From Ireland to Austria Series: Oh Hello There, Stranger
This is from a series originally posted on my original blog: Seefahrer Thayer. While I don't recommend it, you can view the original posts here. Because the content had value and useful tips I've decided to repost them here, however, they've since been heavily edited and updated.
Yeah, I've obviously been doing a terrible job of keeping everyone updated. So, after receiving several messages asking if I was still alive I figured I should post something so everyone can rest assured that I am in fact: okay.
So I left from Amsterdam to Hannover, a little shopping town, and found a really nice (and clean) hostel. I walked around with a fellow traveler, Sam, for a bit, got some food and called it an early night. The next morning I woke up, did some shopping and touring on foot, got some new shoes and clothes.
I kept eyeing this massive church the day before, so I decided to go in to check it out. It's this huge, plain brick church, and I just new the inside had to be awesome. It was. Standing inside I just felt so small.
Finding a cup of coffee before 10:00 AM is impossible on a Sunday in Hannover... it's not possible.
It was nice being in Germany where I can actually speak some of the language... like ask for help and the bathroom, and whatnot.
Next I headed to Berlin... which was a bit of a mess. I'd always heard the DB was efficient and fantastic... yeah okay. I got to Berlin an hour late. It had something to do with the flooding in the South. We had to pick up all the passengers from another train, and most of us were sitting on the floor, or on our bags (or both). It was a disaster.
So I get to Berlin and Theresa's there waiting for me! We go to a market and get Kaffee and Kuchen (coffee and cake). Sehr gut! (Very good!) We then went back to her flat to meet her roommates- Carl and Ruslan, who were both pretty cool guys.
Yesterday Carl took me around the city- I couldn't tell you any of the places we went other than the Tiergarten and to see parts of the Berlin wall, but everything was beautiful. Such a green city, with a rich and interesting history, and I had a fabulous tour guide to see it all. Everyone I've talked to has said I have to get currywurst (a Berlin delicacy) so he took me to get that before we met Theresa at work, then headed home.
Theresa made us some delicious scrambled eggs, and the three of us talked and drank German beer and visited until obscene hours in the morning. But it was really fantastic. Probably the most fun I've had since Belfast.
It's been really nice being able to practice my German. Touring the city and being able to speak to and learn from locals has vastly improved my pronunciation and confidence. Carl was nice enough to tolerate my incessant "was ist dass?" (what is that) and me treating him like a walking dictionary.
Jaaaaa sehr gut.
