Berlin!

I arrived in Berlin so completely worn out! My flight left at 6:15AM. I left my cousin’s at 2:15 AM and went to sleep 11 pm. I took a train from the airport to my hostel. These British girls and I were in front of the ticket machine for about 10 minutes trying to figure out which ticket to buy. I looked over and asked if they could make sense of the machine. This British guy behind us helped us buy our ticket. Finding the hostel was pretty easy from then on. I had instructions from the web and got off at the metro stop, transferred to the next line I needed, and got off again. As I exited the station I looked back in my notebook for the next instructions and realized there weren't any! Thanking God I picked up a map from the airport, I looked for a road called Meininger and could not find it anywhere. I stopped a guy walking and do what I normally do in countries where I don't speak the language-- point and smile. I pointed to the street name in my notebook and he couldn't find it on the map either. But then a man walking shouted over to us, asking what I was looking for. God Bless this man. He spoke little English but enough to point me in the direction I needed to walk. I dragged my little luggage with me and wha-la, I see the sign Meininger. I'm all smiles from here. It is such a relief to find the hostel!

When I checked in there was a large group of school kids on a field trip. The lady at the front desk was a bit occupied with them so it took about 20 mın before I got my room. But when I opened the door it was only me. 4 beds all to myself. Well, not really, but at least a room to myself, with a very comfortable looking bed.


I wanted a really low key day after all of my traveling. So I found a place to get my pictures on a CD, then found a kebab place and spent 2 euros on lunch. The guy who owned the kebab store was from Alabama! Of all places! But he left there when he was young. His English was limited and I had to strain and focus to understand him. But I felt like I was "connecting" with the locals. I asked him how to pronounce some of the words in my German guide book. When I left he was like, "see you! That's American for goodbye, right?" Haha, at was so cute. I was like, "yes! See you later!” It was kında rainy so I decided to walk to a place (can’t remember the name but will look it up later). And walked back to my hostel. It was a low key day.

The next day I took the metro over to the Pergamum museum. I felt so proud to have conquered the Berlin underground system. I saw the Ishtar gate and the Pergamum alter. Now normally I get so enthusiastic about art. I'll see paintings like Las Meninas and feel faint type of thing. But here I just was not feeling at. I left about an hour later and went to a coffee shop and wrote some post cards. I was really feeling like gong back to bed thinking I would be back in Berlin after Turkey and would do stuff then. But after my mint tea I walked over to Pariser Platz and had a good day.

Before I went back to my hostel I stopped at an internet café to get the info my my next trip. I had booked the cheapest flight to Istanbul and I didn’t even note that was at 6:15 in the morning! I thought, Oh God! Another early flight?!? I as a bit hesitant to be traveling at 3AM on the Berlin metro on my own so I thought I would leave around my hotel around 12 and camp out at the airport. It’s a good thing I didn’t. By the time I finished up packing and my laundry it was 2:45. When I got to the metro it was closed so I hailed down a cab. When we go to the airport, it was closed as well. So he dropped me off outside the door of the airport, with me and my little luggage. :( I sat freezing and crying in the rain.... okay no I’m lying. It was a bit chilly but I made it though the 40 mın. So in the airport, I was walking and looking for my KLM flight to Istanbul. I did not see it at all. Then I thought, "Oh no, is this the wrong airport?" There are 2 airports in Berlin with similar names-- THF and TXF. My heart skipped a beat as I looked up what I wrote down and saw that I was in the right airport. Then I thought, "oh God! Is this the wrong day!?!?" You know how it as when you are sleep deprived and can't make sense of things. I was trying to figure out what day of the week it was. I looked at the last of departure times and saw no Istanbul. It hit me then. Amsterdam. My flight was connecting in Amsterdam. And there it was on the screen: KLM to Amsterdam 6:15. I checked in smoothly and was off to Istanbul.