Day One:
I survived day one!!! It's been tiring and stressful but so SO exciting and ultimately just the best taste of what's to come. Upon touch down in Schonefeld airport, I took myself off to the attached train station, asking for directions along the way. The ticket machine gave me heart palpitations. You would have thought being able to select your own language preference would make these things a bit easier but it was still quite confusing, even with my previous research. So I took myself off to the platform with my ABC zone Einzelfahrscheine in hand, except it was the wrong platform. That was pretty clear by the fact that I was the only person stood there and half of the other passengers on my flight were stood across from me on the *correct* platform. I didn't realise the train that had been stood there for a good 20 minutes was, in fact, my train because I expected it to simply pull up at 11:03, as scheduled, and swiftly depart.
I could finally breathe a slight sigh of relief on my way into the centre, when I was so excited by all of the graffiti that decorated the journey and my first sight of the Fernsehturm and Alexanderplatz, which was completely overwhelming in the best kind of way. I got off at the Berlin Hauptbahnhof and accidentally bought twice as many train tickets as I needed (god damn ticket machines) and I had printed off the wrong information about where to get the connecting bus to my hostel, Wallyard Concept Hostel. Soooo by this point, I had made MANY mistakes!
I knew that the walk would take approximately 25 minutes but factoring in my initial wait for a bus that would never come, getting lost and stopping to take the odd photo, it took a lot longer. I was very proud when I finally turned the corner and spotted the hostel. My first impressions of the place are really good. The staff are very attentive and the whole decor is very 'Instagram' and completely lives up to the standard of the images online. The dorm rooms themselves look a bit like prison cells but it's all very clean so I can't complain. My research obviously wasn't quite extensive enough because I was informed on arrival that this was Berlin Fashion Week, something I definitely should have already known as a fashion student! I couldn't check-in to my room yet so I quickly changed into something lighter because it is HOT here and headed out...
I loved being able to set off with a general aim of where to go and what to see but no time restrictions to stop me from just taking in all of my surroundings and completely absorbing it. In the space of half a day, I've wandered around the Reichstag, Brandenburg Tor, Unter den Linden, Bellevue Schloss and Museuminsel. My first meal in Berlin was (naturally) Currywurst and chips, served by two men at a street food stall who apparently had a lot to say about the UK's exit from the EU - awks. They made me feel like I alone was responsible for the state of the UK's sorry political state!
Even though a member of staff at the hostel recommended catching a certain train back, I decided (maybe a bit stupidly, given the blisters on my feet) to walk through die Strasse des 17 Juni which was open only to pedestrians and cyclists today due to a festival/fair in the Bundestag area. It was a really lovely walk all the same and I was happy to stumble across the Bellevue Schloss in the process. Finally back at my hostel, I made my bed and unpacked the contents of my rucksack into my locker and while I did have every intention of going back out to explore the East Side Gallery that evening, my poor little feet and my tired little head could absolutely NOT handle that.
I'll be regularly posting new photos on Instagram and Snapchat so go take a look!
Day two:
By far the biggest highlight of my day has been getting to grips with the transport in Berlin. I've tackled the underground with a lot of determination (which was 100% needed in order to not cry at getting hopelessly lost underground) and the public transport here is just as famously efficient as I expected, if not more. I intend to buy daily use transport tickets which give me unlimited use of any trains, trams and buses in the centre of the city as this gives me the freedom to get a little bit lost and know that I will eventually be able to find my way back!
I've seen the Topography of Terrors which was really useful to visit as I honestly haven't known much about Berlin's history post-war up until today. I'd definitely suggest going to see some of the main sights i.e the Reichstag, Brandenburg gate and Unter den Linden before coming here as you gain a lot more perspective from the photographs on display. What took place in this city really astounds me. I briefly passed through the holocaust memorial before heading to the Reichstag for a tour of the dome. You have to book this in advance, either online or on-site for a later date, but it is free to visit and 100% worth it for the views and cool walk up the spiral ramp that takes you right to the top of the dome.
I stupidly didn't have much of a plan about where to go for lunch today, so in a state of major hangriness I had to opt for a quick stop at a takeaway where I had some pretty good Vietnamese noodles before hopping on the S-Bahn to see the East Side Gallery. It was incredible and again, really put into perspective the events that took place here such a scarily short time ago. I had a bit of a disaster getting back to the centre of the city from here but I did eventually make it, stressed out of my mind by the U-Bahn/S-Bahn/tram/bus system. I went to Checkpoint Charlie from there and was left a little underwhelmed by it if I'm honest. It was very commercialised with little information on its history and it was really overcrowded by pedestrians and cars.
The sun hadn't set yet and my feet weren't COMPLETELY falling off yet so I decided to take a bit of a detour on the way back to my hostel and head to the Großer Tiergarten. I love how active everyone seems to be in this city. Cycling is a big thing here and it was nice to see so many people making use of such a huge space of trees and lakes and forest paths. It's my last day in Berlin tomorrow which is crazy because I still can't completely believe I'm here and having this amazing experience at all! With a whole month in front of me, I am so excited for what lies ahead.
Day three:
My final day in Berlin has been a bit more chilled out (meaning I walked 11.5km rather than 15, like my first two days here) as my feet are aching and I'd pretty much exhausted my list of must-sees in Berlin.
I had deliberated a lot about whether to visit the Charlottenburg Schloss as I knew it is currently being renovated on the outside and I didn't really have much of a desire to look around inside anyway. In the end though, since my day-pass meant unlimited transport, I thought I better had to avoid any regrets. The building was pretty but I definitely would have appreciated it more without the scaffolding - oh well, bad timing! And the gardens were lovely to walk around all the same, although I didn't make the most of it since my feet are aching so much.
I then headed back over to the museum Island for a second visit, stopping on the way to eat THE BIGGEST BURGER AND CHIPS EVER. I've found filling up at lunch time and eating a snack in the evening has been the best way to keep the costs down and keep myself fuelled with energy all day. I brought a sketchbook with me as I'm intending to draw the buildings around me at every place I go. I did Fine Art at college but found that my style is much more suited to portraiture rather than architecture but I want to break out of my boundaries a bit more in that sense, since I'm already completely out of my comfort zone anyway just being here at all. So I sat and drew the Berlin Cathedral before going inside to have a look around when the weather became overcast and a bit cold. Then I sat out in the sun and read my kindle like an old lady before returning back to my hostel to pack up my oh-so heavy rucksack to go to Prague tomorrow!
I'm quite nervous catching the right train tomorrow and about what to do once I've arrived in Prague as I need to decipher the tram system to get me across the city, heavy rucksack in tow. I hope Prague lives up to the very high expectations I've set for it!
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