Adventures in Europe : Day 1
First, I'd like to start off with a disclaimer. If you have an inability to focus on huge chunks of text for any extended period of time, then I warn you in advance that this is likely to be one of those marathon reads. I've tried to break up, and delete, parts of my journal entries while on the trip, but depending on my mood I may include details which may not seem relevant to you. They are, however, part of what made the trip fun for me, and so if you have any problems, just skip over it.
Note: The acronym SK refers to Sophie & Kelvin, my erstwhile traveling partners.
On to the journal..
Day 1
We arrived in Berlin in the evening, at Tegel airport. Contrary to what I had expected of Germany, Immigration was extremely slow and somewhat poorly designed, causing a massive pileup behind us (thankfully we were one of the first few out of the plane). First time I've ever seen an immigration checkpoint literally right next to the luggage belts. A minor incident also occurred ,with an Indian family wanting to jump the queue as their transit flight was leaving shortly, but a Middle Eastern man was unwilling to let them through. It took a Caucasian man to berate him before he finally acquiesced. Multiculturalism FTW!
When we left the airport, we were rather lost, the German transport system of ticketing being totally alien to us. How it works, as we found out, was that Berlin is divided into 3 zones, A B and C, radiating outwards from the centre, zone A. It works similarly in London and possibly in other parts of Europe. Anyway, since zones A and B cover most of Berlin, the most commonly bought ticket is the AB ticket. As far as I know, an unlimited number of trips can be made with one ticket, on all forms of transport (U-bahn: underground train, S-bahn: aboveground train, and monorail, and bus I think), but its validity expires after two hours. The tickets once bought, can be validated at anytime at validating machines. There are no gantries whatsoever at train stations, so cheating is extraordinarily easy. One only has to watch out for conductors, who actually wear plainclothes, although the risk of running into one is fairly low. It's a pretty expensive price to pay to get caught though, since the fine is a hefty 40 euros.
In any case, a friendly stranger explained to us how it worked, and although we didn't know it at that point, he would join us all the way to our destination and was extraordinarily helpful. For posterity, I'll record his name: Vitor, a Portuguese railway signaller who worked in Germany and was going to Poland the next day. A Benfica fan, too, even though he lived just a short distance away from Lisbon.
Friedrichstrasse is a major station/street, and finding our way to the hostel (Baxpax hostel) was a breeze. The hostel, in hindsight, was simply fantastic. I mean, walking into the reception area alone feels like walking into a cosy little hotel, with its excellent decor, bar, and softly lit interior. Over the course of the stay, I noticed that reception was manned by a few regulars, all of them young. I suspect that they are students working there as part of a summer job. Anyway. The room were allocated was a joy to behold, with a private bathroom, and extremely comfortable beds. After spending some time planning the next day's itinerary, to a man (and woman), we hit the sack gratefully.
No photos on this day.
Note: The acronym SK refers to Sophie & Kelvin, my erstwhile traveling partners.
On to the journal..
Day 1
We arrived in Berlin in the evening, at Tegel airport. Contrary to what I had expected of Germany, Immigration was extremely slow and somewhat poorly designed, causing a massive pileup behind us (thankfully we were one of the first few out of the plane). First time I've ever seen an immigration checkpoint literally right next to the luggage belts. A minor incident also occurred ,with an Indian family wanting to jump the queue as their transit flight was leaving shortly, but a Middle Eastern man was unwilling to let them through. It took a Caucasian man to berate him before he finally acquiesced. Multiculturalism FTW!
When we left the airport, we were rather lost, the German transport system of ticketing being totally alien to us. How it works, as we found out, was that Berlin is divided into 3 zones, A B and C, radiating outwards from the centre, zone A. It works similarly in London and possibly in other parts of Europe. Anyway, since zones A and B cover most of Berlin, the most commonly bought ticket is the AB ticket. As far as I know, an unlimited number of trips can be made with one ticket, on all forms of transport (U-bahn: underground train, S-bahn: aboveground train, and monorail, and bus I think), but its validity expires after two hours. The tickets once bought, can be validated at anytime at validating machines. There are no gantries whatsoever at train stations, so cheating is extraordinarily easy. One only has to watch out for conductors, who actually wear plainclothes, although the risk of running into one is fairly low. It's a pretty expensive price to pay to get caught though, since the fine is a hefty 40 euros.
In any case, a friendly stranger explained to us how it worked, and although we didn't know it at that point, he would join us all the way to our destination and was extraordinarily helpful. For posterity, I'll record his name: Vitor, a Portuguese railway signaller who worked in Germany and was going to Poland the next day. A Benfica fan, too, even though he lived just a short distance away from Lisbon.
Friedrichstrasse is a major station/street, and finding our way to the hostel (Baxpax hostel) was a breeze. The hostel, in hindsight, was simply fantastic. I mean, walking into the reception area alone feels like walking into a cosy little hotel, with its excellent decor, bar, and softly lit interior. Over the course of the stay, I noticed that reception was manned by a few regulars, all of them young. I suspect that they are students working there as part of a summer job. Anyway. The room were allocated was a joy to behold, with a private bathroom, and extremely comfortable beds. After spending some time planning the next day's itinerary, to a man (and woman), we hit the sack gratefully.
No photos on this day.
posted by benisonp at 9:14 AM
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