Berlin By Night

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June 7th, 21:45 on Platform 15 at Lichtenburg Station in Berlin my Whole world came crashing down around me...A moment i'm not soon to forget all to easily!However, as the tears streamed down my face as i poured my heart out over a txt message to my best friend back home, I couldn't help but smile at her reply.."Well Brigid, at least it's one to tell the Grandkids" and for the first time i think she may be right...Before i get to telling Grandkids though, how about i simply begin by telling you...

It was Friday and as i already mentioned we were having to chance waiting to see if we could get a place on the overnight train to Warsaw, as the ticket man said he couldn't sell us one less then a day before the journey! We took his advice and decided to ask the conductor if there were two spaces that we could pay a supplement for with our inter rail tickets!We waited about an hour for the conductor to arrive as the man had previously said he'd be there before nine but now it was half nine and there was no sign of him anywhere but we did not panic!

when the train arrived we had about ten minutes to get our places before it left again...We went to the first important person we saw step off the train and asked him nicely if there was space.."PANIC" he doesn't speak a word of english...we ask him is he the conductor and he just points at the next person wearing the same uniform as himself at the next carriage..."PANIC" he also can't speak English...We are told to go back and forth between what seems to be twenty odd conductors unlike the "one" conductor our ticket man had informed us of...minutes pass and we are sprinting up and down the platform, maneuvering our way between crowds of people trying to make there way onto the train also...Lots of running, lots of shouting and then lots of tears and another five minutes pass. Then we are left standing there, forced to hear the painfully piercing sound of the whistle which tells us, we're too late..the train leaves....However the nightmare doesn't end there..

As we stood on there platform we began to make plans! With no hostel booked for the weekend, we seriously needed to rethink our strategy. We considered going straight to Prague instead and heading to Poland later on..So we begin to check the times for the next few trains to Prague and PANIC,,The small black bag that was hanging around my neck while we were trying to make our way through all the people on the platform was GONE..No where to be seen on me or anywhere on the Platform for that matter...

PANIC

My Interrail Ticket...My driving License....MY FRICKEN PASSPORT....Gone....

Tears began to form in my eyes and my whole body became weak and helpless as i fell to my knees..I held my head with my hands as the tears and aching pain in my head now became to much for me to handle...What to do?Where to go?Who to Tell or ask for help???...Did this mean i had to go home??I could hardly continue now could I?

James kept his cool as he quickly guided me to a seat where we'd have to decide what to do next?...The main thing James continued to tell me, was that i had to get an emergency passport! So we needed to get to a computer and find out as much as possible as soon as possible...My first instinct was to ring home and cry my eyes out over the phone but something within me said NO...There was no point worrying my family about this, there was nothing they could really do for me now that i couldn't do myself!!!We took the underground as fast as we could to the main train station where we could leave our bags in the luggage centre for the night while we tried to sort everything out...We had to move as fast as possible as the underground was shutting soon and James was adamant that we make it to the city center Alexanderplatz before they finished so we'd be somewhere that had places open for the night!!

We had no hostel for the night so we used the free Berlin map we had to find a hostel maybe that had free beds or even the internet to use!We managed to find one place open still but it was full, not surprising as it was the weekend now and very much last minute....The receptionist let us use the internet though and began to look up everything we needed to know about the irish Embassy here in berlin...We soon found out we needed a police report, copies of birth certs etc, two passport photos and 75 euro to get an emergency passport...

We had to pass a few hours then in the city before we could go to the police as war had practically broken out in the centre, which took nearly all the police men from there posts for a few hours...Every station was pretty much emptied of any staff they had....Finally the war was resolved and we made our way to the nearest station...the NICEST polish police officer i'd say that ever existed helped me through the whole proccess...within a few hours i had a police report stating how, where and when all my things were taken..


I Made some calls to the Embassy then...WORD OF WARNING, if EVER ya get your things taken, TRY AND MAKE SURE IT AINT ON A FRIDAY EVENING,,,because NOTHING will open again until monday morning....I left messages and what not telling them of the position i was in and how i could be contacted...So me and james spent the next few hours roaming Berlin aimlessly waiting for morning to come..We were now resigned to the fact i was going home, so i took this time to decide what i would do..I would get my emergency passport, go home on the first plane i could get and then return after a week or two as soon as i had obtained a new passport...Meanwhile james would continue his travels and make the most of his time traveling....

More dram was to occur as we tried to get a train out of the City after getting our bags from the Station..Out of nowhere the train stopped and we were waiting for what seemed like forever to get going...A kind woman with a small bit of English managed to tell us that it was because some person had jumped onto the track ahead of us calling all trains to a halt....Ya know those people that say things can't get much worse when ya reach rock bottom...Well i LAUGH IN THEIR FACES...because they should meet me before ever coming to such a conclusion...

At around 6:30am, this nice lady call Margaret made sure to call me back even though it was after work hours at the Irish Embassy to see how i was..I told her everything that happened again over the phone and she said what i needed to bring with me on Monday morning to the embassy to get my temporary passport..she asked where i was going next..i said where i had been planning to go...Then the greatest news i have received ever, She informed me that for 75 euro i could get a temporary passport that would last a year and that i could continue traveling for the summer with no complications...

"PANIC GOES..."

So basically we passed two or three more days in Berlin which didn't turn out to be all that bad....We saw a completely different side to Berlin then...On Sunday we wandered around the area of east berlin where we were staying and came upon the funkiest place i have ever seen..The place was flooded with Hippies everywhere, the were lying out within the really high grass and purple flowers under the sun, the sat around listening to people play music and some looked around the stalls at the flea market where all things "Hippiesh" could be bought...ha ha..i was in heaven..whats more is i enjoyed the atmosphere and the sun ALL that more because i could appreciate the fact i was here and not on the next plane home...

So yes...It is a story to tell the Grandkids..Thats for sure..As i left the Irish Embassy at 4:10pm on Monday I held my Passport high in the air and laughed as James took a picture of me...Then i quickly handed it to him and told him NOT to give it back to me again until I arrived home on Irish soil...Lets just say the over night train to Warsaw was the most pleasurable train ride ever as we FINALLY said goodbye to Berlin...

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Photos

Berlin By Night
ok..so i had to rob this off the internet,,but in fairness at that particular time as i was kneeling on the floor with my head between my legs thinking the end of the world had come...it didn"t really feel like a kodak moment..ha ha..

OH NO....
I THINK I'VE BEEN ROBBED...

4am
You wonder how the brandenburg gate looks when its not flooded with tourists..well here ya go.....We wandered the town at all hours of the day just to capture this for you..ha ha,,,i wish...

Tree huggers...
It was definitely worth having to stay an extra few days..JUST to frame this image in my memory FOREVER..

Magical
hippies just laying out within the long grass and flowers everywhere, soaking up the sun and music...

SUCCESS
Standing outside the Irish embassy proudly holding up my new passport....best embassy EVER..

James meet Marx
When we became resigned to the fact i was going home,we decided to make the most of the time i"d left...fun times,.,,hmmm.....if only..

Tight Squeeze
6 people, 3 on top of each other on either side...in what can only be described as a closet or box not a room..terrifying thought...but ya know what..//neither of us care..COS WE'RE FINALLY LEAVING BERLIN..