Daytrip to Dresden

Looking for the beauty and relaxing atmosphere that Berlin seems to lack, the girls and I decided to take a trip south to Dresden AKA "the Florence of the North." I am happy to report that the city did not disappoint. Using our Eurail passes, we hopped on an early morning train and enjoyed scenic views of Germany for two hours until we arrived at Dresden Central Station. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, with very few clouds and lots of sunshine. We made our way to the tourist office and purchased a map that featured tips on how to take your own walking tour of the city. So Katie was our tour guide, navigating us from place to place and explaining things as we went. The city has gorgeous architecture, spacious squares, quaint winding streets, and the most relaxing atmosphere of any city I have ever visited. Despite being in a bustling location, it was always very quite - no horns beeping, no one yelling...everyone just going about their business without making a scene. We saw countless Baroque style buildings, including museums, churches, and the Dresden Fraukirche (Church of Our Lady) that was so beautiful it put the Notre Dame to shame. The inside was elaborately decorated in pastel shades rather than the deep reds and browns that tend to dominate most 18th century churches. We crossed the Elbe River on the Augustus Bridge to see the parks where people were enjoying the weather, statues, and museums that surrounded the area. 

It was too nice to sit inside for lunch, so we grabbed some sandwiches and had lunch outside, where people kept stopping to talk to us. It's funny, no matter where we went in our travels, people stared at us and sometimes came up to chat. Admittedly, sometimes we were probably making a scene if we were lost and confused, but most times we were just acting like normal civilians. There was one man in particular who came up to us and kept saying "Schvet, schvet!" and holding his stomach. We looked at him dumbfounded and I asked if he was asking us if we were full. He laughed and walked away, us not thinking much of it until we realized he had been calling us fat! Needing a second opinion, we asked the next woman who walked by if she spoke English and since she did, we asked if "schvet" meant fat, and she responded "Um, yes. I think he was calling you fat." We were mortified, but what could we do but laugh? I guess some Germans are just not as hospitable as others, huh? But anyway, after lunch and a lot of laughs, we headed back to catch the last train to Berlin, happy with our day trip even if we are "schvet."

Love and day trips,

Haley
 

One and Done

After two days of exploring Amsterdam, the girls and I hopped on an overnight train to Berlin. The train left at 7:00PM and was supposed to arrive at the Berlin Central Station around 4:30AM...rough, I know. Our cabin had six beds, three bunked one on top of the other, and although space was tight, we had nice company. We befriended a Nigerian man named Tony who happened to permanently reside and work in Prague. He recommended things for us to do when we visited his adopted city and learned about his travels, interests, and life story.

We all went to bed pretty early knowing that we'd have to wake up at an ungodly hour, but I found it hard to sleep through the motions and stops of the train. So when 4:30 rolled around I was pretty tired, but we hopped of the train and were greeted by the Berlin sunrise as we waited for a bus that would drop us off near our hostel.

We arrived at our hostel around 5:30AM and even though we couldn't go into our room because they were booked for the night before our arrival, the receptionist allowed us to put our bags in storage lockers and take naps on the couches in the common room. The hostel was called Baxpax Mitte Hostel, located in the Mitte area of Berlin - about a fifteen minute walk from the main attractions of the city. It was well decorated, very clean, and the atmosphere was very warm and inviting. Over the next few days, we'd meet many other travelers just like us while cooking dinner or hanging around in the common room. The unlimited use of the kitchen available to us turned out to be really convenient, we saved money and met a lot of new people by cooking our own meals right in the hostel. They provided all of the utensils, pots, pans, plates, etc. so we just had to go to the grocery store and get what we needed for ingredients.

On the Sunday we arrived, we were all pretty tired so we kept it pretty mellow knowing that we would be staying in Berlin for three full days. After a long nap, we left the hostel to check out the Mauerpark Flohmarkt, a weekly market that is supposedly the largest flea market in Europe. You'll probably notice that we found ourselves at a market in every city we visited, it is a good chance to check out the local culture, shopping, and food as well as something we just happen to enjoy doing. This market was huge, with more junk than things I'd actually want to buy. There were endless rows of stalls with used goods, new goods, homemade goods, and probably stolen goods. None of us ended up buying anything, but we had a good time putzing around and laughing at some of the items that the people were actually trying to sell. We spent about two hours at the market before it grew old and we decided to go out in search of a grocery store to grab some stuff for dinner and breakfast the next morning. Warning: Nothing is open in Europe on Sundays, including grocery stores. However, in the midst of our frustrations, we saw a sight that would warm any Bostonian's heart:

