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Published: August 5th 2010
On the night train to Berlin
I had already started on my Jura single malt at this point and recovered from the sparrowepisode.It's lovely here in Berlin. Sunny and warm and I'm staying in a hostel in a nice part of town on Pappelallee Strasse (something makes me thinks of ukuleles with that name). I just had a nap because the hardships of travel and beer drinking overtook me. The train ride from London to Paris and then night train from Paris to Berlin were all straight forward and on the whole most pleasurable. I had my own cabin on the night train which is a bit luxurious but a very good thing because things can get complicated when sharing, though I've had some very good sharing experiences too. As we pulled out of Paris I pulled out my hipflask and the Jura Single Malt made everything feel pretty damn fine. I also had some salt & vinegar crisps and some cherries. The crisps had only just survived a fullscale assault from land and air by the gritty little sparrows of Paris Est station. I'd foolishly opened my crisps whilst waiting for my train and within seconds was surrounded by the beady-eyed birdies with their razor sharp beaks after my crisps. Flailing my limbs at them did nothing to scare them off, one
even landed on my knee. I shrieked out and that's when the air-strikes began. With military precision they dived at me from the vantage point of the vending machine. I calmly put away my crisps and walked away from the scene, never once looking back. It was I who had the bag of crisps and the bitterness of their birdsong rang around the station for some time after I left.
I slept sporadically on the train and at about 7 in the morning braved the train shower. It was actually quite fine though twice I was thrown across the cubical as the trained surged around a corner, there was no bruising to speak of. It was lucky I had a shower because I couldn't check in until 3pm to my hostel. That would have been too long a time to feel skanky.
So I was ousted from the train at Spandau (for some reason the ticket to Hautbahnhof was about 50 quid more expenses, so for the sake of a 15 minute train ride I thought it better to get out there). At that point I knew I'd need a ticket for transport and it was a proud
Leleland, Berlin
The ukulele shop in Berlin... Just browsing! moment when I asked all in German for a Tourist-Get-Lost ticket which means that I can travel on anything for 3 days in Berlin for a mere 20 Euro. I say Tourist-Get-Lost because it's a nice ticket which means you can go anywhere, get completely lost and just jump on a bus, tram or train to get back and nobody will even know. This is where solo travelling is so great, getting lost is no big deal because you don't have to explain yourself or accuse anyone, it just happens and you sort it out and some of the most interesting occurences happen when lost. I have no examples to give at this point but will let you know as soon as any arise.
Nearly always I have this special moment of feeling complete freedom when I arrive in a new place, it's just when I've shed my backpack and I leave the accommodation with just my little bag and little uke feeling light as a feather and stroll wherever I want until I achieve total exhaustion. Quite often I head up the nearest hill, but Berlin isn't so good for hills so instead I headed for the ugly
Modern buildings...
I've no idea what they are, but liked the look of them. Tower of the Pierced Baubel in Alexanderplatz. Alexanderplatz isn't very pleasant but the walk there was, through quiet wide open streets full of happy cyclists, organic bistros, nurseries (there's an abundance of babies around these parts it seems) and an air of contentment that made me feel just right. I walked all the way to the museum bit, which I felt was necessary as its all highlighted excitingly in the freebie tourist map but I didn't really go in any as it was sunny and museums tend to shut out the sun. After a couple of hours walking I felt hungry and decided to head back to Pappelallee Str. as I'd seen some nice looking eateries. Sure enough I found a nice spot beneath a Wysteria (I think I inadvertantly ate some wysteria as it kept falling in my salad - tasted ok if I did though). This was my second opportunity to try out my excellent German (I have had no formal tuition but have found it usually works to speak English and add little Germanic sounding syllables onto words.) I was so successful in ordering a linguini and beer that the waitress told me a whole story in German and I managed to nod sagely, chuckle vacantly and shake my head gravely at the appropriate moments so she kept on at me for some time. I developed this technique in Prague when I lived there. The other part is knowing how to avoid having to respond in more than a gesture. That can be tricky and I usually resort to distraction tactics such as falling off my seat, weeping uncontrollably or in severe cases jumping into a nearby source of water.
Well I've had a nap and so now I shall head off into town with no real idea of where or why but a vague hope that a glass of beer will be waiting for me somewhere.
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Patsy
non-member comment
Nice....
Love the sparrow confrontation! Nice to hear about your travels. Keep it up!