Berlin

Yesterday, I awoke later than I wanted but I figured it was ok. With thoughts in mind of visiting Sachsenhausen, a concentration camp north of the city and of my fantasy baseball draft that evening I headed out without breakfast.

I headed down to Turmstraße station where i hopped on the U-Bahn (subway in Berlin) and soon found out after reaching Freidrichstraußen station that the train heading north was not going the entire way, which canceled my plans of going to Sauchsenhaußen. A bit disappointed I headed in the opposite direction toward Potsdam and made the hour long journey on the train.

I was only in Potsdam for about 90 minutes as it was a bit blowey and the city didn't offer what I had been hoping for. I left and headed back toward Berlin, having wasted about half my day on the train already, I headed back to Freidrichstraßen and then to the same Starbucks to find out if they had internet that I could use to do my baseball draft with my friends back in Indianapolis. I found out that to use the WiFi in Starbucks or to use any WiFi in Germany it cost about 8 Euro an hour. Crazy!

Needless to stay I didn't pay it and left after about 90 minutes of sitting and sipping AMERICAN coffee, something Italians did not get.

Now, I didn't waste my day as most of the trains in Berlin are above ground, so I was able to see alot of the city even though I did quite a bit less walking than the previous day.

I made my way back toward my hostel and then chilled there for a tick or two before heading to an internet cafe I had used the day before. I checked in, paid for two hours (1 Euro per hour) and prepared for the draft. After a few minutes I checked into the chat room on our Web site and proceeded to be taken aback by the result of the draft that laid out before me. However, after 3 hours and a 1/2 departure of my finger nails, I was pretty happy with what had taken place.

At this time you are asking yourself: Why in the world was Nathan in Berlin, Germany worrying about his fantasy baseball team? Well to answer; hmmm there is no way to answer a question like that, I think you would just have to understand the dedication and more specifically the guys in our league. They are some of my best friends and it is really a good time.

Anyhow, I left and headed to a bar next door to my hostel, where I asked the bartender for a menu. And then I asked him slower for "Food" and "Menu." To which he said, "Beer?" It was as if an earthquake was building within my insides. I had to try so hard not to laugh and instead of laughing said, "Yes." He had no idea what I wanted even though there were food specials in English on the outside of the pub.

After that I grabbed a burger and fries and headed back to my hostel. It was then that i met 4 gay guys staying in my hostel who were finishing dinner before going out to a club, dressed as, well, something I wouldn't go out in. But they were nice and they soon left me to eat my burger with the tenant of the hostel. We talked for a bit before I gave him my key due to my early check out this morning, and went to bed for the night.

This morning I made my way to Zoologischer Stad? to catch the S9 train to Berlin-Schoenfeld? I met two English guys there arguing about what to do because of the lack of S9 trains that morning. I told them about another thing they could have done but instead they stayed and waited the 45 minutes I had to wait for the next trip to Schoenfeld.

My trip to Berlin was short but amazing. It was my favorite European city so far and has many things for everyone. It is incredibly modern, yet has a vast amount of history. It is also inexpensive and best of all everyone is friendly. I hope to go back one day.