Equador, Alcatraz and Commies

Published on Dec. 21, 2004 in Germany

 So we are in Berlin now, and we have taken many interesting roads since my last post. Let me fill you up to date... The morning we left Bern Fabbiene, Sabina, Stefi, Leoni, Casey and myself took a long stroll throughout the city. Overlooking parts of the lightly frosted houses created a sublime picturesque wonderland. My kids should grow up in Bern. After walking we hiked down near the river and had coffee at a little coffee shop. Now this is a how coffee shops should be ... big blue sofas with delux beverages. The coffee comes out with water, which makes sense since caffeine dehydrates you. After discussing the perplexities of Bern we meandered back to Fabienne's to get our bags. A few bottles of wine remained and we made our way to the station. At the station we bought our tickets and said our timely goodbye -- three kisses for each person. Concluding Bern was four beautiful and amazing females (all in relationships, but regardless) waving goodbye. Looking back over Bern one could almost see a glow of hospitality. From Sabina being gracious with her home, Sabrina doing our laundry (!!!), Fabienne and crew with the cheese fondue, Manual fixing my Swiss watch, Sabrina again fixing Casey's leg, many people buying us drinks when we didn't have any francs, Ric buying chestnuts for me to try and all with the warmest goodbyes -- there must be something in the water that brews kindess. I will be back! I would love to drink some more of that water! On the train Casey and I swapped stories of family adventures, and I'm pretty sure I fell asleep. We almost finished off our crummy bread and water that we had left outside to stay cool for three days. We arrived at the Basel train station and took bus 50 to the airport. Arriving a few hours early we found our way in line and waited for check-in. Security was lax, especially considering Casey almost accidently totally walked through the passport control. We arrived at our wing, which was 100% deserted, and I fell asleep. Awoken later by a big German sitting near me (the entire bench shook) we boarded the plan, in the rear, and left for Berlin. Arriving at Berlin a few hours later we picked up our luggage and headed towards the S-Baun. While waiting on line 9 the airport express left on line 7. We frantically ran around finding the next correct train, found the one we needed to take, and jumped on. While riding the train I saw a New Zealand patch and inquired where this particular couple was from. "Dresdin" -- perfect! We chatted for a few minutes, I got their email address (living in London and maybe can help us out finding a cheap*er hostel). We got off the stop in Berlin (East side, Shoenhauser Allee or something like that) yet here is where the fun starts. We walked for about half an hour on the right hand side of the tracks, where the numbers were getting larger. Unfortunately the hostel was on the other side, right next to the station -- so we had to walk half an hour back. Oops. The name of our hostel is Alcatraz. Oh crap. I don't think realism is something this hostel should have gone for, but it did. Behind a big wooden door and then through another semi-gate into a small room was the office where a tired German took only cash for our 12euro a night crappy dorm beds. But all is not lost! The rooms are quiet, the staff is decent, and there is a kitchen. We fell asleep quickly. In the morning we stumbled to a grocery store and came back. I made eggs and bacon bits in this bread thing. Decent, considering I have had very little cooked food so far. Well, we ate and then walked around for hours and hours. I showed Casey a few of the things I knew about while in Berlin last summer. Eventually we were freezing and got coffee, at Starbucks. Hush. I read a little about Berlin and Casey finished writing in his journal. To finish off our day in Berlin we talked to three girls from Equador. Low and behold, I ended up showing them a remaining part of the berlin wall, then we all went to dinner. Six hours later we said goodbye, and my head hurt from speaking so much bloody Spanish! I would continue more about our dinner, but I have one minute left before my price goes up more. So, our Equadorian friends: it was a pleasure getting to know you. To our notintrouble.com readers: it is a pleasure hopefully keeping you entertained! Adios!

Tagged As: Travel

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