We arrive in Berlin
Trip Start
May 27, 2008
1
8
10
Trip End
Jun 10, 2008
Berlin,
Germany
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
The ride in, after the sun was up, was very pretty. The German countryside is gorgeous, but very flat. Full of great churches and big ass (modern) windmills.
After quite an uncomfortable, loud, and pretty sleepless night on the sleeper train, we stepped on German soil at 8:30 am. The German U-Bahn and S-Bahn (underground and street level train system, respectively) are precisely on time, surprisingly clean, and quick. We had to switch from above ground to under ground once, then we arrived at our station. 1/2 block later, we were in front of East Seven Hostel. A friendly welcome, then up (you guessed it) 3 flights of stairs to our great private room. A king size bed and very comfy pillows, under a great big window opening to the private courtyard below. We did not sleep well on the train, so our first order of business was a nap. Refreshed afterwords, we walked around the neighborhood we were in, Prenzlauerburg, checking the stores, little shops and bars that dot the area. Explored a great park and found no less than three small grocery stores. So we bought some food (cheap!) and some beer (very cheap!) and headed back to the hostel. Met some great people from Australia, UK, Netherlands, and a Scot-Irish-Canadian and dove into a huge political discussion. We "hit the wall" and couldn't keep our eyes open and called it a day.
