ah, berlin..

Took a bus to Berlin this weekend.. to see a band called "The Mountain Goats" on Thursday night at 9pm. The bus was supposed to get into Berlin at 7pm, so we were cutting it SUPER short.. The bus was 2 hours late, so we missed the band... But we did engage in various other adventures. Above is myself, and my sisters in arms Maggie and Chelle.

After discovering the band was already done playing, we went down the street to have our first meal in Germany. One might expect bratwurst and sauerkraut, or perhaps schnitzel- but oh no, we definitely had Gyros. Gyros and Beck's. Beck's? Honestly? I felt very poser-like, drinking German beer that is not only extremely common in the states, but also because it said "Philadelphia" on the bottle. Oh yeah, very authentic. Evidence below-

The next day!
We wandered around the "centre" of the city- which was surprisingly disappointing. Until we found the actual "centre" of town... and yeah, that was much better. Granted, we weren't on any sort of tour, so we had no idea what any of the buildings were or their signifcance, but they were still wicked cool looking! And we found out later what most of them were anyhow, so I suppose somehow that makes it better. Here are some more pictures of our quest to find life-altering German structures-

The next day was... interesting. We somehow lost one of our threesome the evening before, and it just so happened that homegirl was without a cellphone. So several of the first hours of the day were spent waiting for her to make her way back to the hostel... which she didn't. By 3 pm, we were worried yet anxious to see a bit more of the city before leaving at midnight that night. So we did what any loving, responsible friends would do- we left a note taped to the door (and a spare at reception) with a cell number on it, and told her to call and that we'd be back later...
I'm a good friend, I swear!!
We honestly had no idea where to look or what to do, but it seemed silly to wait around when she's a 21 year old woman, a big girl.

So we set off on the most confusing public transportation system in existence in search of the East Side Gallery- the longest standing piece of the Berlin Wall... We didn't find it. Instead we found the Berlin Wall trail, another standing piece- this one a monument.
then found checkpoint Charlie.
then wandered around for another hour trying to find a way to get to the East Side Gallery... finally broke down and got a cab. so glad I did, too-

best 10 euros I ever spent to get there.

Then, on the way back to the hostel (at 7pm) I get a call from an unknown number- wouldn't you know, it's our third musketeer, and she's back at the hostel! it's been 16 hours since I've seen or heard from her, so honestly I'm just glad she's alright.
We make it back to the hostel to find her drinking beers with another of the guests, skip the part about being mad and just join them. Suppose it's better that way, anger takes too much energy.

Had a final dinner in Berlin (burgers and pasta, no wursts in sight!) then make our way to the bus station and then eventually back to Prague. Arrived at 7am this morning back at the Kolej... Definitely slept till 3 pm.

That's my story of Berlin, and I'm sticking to it!

Cheers,

Erin