Amy had thought she might be able to join me on my trip but-- it being the end of our time in Austria, we're all a bit short on cash-- it didn't work out. That was okay though. I had told myself there were just certain things I had to see. And Berlin just happened to be on the absolute *top* of that list. So I ended up waiting longer than I had hoped to buy tickets, so, of course, the price went up. Not a problem though. I was determined.
I booked a great hotel. Artemisia Frauenhotel Berlin. An only women's hotel in Charlottenburg district. Great location directly across from a subway stop and very secure. I managed to find a reduced price on one of the hotel booking Web sites and managed to get a single room for 39 euro instead of 69/79! No complaints!
Being the procrastinator that I am (and no, to any of you that hoped that might change while I was abroad, it hasn't), I printed my tickets out on Wednesday night before my train was to leave at 6:46 the next morning. I double-checked everything and realized that somehow in the process of booking online, the date had changed from 10.12 to 06.12... My tickets were no longer valid for the 10th. After a major panic attack and some choice words at the internet and myself... and calling home and... I wont lie... some tears, I realized that I had no choice but to book new tickets. ::sound of money draining::
I decided that if that was the worst thing to happen on my trip, I could totally handle it. Some money on a credit card, a bit of stress while still comfortably in Klagenfurt-- totally do-able. I packed my things and had Amy sit with me to make sure I was being practical and including EVERYTHING. I thought I was doing great. I even went to bed by 11 o'clock! (Feel free to GASP!!) I had everything set out so as not to wake Claudia at 5 am when my alarm went off. I quickly got ready and called the cab-- phone didn't seem to be working. I had to change my eeTy SIM card out for the international card I had bought at home to use in Germany. Small panic that I'll have no phone in Germany all weekend. Claudia without fail wakes up anytime I move in the room, which for once paid off. I used her cell phone and called a cab. Pain free to the train station.
I was a bit anxious about the train ride. All of the connections on the fabulous journey through almost all of Austria and Germany are lame. I picked the best one (which meant leaving at 6:46 and getting to Berlin at 18:11) but was still left with a measly TEN minutes to run from one platform to another in Salzburg. If I could get to that connection, I was home-free. And run I did! But I made it. WHEW. After that was to Munich, where I had an hour connection. Easy as pie. When I got off the train in Munich though, my stomach was suddenly in knots. I had somehow managed to leave without my passport. Having a hotel in Europe means showing your passport. I had tried calling Amy earlier on my cell phone and it was not working so I rushed to pay phones, which are basically Greek to me. The few times I ever used pay phones were in grade school when I went to the community center to swim and used COLLECT to call Mom for a ride home. Not exactly going to work to call Amy... When I finally got ahold of her, she tried calming me down. She reminded me that when we went to Venice, Sam didn't have his passport and was OK... I would be fine. It worked for a bit but I was still very anxious.
I arrived in Berlin on time. What a massive train station. At least 4 stories! It's not only a train station but a mall. Shops everywhere, Pizza Hut, Subway, clothing stores, travel agencies, anything you can imagine almost. I found an information center and purchased the Berlin Welcome Card, which allows me to travel on almost any public transit line throughout most of the city. Onward to the subway to get to my hotel. Berlin's a huge city-- the public transportation system is huge-- getting to my hotel should be simple. WRONG. After walking back and forth between almost all of the levels of the train station, I realized I had two choices. Ask someone or stay in the train station, wandering between levels, the entire night. I can't have pride in a foreign city! I felt much less stupid after asking for directions-- I wasn't blind, the subway I needed does not go to the Hauptbahnhof. I took the S-Bahn to the U-Bahn (street car to underground car) and got off, out of anxiety of missing my stop, a stop too early. But I was in the right area-- right street name-- I'll survive walking a few blocks!
After a *few* blocks I found my hotel, lugged my bag up 5 flights of stairs, and checked in. The receptionist was very nice and helpful. My room's great. Right by the reception area. I have a room to myself, TV, big window, and a shower en suite. The shower is shared between my room and another which was, and as far as I know is still, empty. The toilet is simply across the hall. And being that it's an all women hotel, I don't mind too much at all!
I was so organized about this trip (okay, maybe it's not looking that way... but I *felt* so organized for this trip). I wrote up a daily agenda, looked at what I wanted to see and grouped things based on their proximity to one another, etc. I had intended to take a free tour of Berlin today, visit the Alexanderplatz, and the DDR Museum. I missed the free tour due to lack of knowledge of how the heck to find the right transit. By the time I was on the right bus, it was 10:30-- time to meet. I headed to Unter den Linden. Somehow, I found the tour and thought I'd try to sneakily join the group about 20 minutes late. But the group I joined was full and I was "politely asked" to join a group led by so-and-so. Well, so-and-so blended in pretty well and I couldn't find him, so I just bailed. Off to DDR (GDR) Museum! A few minor set backs as far as transit, but I made it! Pretty cool little exhibit. Then off to the Judische Museum. At first I thought the museum was great.... but then it kept going. I had purchased an audio guide and couldn't find over half of the points to listen to the information. The information was too long and there was way to much information overall. The architecture is amazing - the intention is great - I was simply... bored of it by the end.
Well, that wraps up day one in Berlin! More to come-- and probably some back blogging about Krampustag!!
Liebe Grüße
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