you could take photos with or get illegal passport stamps from (we did neither). It was just weird being there and thinking that when my mom came to Berlin when she was in college it was actually like that. Crazy!

Both of us were feeling pretty off (I think our last day of train travel finally did us in), so we went back to the apartment to rest some. After a little while, we decided to go to a fancy burger chain place called Peter Pane for dinner because all I really wanted was French fries.

Worry not—I did not only eat French fries. I actually had one of the best veggie burgers I’ve ever had! They had a dinner special thing where you could get a burger, fries or a salad, and a cocktail and saved about 3-4 euro doing so. The cocktail I had was also one of the best I’ve ever had, I think because it had mango in it. The patty of my veggie burger was made of walnuts and celery, which sounds odd, but was actually really good. The best part of the burger, though, was the fact that it had GOAT CHEESE on it. Mmmmmm. I’m addicted. (And I think y’all can gather that we both got fries instead of salad).

We took the subway to the East Side Gallery after dinner, and walked along that for a while. It was neat! And the weather was lovely, despite having rained some earlier. We actually then walked all the way from the gallery back to the apartment (which actually isn’t a long walk at all), where we got as packed as possible and went to bed.

The cute little bridge between the East Side Gallery and the apartment

It was going to be another early morning for us, but at least this time we’d be going home!!! I’m excited. It was a short trip, but an excellent one. I got to revisit cities I already knew I loved, fall in love with new ones, AND (most importantly) do all this with one of my very best friends. I couldn’t have asked for more! Except maybe someone to carry all our luggage for us…

Well, so long! Farewell! Auf wiedersehen! Goodbye! I hope you join me next time I make use of my passport!

Summer '16 Trip: Day 15

Day 15 was our earliest morning so far. I got up at 5 am to get ready, pack up, and finish up any last chores in the apartment. It was rough, but we wanted to get back to Berlin as early as possible. The only way to do that was to take an 8 am train out of Zurich.

Luckily, we were successful in getting to the train station via the tram, even with our semi-obnoxious suitcases. At the train station, we stopped to get breakfast. Well, it was a little early for me to eat, so I just had hot chocolate…but at least it was something. Once our platform was finally posted, we headed there and figured out where our car was going to be.

For the first time all trip, the train was FLIPPED AROUND. It really wasn’t a huge deal, since we were the first stop, meaning we had a good amount of time to get on board, but still. Walking the length of half the train with suitcases amidst a bunch of other confused people isn’t exactly my favorite thing. At least we had a good place to put our luggage on the train, reserved seats, and a pretty chill atmosphere. The whole time we were on that first train (about 3.5 hours to Mannheim) it was nice like that: not too many people. Our train from Mannheim to Berlin, though (5.5 hours) was a different story.

It was unbelievably overbooked. There were people standing in the aisles, little kids sitting in the sections between cars, and luggage everywhere. It would’ve really been a nightmare had we not reserved seats. Eesh! I don’t know how all those people managed.

On the trains, I listened to music, wrote blog posts, began reading Persuasion by Jane Austen, and watched half of Forrest Gump with Kayla. (Once Forrest and Bubba arrive in Vietnam—when Fortunate Son is playing—the lady next to me got up to go to the restaurant car, so we paused it, but Kayla said her neck hurt so we just stopped. Not like I’ve never seen it before, though...clearly).

Overall, the trains were fine. I didn’t get bored or feel uncomfortable or anything. It was chill.

Once we got to Berlin, though, we took a few Ls (for my older readers, that means that we ran into some bad luck). For one, both of the ticket machines at the U-bahn platform weren’t working. One wasn’t accepting any form of payment, and the other was only taking coins. Kayla and I put in all the change we had, but we were 15 cents short. Thankfully, two British girls lent us the coins. We felt terrible, though, because they didn’t have enough coins to get their tickets, and so they had to go to a different platform or something. Stupid ticket machines!

I’m pretty sure the only other problems we had were a broken escalator and ridiculously, absurdly long lines at the grocery store. We had no problems getting the AirBNB key from Sophia, the host, and found the things we needed to buy at the drug store and the grocery store. 

Aubrey's special request

We had dinner at a cute place called The Winery down the street from the apartment and really enjoyed it. Of course we had to get wine, since they had such a good selection. To eat, we shared a bruschetta with pecorino cheese and eggplant, and also each got pasta. We needed the nourishment after that long day!

As you can probably imagine, we went to bed on the earlier side. We stayed in the same AirBNB as we did in the beginning of our trip, but this time we were in a different room. Our bed in this room was a loft bed. I’d never seen a double bed loft bed! It was neat, and very comfortable, but kind of obnoxious, of course. But I guess it saves a lot of space.

So once again, we were going to sleep in Germany. And I must say, it was very nice not having to set an alarm—especially one for 5 am!