Snooze: Berlin Edition #HogsAbroad in Europe

The flight to Berlin was wonderfully easy and quick, but upon arrival things began to change. My plane-mates and I took a bus from the plan to the terminal, where we waited patiently for our bags. I think I won the award for longest wait time, because I waited until the next plane’s luggage had gone through the conveyor belt. My luggage was gone, lost, vanished.

Most inconveniently, this airport was fairly run-down, with little help and even less signs. After asking two people, I found the baggage help center, where I discovered that the differences between a baggage help center and any DMV you’ve ever been to are pretty minimal.

Through it all, I wasn’t worried. I was frustrated, but never worried. It really is a peace that passes all understanding, I guess; I’m so grateful for it.

After waiting in line for forty five minutes, I was greeted by an attitudinous but helpful lady, who asked me random questions and had me write personal details down on a post-it note. She told me to call the office at 9.

So I left, a fresh pretzel in one hand and my backpack slung over the opposite shoulder, crossing my fingers that the airport would have the bag at 9. I took a bus ride (on which I nearly missed my stop) and then had a long ride on the metro to get to my hostel- Grand Hostel Berlin.
It was grand alright, but the problem with the hostel was the fact that it was the only grand building on the block. You see, the Grand Hostel isn’t in the best part of town, and walking up to it didn’t give the greatest first impression. The inside completely changed my mind.

Wooden floors and walls, beautiful staircases, a neat board with advertisements for hostel events pinned everywhere. I went to the front desk, where I got my key and inquired about good places to eat dinner before heading up to my room. Upstairs, I met a young guy named Chris, who teaches English in South Korea and who travels during his time off. We had a neat conversation about traveling and world missions. He told me about a light show happening at the Reichstag, the principal German government building, and I told him I would check it out.

Julio, my old RA from the university last year, was in Berlin at the same time, so we met up for pizza (by candlelight; for a hip pizza place, it was more romantic than we anticipated) and then went to the Reichstag for the light show. On the way there, I called the baggage office at the airport- they were closed.

Before we got to the light show, we stopped off for some pictures.

The show was beautiful, centered around a documentary of Germany through the two world wars and onward. We got to sit in a huge crowd of people along the riverside, and take pictures with the Reichstag after it was over.

Once the show was finished, Julio went off to his AirBnB and I planned on calling an Uber to get back to the hostel; so began the scariest night of my entire life.

Looking at my phone, I realized I only had 8% of battery life left, and the Uber app coincidentally told me there were none available. I could’ve called a taxi, but they were few and far between because of the huge crowd, and I didn’t have any cash on me. I was nearly two miles from the Hostel, and it was around 10:30. I decided I would walk it- after all, we had walked there and it was fine, right?

Wrong. It was fine for the first half mile or so, because I followed the crowd and walked into the main part of Berlin, but after a while the crowds died down and so did the city lights. After hearing Mom and Dad’s fervent warnings of “being careful” and “making smart decisions” playing in my head, I decided that walking through the deep, dark Berlin at 11:00 wasn’t the best choice.

So I made a plan: go to train stations, and try to find either an ATM or a route to get home. For the first time since I’d been there, I couldn’t find an ATM for the life of me. What’s worse was that the train routes were either extremely German or went nowhere near the hostel (sketchy, distant part of town, remember?). I ran and I ran, trying to find any sort of thing that could help, but it was dark and getting later.

Finally, out of sheer despair with 3% batter left, I checked Uber one last time, and praise the Lord, I found a driver. But the night wasn’t over. The driver’s navigation system failed mid-drive, which meant he was effectively lost. He took me through a 3-kilometer tunnel and then turned around, and then I was effectively lost as well. I was terrified: this man knew I was a tourist and that I didn’t know Berlin, and he was taking me across town to a place I didn’t know. Luckily, he was trustworthy and dropped me off 30 minutes later (I was a mile and a half from the hostel when he picked me up.)

When I got back, I found my suitcase right next to the bed. Needless to say, I fell straight asleep.
I woke up early the next morning to start the adventure, and this day was a turnaround. It was Sunday, which means most shops were closed, but I managed to find a cute bakery for my first breakfast and a McDonald’s to supplement that breakfast (I get a little hungry in the morning, okay?). My first stop was the old SS headquarters, now a pile of rubble, and then Checkpoint Charlie, the American crossing into West Berlin.

Checkpoint Charlie was very cool, with the original checkpoint still standing and a sign, English on one side and Russian on the other, standing next to it. Nearby was the line on which the Berlin Wall used to stand.

I then continued walking and saw a beautiful church and concert hall, an old university, statues and beautiful gardens. I somehow stumbled into the parking lot of a Mercedes-Benz racing club, too. By 9 AM, I had walked three miles.

I continued that trek onto the Brandenburg gate, where I met up with Julio once again. We saw the gate in all its beauty, the American Embassy, the Reichstag in daylight, and the memorial to the Jews killed in the Holocaust. All of it was beautiful and deeply historical- right up my alley.

We then went to Museum Island, where the Berlin Cathedral and multiple museums housed in Greek and Roman style buildings were located. The cathedral was stunning (especially the view from the top) and the museums were extremely interesting.

The first museum was modern art and antiquated sculpture, neither of which I’m very interested in but I wanted to feel like I was a part of the culture. Most of it was incredibly intricate and detailed. The second was phenomenal: ancient near east architecture and remnants, like the Ashur Gate into Babylon, a Roman marketplace, giant statues, and animals carved out of boulders. The top floor was centered on the Middle East, so the rugs and jars and artwork served to highten my anticipation for Morocco.

And the view from the top of the Cathedral was well worth the climb.
We left the island and ate at an Italian restaurant owned and run entirely, and ironically, by Turks. Pizzas in Germany are huge, delicious, and cheap, so that’s what I ordered. Julio had some other food and a beer, and after he let me try it, I decided it was the very first beer I’d ever liked (I still prefer water.)

Julio left and I continued on towards a giant fair on the other side of town that we had seen earlier that day. Unknowingly, I walked into a huge environment fest, streets lined with tables of farmers, ocean-savers, organic-lovers, and save-the-environment-ers. It was busy and fun and interesting to watch.

Afterwards, I began to head towards the spy museum I had heard so much about and really enjoyed walking through a century’s worth of spy history, reading stories and watching videos when I wasn’t taking pictures of spy equipment. The museum was more about spy technology, and where that technology was going, which was very interesting- everything was extremely high tech. In fact, at one point, I stood in a simulator that would read all of my movements and allow me to choose different options based on my movements.

I left the museum and decided that 9 hours of walking had been a full day- over twelve miles- so I began to head for the hostel. I picked up a snack from KFC on the way (it’s much better across the pond) and walked while eating delicious chicken nuggets.

On the way to the hostel, I found a very neat outdoor museum called the Topography of Terror, which outlined the history of Germany after the Great War, all the way up through revolution and freedom from Soviet occupation of East Berlin. There was at least 100 meters of the wall still intact, and there was plenty of material to read- I loved it.

I walked back, completely exhausted but overjoyed at the incredible day. A short pack, a few phone calls, and some conversation with new hostel friends later, I was asleep.

I woke up at 3:30 AM for that same metro ride and bus drive from a few days before. Despite having another disappointing experience with Berlin’s airports (do they only hire people who are already frustrated when they come to work?) I flew off for Budapest.

Berlin was a success.
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Follow Hunter as he studies business in Germany at https://heartoverseas.wordpress.com/
For more internship and study abroad opportunities within Walton College, visit http://walton.uark.edu/global/index.ph