Back to Deutschland and on to Bearlin
Our trek to Berlin got off to a bit of an unpleasant start. As soon as we boarded the train our sense of relief and thoughts of sleep quickly faded as we came across our already occupied seats! We knew with a little bit of authority we could have forced the trespassers out of our way, but we calmly settled for regular seats instead of a full cabin as we had expected. Soon after we settled ourselves we realized our train ride from Prague to Berlin would be an unairconditioned one! It's not Texas hot, but it sure as hell was humid enough to make for a miserable 5 to 6 hours that we would like to forget! Not only was it hot, but each and every one of us became subject to complete bag checks, although not many of the passengers were checked, we knew that the precautions were necessary due to the heightened security of the World Cup.
As we rolled into the brand new main Berlin train station called "Haupthbanhof" we were amazed by not only the size of the station, but the luxuriosness as well. The train station seemed to be about three stories high. The station was extremely well equipped with two separate floors of various eateries. We chose to eat lunch in the station. Some of us filled ourselves with currywurst and pommes (fries), while others had Pizza Hut. The Germans provided our entertainment during lunch by achieving a victory during our lunch break. We witnessed their success on food court plasma televisions. Go Deutschland!
Upon arrival to our hostel we were welcomed by the great environment of the main common area. After spending some much needed time relaxing we found our way back to the main street, near where we were staying, and ate at a Doner/Falafel joint that lined the street. Little did we know that we would find ourselves chowing down at the same place three times during our stay in Berlin. The Chicken Doner/Falafel was perfect for us, not only was it cheap...it was filling too!
That night we found ourselves exploring the famous Mitte area of Berlin. This area is home to many bars and pubs. We have found that here, most bars and pubs are a little too similar to restaurants in the United States. After wandering around the area for a bit, we unexpectedly ran into some Mavericks fans! They were easily spotted in their true green Dirk Nowitzki jerseys. After conversing with them for a while, we decided as a group to meet back up at the same location to find a place to watch game 6 of the Dallas vs. Miami Championship series. After we split, our group headed to an area of Berlin called Eberswalder. This was supposed to be an area where we could find more people our age. After seeing and not liking the area, we headed back to meet up our newfound friends.
After meeting our friends we found out that they had struck a deal with a near by Irish Pub to allow us to watch the game, as long as our entire group could buy 200 Euros worth of drinks. Not to worry parents, this was a reasonable amount according to the size of our group! Although the game didn't turn out the way we wanted, we did take away some new chants and cheers we learned from our Maverick buddies. These include such titles as, "Jager Bomb" and "Dirk Nowitzki."
The following day we woke up, got ready and headed down to the local Doner/Falafel joint. Our Turkish buddy (the worker) was happy to see us! We then made our way to the Berlin Fan Fest area. There we were fortunate enough to catch the end of one of the Portugal games on one out of roughly 10 huge screen TVs! Most of us were hungry again. For this meal Joel and Kinesh enjoyed some Goulash...Mmmm. It actually turned out to resemble more of a Beef Stroganoff than any other Goulash we had imagined. Jay and Ravi chowed down on some currywurst. That night we relaxed in our hostel just hangin' around.
The next day really began with our lunch at a local Indian Restaurant close to the train station near our hostel. Unfortunately it wasn't that good...example dishes include Chicken Tikka, Biryani, Mattar Paneer and Chicken Curry.
After lunch we slowly made our way to the East Side Gallery to witness the longest stretch remaining of the Berlin Wall. It was approximately 1200 meters long and full of graffiti. The main thing we noticed was the dramatic shift moving from West Berlin into East Berlin. The East Side Gallery area was a lot more ghetto than the West side of the city.
After we reached home it was unfortunately time to say our goodbyes to another one of our fellow travellers. As soon as we got home Joel loaded his backpack and headed for the Berlin airport. And then there were five...
As soon as Joel left we began looking for a place to watch the USA vs. Ghana game. We found a place and watched the referees lose the game for us. Almost the same experience as from the end of the Mavericks game. :(
The next day we took The New Berlin Tour. It was a donation only tour. The tour had been recommended by a lot of sources. The tour was great we saw such sights as the Holocaust Memorial, the site of Hitler's old bunker, the Brandenburg Gate, the Berlin Wall, and one of the three remaining Nazi buildings still around. Today it is the tax building. We also saw an area filled with painted bears. They turned out to be bears for each of the memebering countries of the United Nations. In the middle was a memorial for "The burning of the books." This memorial was a simulation of bookcases viewed through glass beneath the ground.
