Berlout
Historically, Berlin has not been the easiest city to get out of, and it seems this holds true in modern times.
On the day of our departure, Guy and I spent the day pursuing the museums of "museum island", enjoying some art as well as various ancient historical objects. Usual museum suspects. I'll admit that my stamina was particularly low that day as the previous night had been our exploration of Berlin's famous techno scene. I spent much of the day fantasizing about chilling out on the train, and the comfy bed that awaited me at the other end of it. At around five, we managed our last long trek through (bitterly cold) Berlin, at long last reaching the pearly gates of the central station.
By the time we collapsed into our seats on the train, my feet were aching (thanks Dr. Marten) and I was ready to sit still for the six hour ride. Guy and I settled in to watch some Avatar: The Last Airbender (no judgement, it's a timeless classic), and I was feeling happy about finally being warm and still. It was about 30 minutes into the ride (one Avatar: The Last Airbender episode) when I started to suspect something wasn't quite right.
Now, for all my life I have been fed the stereotype that Germans are extremely efficient and timely with their everyday functions, so I (stupidly) assumed this also applied to their transit system. To be honest, I had been seeing memes about the unreliability of the Deutsche Bahn in the days prior to our trip, but I let my (unfounded) notions of German efficiency lull me into a state of ignorant bliss.
Bliss only lasted these 30 minutes as I previously mentioned. Then began the announcements. My comprehension of the German language is nonexistent, but I could understand the map that they displayed, showing our course being redirected, and adding an additional two hours to our trip. This would have been just a minor annoyance in the best of times, but in this case, that meant we would miss our connection, the last train, into the Netherlands of the night.
It was at this moment that my simple, American, sleep deprived brain went into overdrive. We would be stuck on the train for at least another two hours, but then after that who knows. Both me and Guy began desperately searching for an alternative way to get out of Germany, but to no avail. I began mentally preparing to spend the night on the floor of the train station.
At a certain point we asked the conductor to explain what the hell was going on. He politely told us that our best option was to get off at the next stop, and look for a hotel there.
In the U.S, I believe if Amtrak is delayed, they leave it up to you to find accommodations, and then figure out possible reimbursement after the fact. Lucky for us, we were not in the US. In fact, had I known how easy it would be to find an alternative solution to travel, I would have reduced my freak-out to nearly none (as it was, I took a bit of my frustrations out on Guy... my bad). All we had to do was walk to the information booth in the train station, show them our ticket, and then they handed us a voucher for the hotel across the street. Amazing.
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| Cozy! |
Guy went down to the desk to ask for another pillow and blanket, which was unsuccessful (something about a language barrier). He went down three more times, eventually utilizing the word "bedeck" (Guy pronunciation: bed-deck) which resulted in the Germans laughing at him, but also, eventually, another "bedeck" and pillow.
After quite a good deal of hysterical laughing, I had what was quite possibly the best night of sleep in my life. The next day, after free hotel breakfast, we were on our way again, and home by the afternoon. I'll be honest, the whole experience put me off of Germany a bit. I don't think I'll be returning anytime soon. Maybe next trip somewhere warmer...
You are so funny!💕
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