Treading gingerly...: Merlin's Beard, I'm in Berlin!!

Excursions, trips, vacations, journeys, picnics, and any other synonym of the word 'adventure' always make me super excited and super nervous. It's like eating schokolade. (notice my newly found proficiency in German!) You love it so much that it excites you while eating, but it also makes you super nervous while thinking of its effect on your health. The night before I left for Berlin, I was in a similar state of mind. I could not get myself to start packing till one of my friends from Chicago asked me how many hours till I leave and I replied, "Omg 3 hours! Shit, gotta start packing!!" :-P And, boy, do I pack fast!

I'm sure all of you must be aware of the infamous rail service in Europe and how people can "country hop" in amazingly speedy trains. The Eurorail or Eurail has received much publicity even through movies but when you try to book a ticket from one corner of Germany to another and it costs you 130 Euros one way, you lose all faith in them! So, I did some scouting around for the best deals to travel in Germany, German style. Inside secret, I have a knack for spotting good deals. For everything. I memorized two words that my Tuebingen flatmate told me: "mit fahr" and googled it later. Mit Fahr literally translates from German to read "with travel". It is a special kind of car pooling service where people who travel on long distance road trips, offer the empty seats in their car to some other people who want to make the same trip on the same day in exchange for cash which mostly covers a portion of the gas price. It is not really reliable in terms of urgency, but if there is a car listed going to the same place as you and on the day you want to, it could work out - as it did for me. Now you understand my nervousness before the trip, don't you? I didn't know what to expect. I had a train already in mind and had a back up option planned out in case the person who was driving turned out to be a nasty looking dodgy person. That is very important though, chalking out a plan B while using mit fahr.

Random German countryside I

Random German countryside II

Yay! Berlin!

As it turns out, I was lucky. My driver was actually a German family man who was driving with his wife and 3 kids to Berlin in a big van. He had 3 empty seats at the back and could find only me and one other student to fill em so it was a comfortable ride for the 700 odd kms that we traveled. Germans are really nice people. People misunderstand their blunt, direct nature by calling it rude. I call it, "to the point." Considering it is even safe to walk on German streets at absurd hours like 2am and 3am, I am definitely planning on using mit fahr more often this summer. Imagine such a service existing back in your own countries. Any chance of it working safely? :-P

So, I remember this distinctly: 2.5 hours later, we had 440 kms to reach Berlin. Between sleeping and eating the sandwiches that I had packed, I was able to get a few pictures of the countryside. In case you haven't figured out already, you can click on the pictures to view them enlarged. Destination Potsdam - 24 kms southwest of the city of Berlin. Potsdam, is a small town with a rich historic significance. To the bottom left you see the Hauptbahnhof or the Main Train Station of Potsdam and on the right the city center of East Berlin - Alexanderplatz. Notice the very famous TV tower of Berlin in the back. Over the last two days since my arrival, I have been going to Alexanderplatz quite often.

Potsdam Central Station

Alexanderplatz Train Station

Ah! Berlin. Phonetically, Berrleen. Just so many things about this city have already caught my attention. Nummer 1, it is a city!!
Nummer 2, when a Berlin local says, "I'm a Berliner" to a German outside of Berlin, he is actually saying "I'm a donut." This is because Germans outside of Berlin call a particular kind of donut as the Berliner. That donut is known by a different name in Berlin!
Nummer 3, little pieces of the famous Berlin Wall are sold as fridge magnet souvenirs - trust their credibility at your own risk.
Nummer 4, American football in German is called football. Soccer in German is called foossball. Foosball in German is called fooskicker.
Nummer 5, they have many gardens.They have more than twice that number of beer gardens. Beer Gardens are random gardens with shacks that sell different kinds of beer to people who come there to hang out and drink beer. A typical beer garden is below. It looks empty cuz it was actually raining at the time the

A typical beer garden

Call-A-Bike service

picture was taken. I'm sure no one wants raindrops in their beer.
Nummer 6, when non-German speaking 20 something year old research interns find themselves lost in Deutschland for 3 months, they turn into friends for life within 48 hours of meeting each other. True story.
Nummer 7, Germans love their bread, their beer, their cars, their parks, their trains, their meat, their science, their language and some more things that I'll find out soon.
Nummer 8, my host has traveled 35 countries in the world and still counting.
Nummer 9, the public transport is so advanced that they offer "Call a bike" services where you can rent out bicycles for specific periods of time. Isn't that super convenient? And Expensive! :-P
Nummer 10, when you touch the stones of the holocaust memorial, the Berlin wall, the Bundestag and other monuments that have lived through time, you are in fact, touching history. It is an enthralling moment that no words can describe.
Nummer 11, your servers in a restaurant will look at you funnily if you ask for water as your accompanying drink with your meal.
Nummer 12, traditionally, Germans drink soda water or fizzed water in stead of plain water everyday.
Nummer 13, Berlin has a Canadian Pizza place whom my Canadian friends plan to sue, just cuz there is no such thing as Canadian pizza in Canada. It's just normal pizza. :-P
Nummer 14, Ping pong tables in the park are made of stone fixed to the ground and men carry their hot dog restaurant with them on their backs called as "grill walker".
Nummer 15, everyone is surprised I speak such good English and I'm amazed at their surprise!

Now for some pictures:
The formatting is messed up, I apologize. I don't know know how to work around it, any help will be highly appreciated! :-)