Day 8 Con't and Day 9- Ich Bin Berliner

Disclaimer: I'm operating with limited bandwith at this hotel, so no pictures in this post, sorry.

So last time we chatted I was headed for a train to Berlin. Claudio and I got dropped off at the station and had an hour to kill, so we went shopping. He got a couple beers, I only got one. Tell Bier. Named after Swiss hero Wilhem Tell, the guy that shot an apple off his son's head. A beer named after the national hero, how can that go bad?

Well for one, it was only half the price of one of his beers, and two, it was none too cold. So we get on our train, and I see our sleep room first hand. For those of you unfamiliar, a sleep room is a medium sized closet with with six two by five foot slightly padded benches that Claudio assured me were beds. They stack above each other, three to a side. Our room was full, and it was ok at first, since they can fold into something approximating a couch when no one's sleeping.

In a real life case of forshadowing, the Tell Bier was horrible, absolutely awful. It left a horrible taste in my mouth. Claudio and I decided to go to the Food Wagon part of the train instead of hanging out with some older German speaking people. We make our way to the overcrowded car and order a couple Franziskaner Hefeweisses. Now, I've had these in the states, and they're amazing, just the thing to brighten up the trip.

Of course the train lurches and I spill some on Claudio, but there's plenty to go around. We stand for about ten minutes, drinking our beer, me watching for people leaving their table like a vulture watching a dying water buffalo. Finally, as slowly as a dying water buffalo, an older gentleman vacates his table. I'm sitting at it not three seconds after he gets up. Shame is a luxury I cannot afford.

Claudio has ordered us a couple sandwiches, explaining that "You don't have to be hungry to eat." I'm starting to see why he came to America. We enjoy our sandwiches and beer, and the absolute pitch blackness outside the window for a couple hours. We head back to the sleep closet about midnight, only slightly tipsy.

Claudio and I have the middle bunks, which means we wedge ourselves between the other two people on our sides. I managed to get up there despite someone having put a bag in my bed, and I didn't even step on anyone, though I was tempted. I found that I sort of fit if I scrunched up just right. Too far one way and my knees would hit the far wall, too far the other and a diabolically located metal nub poked me in the head. Also, Claudio snores.

At one point in the night the guy above me dropped his hand down and it fell on my knee. I'm telling myself it was an accident. About 2 in the morning a train official came in and turned on the lights. He would have woken me up had I been able to get to sleep. The guy who'd nearly groped me apparently had showed up a week early, and so technically didn't have a ticket for the train. Fun.

But like all good things, this too ended. We arrived in Berlin at 8 in the morning. I asked Claudio where our hotel was. "I dunno" was my answer. We eventually found it and dropped off our very heavy bags. We had a tour booked but it didn't start until 10. We started walking, Claudio wouldn't tell me where we were going. It turns out we were going to the embassies, and the big famous gate with the horse drawn chariot and the pillars. The Russian embassy is HUGE, some 4 times larger than the U.S. one. This is not fair.

We got on the bus that toured the city, and listened to the recorded tour for two hours. It wasn't too bad, except for the timing, which was occasionally off. On the second circuit, we got off in the shopping district, and had some lunch. I got the large weinerschitzel, and it was. Large. Probably 13 inches long by 6-8 wide. It came with a small salad and some potato salad. Whoever said portion sizes are smaller in Europe obviously never at here.

We walked for a while and came to the Ka De We which is the world's biggest whatever it was. It was not a mall, though parts of it seemed like one. It wasn't a grocery store, though you would be hardpressed to explain why. The first floor is perfumes, the second men's clothes, the third women's the fourth shoes, the fifth toys, but the sixth...

The sixth floor was the closest thing to God's pantry that we have here on earth. There were some four hundred types of bread, thousands of sausages and cheeses, candies from the world 'round, tea in more flavors than I have numbers for. The dessert counters would make women weep and strong men cry. The only thing stopping me from buying one or two or six slices of the most heavenly looking of desserts was the three pounds of schnitzel in my gut. Claudio found Mt Dew, and was happy as a clam. I just soaked in the various smells and sights, and nearly swooned.

We left, eventually, and caught our bus after missing it only twice in a row. Not bad, all things considered. We then went to Checkpoint Charlie for a bit, one of the points where you could pass from the east to the west during the great divide. Then it was back to the hotel, we're both pooped. Tonight we'll have some dinner and a few beers, and that's about it. Tomorrow we'll visit Museum Island, which promises to be fun.

Until next time, Tschuss!

-Chase