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Published: October 18th 2014
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The walk from Dresden Central Station felt like a marathon!! Our backpacks may as well have been another person, pressing their boney limbs into our backs!! Our hotel was like an unreachable, mountain peak in the distance, teasing us with images of hot showers and soft beds. If the weather was warmer, it might've seemed like a mirage. Ok, obviously I'm being dramatic...but we did suffer more than usual on that leg. The hotel was rather nice, so we were very comfortable for our two night stay. There was a conveniently located German restaurant (Feldschlößchen), right next door - literally about 15 metres!! It had good reviews on Trip Advisor, so we had dinner there on our first night. I tried some of their Pilsner - brewed in-house. I could well come home from Europe a beer drinker!! (Of some form at least...)
Up early on Friday - breakfast and then into town for some sightseeing. It's a small city centre but very beautiful. Most of the tourist attractions seemed to be art galleries, which didn't particularly interest us. Had to rug up a bit, as it was pretty cold - we had been quite spoilt with warm weather up until
Germany. I managed to blow over €100 in about 20 mins...we really should learn to stay out of department stores!! We decided to have lunch at a cafe that was attached to Zwinger (old stately building with parks and museums) - the food was interesting...some unusual flavour combinations. Next we found our way to the Elbe River and wandered around. We were full of sugar after sharing a slice of cake and ended up with the giggles. On our way back through the city centre, we found a fancy restaurant and booked ourselves in for dinner. So glad we did because the food was amazing!! First time in ages we've gone through entree, main and desert!! Walked our dinner off (back to the hotel) and crashed after a big day on our feet.
In Germany, we've noticed that cigarettes are available in all sorts of random places - e.g. vending machines on street corners and outside public toilets. But be damned if you can find some normal water (i.e. not carbonated and not mineral)!! Apparently it isn't consumed much in Germany (or at least the cities we've visited), because no-one seems to sell it!! And when you do manage to
find some, it comes in glass bottles with non-twist tops - we don't carry a bottle opener around, so it's been fun just trying to pry them open!!
So, back on the train again Saturday morning, heading to Berlin...or at least that's what we thought. We had found ourselves a little cabin and got comfortable. After about half an hour, Georgia started to think something was wrong - the train to Berlin was supposed to run direct, with no stops. But the train we were on was stopping... A female conductor was walking passed, so I asked her, "is this train going to Berlin?" She said "no, Vienna!" From the looks on our faces, she must've realised we were not happy to hear that!! She was very helpful and told us which station we needed to get off at to get a train to Berlin, as well as the departure times of those trains. So, we got off at Děčín station (in the Czech Republic) and hang around for the 2pm train, which would take us back to Dresden and finally onto Berlin. There was a little restaurant in the station, so we were able to get a feed and
use some wifi. Managed to communicate with the nice young man at the counter in a mix of German and English. Thankfully, they also accepted payment with Euros, otherwise we would've gone hungry!!
Well, it just got better and better for us...Deutsche Bahn (German railway company) employees decided to go on strike, so while we were able to get back to Dresden, there would be no train running onto Berlin. Our options were to either endure a long bus trip (6 to 10 hours) or stay another night in Dresden. But before we even made it to Dresden, there was some (unknown) drama on the train and one of the conductors started yelling (in German), then pulled the emergency brake. Not sure what it was all about, but they opened the cupboard above the emergency brake lever and reset it, then we were back on our way. Quite unnerving when there appears to be an emergency in a country where they don't speak English - just have to guess what is going on and hope for the best!! Anyway, finally back in Dresden, we followed the crowd to the bus for Berlin - it was a bit chaotic! We managed
to get on the first bus, departing at 3pm, otherwise we would've had to wait around until 4pm. We also helped a young Brazilian traveller to interpret the fiasco - she had paid for a train ticket to Berlin and didn't understand the German conductor explaining about the strike. She followed us from the train to the bus and even reserved a couple of seats for us up top (because she had got on before us). There were a few other travellers on our bus that were speaking Portuguese and she started chatting with them - turns out they were Brazilian as well!
After a crazy, stressful day, all our woes melted away upon news that our big sister had safely delivered her first child, our nephew and newest addition to the family - we are now officially aunties!! 😊 😊 😊
Also, we got into Berlin much earlier than expected - it took just over 2 hours on the bus. Maybe we had misunderstood the conductor earlier, when she said 6 to 10 - perhaps that was arrival time, not travel time. Either way, it looks like our fortunes have greatly improved!!
So, we only have two more nights
together - on Monday I start making my way home (via Rome) and Georgia heads off on the next part of her travels. Time has really flown this last week!! London and Ireland feel like a lifetime ago - we've been to so many places, seen so many things and spent a whole lot of money since then! Mostly though, we've had a heap of fun and laughter (sometimes just from being deliriously exhausted) on this unforgettable journey. It's been very special to share it all with my baby sister 😊
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