Yes, that's right, Berlin has Dunkin' Donuts. And not just one Dunkin'. Oh no, someone from Massachusetts must have brought the company to Germany and decided to pop a franchise on every corner. I don't drink coffee and therefore really don't miss Dunkin's that much, but Caitrin was ecstatic to be able to get an iced for the first time in months. Not sure where we were going to find something to make for dinner, we each got a doughnut to hold us over for a bit. We then retreated to the hostel to ask them if they knew of any open grocery stores. Fortunately, one was open at the train station where we had arrived earlier that morning. I suppose I should mention that the train station was gigantic, with unlimited restaurants, cafes, drugstores, and a large grocery store. So we took the train back to the station and loaded up on supplies then headed back to the hostel to cook dinner and lay low for the night. I'd also like to mention that the public transportation is really great in Berlin, they have a subway system, a tram system, a bus system, and an above-ground train system that all run frequently so getting around is cheap and convenient. 
On our second day in Berlin, we decided to leave the city and take a day trip to Dresden, a city about two hours south which had been recommended to me by my friend Jill. I'll write about that in a separate post because I think it merits it's own one. When we returned from our day trip, we decided to go out and get a taste of the night life that we'd been hearing so much about. We walked to a nearby street that was crowded with not only bars, clubs, and restaurants but also prostitutes and some other sketchy characters. I wasn't a big fan of the area, but we quickly found a place to sit down and have a drink amongst company that looked more safe and welcoming than that of the surrounding area. After a drink or two, we decided to brave the street and head back to the hostel so we could rest before taking a tour of the city the next day.

We made it back safely and the next morning were up early to do a free walking tour put on by Sandeman's New Europe Tours, a company that puts on free and paid tours, pub crawls, and trips throughout major European cities. A tour guide picked us up at our hostel around 10AM and we headed toward the Pariser Platz where other tourists were waiting to be shown the city as well. We broke off into small groups and headed out, starting at Pariser Platz itself, which is the largest square in Berlin featuring the Brandenburg Gate and the hotel where Michael Jackson infamously dangled his baby off the balcony. Who knew? From the square, we walked along a designated route, hearing details about the history of Berlin and the landmarks we were passing, such as the Reichstag, Hitler's bunker, the new Holocaust Memorial, the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, and Humbolt University. The tour lasted about 3 and a half hours and I thought it was great, the guide was well-informed and enthusiastic and kept the crowd upbeat even though it was sweltering and everyone was tired after a bit. I noticed throughout the tour that there was a lot of construction happening, making the city look almost as if it was still recovering from the devastation of World War II. 

After a quick nap and dinner, the girls and I decided to take advantage of the New Europe tour company once again and do the pub crawl that they'd been promoting earlier in the day. We got ready and I tried to deal with the sunburn I had got during the day, complete with a line from my bag hanging across my chest. But c'mon ladies! No pain, no gain. It's time to start those summer tans. 

The pub crawl started at 8:15 and for 12 Euro we got free entry to four bars and one club, as well as copious amounts of alcohol. Throughout the night, we met a bunch of other young people, particularly befriending a guy named Doug who is originally from New Zealand but currently lives and works in London. Also during the night, Caitrin's friend Lindsey joined us in Berlin after having a falling out with the person she had been doing her own Eurotrip with. Lindsey also goes to UMass and we'd met before when she had visited Galway from her abroad university in Cork, so we were excited to have her join us for the rest of our trip. The night turned out to be a great time, especially at the club where we danced until almost 3:30 in the morning. We didn't really know where we were after leaving the club, so we taxi'ed back to the hostel, trying our best to communicate with the driver who spoke very minimal English. We eventually made it back and passed out for a few hours before having to pack up and catch the next train to Prague.

While I had a lot of fun pub crawling and seeing the sights in Berlin, I do not think it is a place I will return to. The history of the city is something I am really interested in, so I appreciated it for that, but I'm not really sure what more I could enjoy out of it if I were to come back again someday. But nonetheless, I am glad I got to see such important landmarks in person and experience the modern day culture that has been developing in the past few years.


Love and seeing history,
Haley