Week 14-15
Easter Break: A Blind
Booking Gone Right
It was
our last opportunity for a big trip. Adriana, Lindsay and I had booked a blind
booking through Eurowings for Easter- and when we got Berlin I was bummed at
first. That was one of the first places I went this semester. However, when
Lindsay suggest I travel somewhere close to Berlin, I realized this was my
chance to see Prague and Dresden; two places I had been wanting to go all
semester.
I
initially planned to do it all myself, but Marcus also didn’t want to spend
four days in Berlin, so he decided to come with me to Dresden on Sunday. I was
going to land in Berlin on Friday afternoon, take a bus to Prague from Berlin
at 4 am Saturday, leave Prague for Dresden hostel Saturday night, and leave
Dresden for Berlin on Sunday night. My flight back to Cologne would land at
16:30 Monday afternoon.
Friday
After Lindsay, Adriana and I
landed, we took the bus into Berlin from the Tegel airport. While we waited for
the bus to leave, Adriana and I spotted a German sports team FULL of attractive
males. They spotted us eyeing them and all looked in our direction until a huge
bus pulled up and blocked our view. Once the bus left however, we caught a
glimpse of them again- still smiling and waving at us. Berlin welcomed us
nicely. After waving goodbye and flipping my hair, I told Adriana we needed to
research all sporting events taking place in Berlin that weekend.
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We got a
bit lost on the way to the hostel, (thanks to me) and had to go on a scavenger
hunt for the right tram. Last time I was in Berlin, our group was able to
bypass buying a single tram ticket for the entire weekend. So, of course, I
assumed Berlin was safe from that one occurrence. However, when Adriana and I
got two stops away from the station, a guy dressed in civilian clothes asked us
if we had any tickets. I played dumb and acted like we couldn’t find where to
buy tickets, and that we had just flown in from America (we still had all our
bags from the airport). He took our passports and luckily didn’t flip to our
German visas, and though he was supposed to give us each a 60 euro fine, he
waited until his partner was out of sight to let us pay for the tram ticket.
(The others were not so lucky later on)
Adriana
and I went to the hostel and I got some Vietnamese food as she worked on her
essay. Afterward, I wanted to take her to the delicious Korean restaurant we
found last time. We took the tram there and walked around afterward for a while
before going to the hostel. From the airport, to getting lost, to being in the
hostel, to being at dinner, and just spending hours with each other, we talked
quite a bit. I really enjoy talking to Adriana. I hope we stay friends.
We met
the others at the hotel to socialize a bit before going back home. I slept for
about an hour and a half with Adriana until I had to wake up at 3:20 to make it
to my bus. The walk was just a tiny bit scary, but not terrible. I slept as
much as I could until I woke up to the sunrise in the Czech Republic.
Saturday
All I
had was my backpack as I stepped off the bus in Prague at 9 AM. I found the
tram station to the site where my free walking tour was supposed to start, and
headed to a McDonald’s to brush my teeth, wash my face, and change. I felt a
little bit homeless, but I guess that’s the life of a traveler.
The
walking tour lasted three hours. It was alright, but I wouldn’t do it again. I
mostly liked it because of the super hot Colombian family that was also on the
tour. Unfortunately, it was the Sabbath and Passover, so I didn’t get to see
the Jewish Quarter like I wished. When the tour ended, I went to see the castle
and stumbled upon an art festival with live music.
As I was
painting some Easter eggs, I was singing along to the song, and one of the
festival workers said I should go sing. So I did! I was UNBELIEVABLY nervous
and shaky, but I sang in a crowd in Prague just to say I did it. The crowd sang
along to Wonderwall and it calmed my nerves a bit.
Toward
the end of the day, I had a phone interview in Starbucks with the Biomedical
Engineering Society, and I was informed that I received the role of Director of
Freshman Relations. The call lasted 40 minutes, and when I was finished I
headed to the Letna Biergarten to watch the sun set over the city.
I just
barely caught my bus to Dresden after running to the Old Market for some traditional
Czech Easter egg souvenirs and a kebab. I got to Dresden around 12:30 and took
a shower with some hand soap.
Sunday
I woke
up and started to check out of the room and get ready for the day while I
waited for Marcus to find my hostel. Perhaps because of the holiday, Dresden
was very quiet. I asked the hostel worker to give me tips on what to do, and we
walked around the New City and Old City. Thankfully, the weather was
phenomenal, so there wasn’t much we needed to have a nice time. After seeing
some cathedrals, fountains, and parks, we got ice cream and went up to a local
treasure, the Lingner Schloss.
We
stayed at the castle to have a beer and watch the sun go down, followed by some
great Indian food for dinner before catching the bus to Berlin. It was
definitely one of the calmest trips I’ve been on this semester, and I was
thankful to have company to do what I had planned to do alone.
I got to
Lindsay’s hotel around 1:30 and slept on the floor- which was more comfortable
than you’d think.
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