A Few Days In Berlin

Since being here I quickly learned two words "Ausfahrt" and "Einsfahrt" which are exit and entrance respectively. Travelling along a straight road I saw plenty of these signs and so after the fifth or sixth one I knew for sure that they were not telling me that there was a small town or city called Ausfahrt so I asked a local, well local to the area, and thus I was given my answer.

With the sun high in the sky and everything now open again it was my first chance to really go out and explore / get lost in a city since I left home.

The getting lost part was almost guaranteed as I had decided to shun public transport and the hotel had only a inner city map to guide me from my overnight hotel to my main hostel that I had planned as a base from which to encamp myself. The confirmation email had a rough guide of where it was, but being off the map was not a good start.

I never really appreciated how big berlin is, as the map didnt really have a proper scale section, but considering I had decided that half an hour with a backpack was adequate to knacker me out, I made several pit stops on the way and it still took me a good 2 hours of walking alone, and that was having already grabbed a taxi into the centre of town to speed things up a bit.

Before I got half way I got a spot of Berlin Belly and had to dive into a cinemaplex for a much needed changeover. They were showing the new comedy "Dont Mess With The Zohan" which even in German it was easily understandable, however sadly this was due to the over simplified plot and constant visual sexual inuendoes and nob jokes that wouldnt be funny even if I was drunk as a skunk.

I normally try to visit a McDonalds wherever I go, but despite Berlin having hundreds of restaurants I failed to see a single McD's the whole time.

The trip to the hostel was a nightmare and I almost gave up two or three times, but overly priced hotels and an inability to find a taxi onthe backroads meant that I was destined to just continue until I found it or die in the attempt - luckily it was the former.

Although the centre of Berlin looks all bright lights and free of graffitti is it not long before you start seing signs of urbanisation and real life setting in.

Once I finally arrived at the Hostel it was a welcome relief, but my relief almost turned to horror as I saw the state of the road it was in and the facade of what I thought was the main entrance. Thankfully it was not the main entrance, only the old front door and the way that everyone normally comes through is the side entrance.

As I was more than knackered from the long, but pleasant and beautiful, walk through central Berlin to the upper east side I had decided that I was going to rest up in the hostel when I got there, download a few photos and chill out for the night however I am so very glad that things didn't quite go according to plan.

A few hours later a German looking Italian with curly blonde hair was shown into the mixed dorm where I was staying and as I was the only one who was there she asked me if I knew of any cheap places to eat locally.

I admitted that I didnt, but only because I had only arrived a few hours earlier myself, and to this she then replied that as her friend did not arrive until tomorrow and we were both alone would I care to join her in a stroll around the locality and grab a bit to eat together.

Thus it was that for the next few hours we took in the upper east side of London together, swapping stories, grabbing a bite to eat and supping a few beers along the way { well beers for her but I can't stand the stuff so I stuck to Mojito's and Mai Tai's }.

The only real downer on the night was that she was camera shy and also informed me that she was only staying in my dorm for the one night before her and her friend were moving into a smaller room together the next morning.

The next day was more of the same walking, with the sun being hidden til early afternoon when it then came out in full burst. When I say that Berlin is big, I sort of mean that even with a map and a striaght road into town after an hour I was not much closer to the centre of town than when I started so I gave up and grabbed a cab the other half a way into town.

If do have a few minor grumbles in my hostel it is that the internet connection signal was forever dropping out, the bunk beds were too shallow so anyone on the lower bunk couldn't even sit up in bed and there were only four lockers for a six bunk room { and even the lockers were partitioned for some insane reason so that no rucksack could fit inside less it was fully emptied and squished together }.

My only real complaint about outer Berlin is that they do not have enough underpasses or crossing of main roads and train tracks and so I found myself walking for what seemed like an eternity just to find a way past and then having to walk the same distance back again just to get from A to B as the crow flies.

The centre of town, however, is a different story as on almost every corner you could see dozens of fashionable restaurants with plenty of outdoor seating and of almost every variety you can name.

In fact, very much like with Londons Pie and Mash shops, the only kind of restaurant that I couldn't find was a good honest German one, where you could find all manner of suspicious looking sausages and sauces that you could only pronounce if you were half cut.

As Berlin really is that big, and try as I might, even with a map and bus stop information, I just couldn't seem to get my head around the train or tram system and so I cheated once again and got a taxi back to my hostel, where I stuck on a DVD and then got an early night as I plan on making a final trip into Berlin before travelling on to Dresden.