The New Berlin tour went straight into The New Berlin Pub Crawl. The tour was strategically ended with a free beer. The crawl took us through the Mitte Area once again, except this time we were led to the bars with differing atmospheres. They ranged from a bar with beaches to a half inside half outside dancing club.
Our extended journey through Deutschland had come to an end...Amsterdam here we come...
The Eurotravelers
As we rolled into the brand new main Berlin train station called "Haupthbanhof" we were amazed by not only the size of the station, but the luxuriosness as well. The train station seemed to be about three stories high. The station was extremely well equipped with two separate floors of various eateries. We chose to eat lunch in the station. Some of us filled ourselves with currywurst and pommes (fries), while others had Pizza Hut. The Germans provided our entertainment during lunch by achieving a victory during our lunch break. We witnessed their success on food court plasma televisions. Go Deutschland!
Upon arrival to our hostel we were welcomed by the great environment of the main common area. After spending some much needed time relaxing we found our way back to the main street, near where we were staying, and ate at a Doner/Falafel joint that lined the street. Little did we know that we would find ourselves chowing down at the same place three times during our stay in Berlin. The Chicken Doner/Falafel was perfect for us, not only was it cheap...it was filling too!
That night we found ourselves exploring the famous Mitte area of Berlin. This area is home to many bars and pubs. We have found that here, most bars and pubs are a little too similar to restaurants in the United States. After wandering around the area for a bit, we unexpectedly ran into some Mavericks fans! They were easily spotted in their true green Dirk Nowitzki jerseys. After conversing with them for a while, we decided as a group to meet back up at the same location to find a place to watch game 6 of the Dallas vs. Miami Championship series. After we split, our group headed to an area of Berlin called Eberswalder. This was supposed to be an area where we could find more people our age. After seeing and not liking the area, we headed back to meet up our newfound friends.
After meeting our friends we found out that they had struck a deal with a near by Irish Pub to allow us to watch the game, as long as our entire group could buy 200 Euros worth of drinks. Not to worry parents, this was a reasonable amount according to the size of our group! Although the game didn't turn out the way we wanted, we did take away some new chants and cheers we learned from our Maverick buddies. These include such titles as, "Jager Bomb" and "Dirk Nowitzki."
The following day we woke up, got ready and headed down to the local Doner/Falafel joint. Our Turkish buddy (the worker) was happy to see us! We then made our way to the Berlin Fan Fest area. There we were fortunate enough to catch the end of one of the Portugal games on one out of roughly 10 huge screen TVs! Most of us were hungry again. For this meal Joel and Kinesh enjoyed some Goulash...Mmmm. It actually turned out to resemble more of a Beef Stroganoff than any other Goulash we had imagined. Jay and Ravi chowed down on some currywurst. That night we relaxed in our hostel just hangin' around.
The next day really began with our lunch at a local Indian Restaurant close to the train station near our hostel. Unfortunately it wasn't that good...example dishes include Chicken Tikka, Biryani, Mattar Paneer and Chicken Curry.
After lunch we slowly made our way to the East Side Gallery to witness the longest stretch remaining of the Berlin Wall. It was approximately 1200 meters long and full of graffiti. The main thing we noticed was the dramatic shift moving from West Berlin into East Berlin. The East Side Gallery area was a lot more ghetto than the West side of the city.
After we reached home it was unfortunately time to say our goodbyes to another one of our fellow travellers. As soon as we got home Joel loaded his backpack and headed for the Berlin airport. And then there were five...
As soon as Joel left we began looking for a place to watch the USA vs. Ghana game. We found a place and watched the referees lose the game for us. Almost the same experience as from the end of the Mavericks game. :(
The next day we took The New Berlin Tour. It was a donation only tour. The tour had been recommended by a lot of sources. The tour was great we saw such sights as the Holocaust Memorial, the site of Hitler's old bunker, the Brandenburg Gate, the Berlin Wall, and one of the three remaining Nazi buildings still around. Today it is the tax building. We also saw an area filled with painted bears. They turned out to be bears for each of the memebering countries of the United Nations. In the middle was a memorial for "The burning of the books." This memorial was a simulation of bookcases viewed through glass beneath the ground.
The New Berlin tour went straight into The New Berlin Pub Crawl. The tour was strategically ended with a free beer. The crawl took us through the Mitte Area once again, except this time we were led to the bars with differing atmospheres. They ranged from a bar with beaches to a half inside half outside dancing club.
Our extended journey through Deutschland had come to an end...Amsterdam here we come...
The Eurotravelers
posted by Unknown at
3:28 PM
