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I spent this winter holidays touring Europe. Last year, I spent the winter holidays hitting the land of unlimited Paella, or better known as Spain. We spent quite a bit of time, and even though we only visited two states, Barcelona and Madrid, I was quite convinced we did not have enough time to visit everything. I decided at this point that all those guys who spent a few days in several countries were just crazy.

So this year, I put it to the test. 3 countries in slightly more than a week. Here, I shall chronicle our journey.

 

This first post will be dedicated to the German leg of our trip. We got a real good deal on flights from Moscow to Berlin. It costed us only RM 130 per person to get there. You’d think we were flying budget, but that was not the case;

 

 

We flew Lufthansa. The flight was generally uneventful, so we decided to make something of it. The moment the cabin crew started to offer refreshments it was time for beers. Gokul, Abilash, Rajesh, Sam, Lavan and myself started enjoying our brewskis. Unfortunately, there wasn’t an unlimited flow of beer . After 2 to 3 bottles, the cabin crew started offering us alcohol free beer, and that generally just sucked monkey balls.

So we landed, and had some slight issues with immigration. They were kind of dumbfounded why many Malaysians are coming to Berlin. Apparently they were under the impression that we’re going to overstay and live there. No clue what gave them that idea. It could be that Hari Krishnan arrived a few days earlier, but we’ll never know.

It was time to catch a train to our hostel accomodation, Plus Berlin. Public transportation in berlin is easy! You buy either a one way ticket or a day pass ticket and you can travel via the many transportation system they have there. Namely the S-Bahn, U-Bahn, Trams, and the busses.

I heard a myth that there will be someone hired by the transportation company to check whether you purchased your tickets, but we did not meet with this mythical being. With a single trip ticket costing 2.30 EUR, you’ll have to understand that we didn’t pay for most of our trips . We winged it, and thankfully it was not a problem. However, it was nice to see the civilized Germans actually honestly paying for their fares, despite nobody checking. I guess this is what the Malaysian government means when they say “First World Facilities and Third World Mentality”. Although to be completely honest, we weren’t afraid of getting caught, cause we were prepared to use the, “Oh, we’re foreigners and have no clue” excuse.

Anyways, when we landed, we had to catch a bus to their Central Station (which looks amazing by the way) and then catch a train to get to our hostel. I was not aware of the traveling without purchasing a ticket thing, so we each got One way tickets. Initially we did not know where to buy the tickets, but shortly after enquiring from two Coppers who look like Porn Stars, we were directed in the right direction.

Einzelfahrausweis, to the best of my knowledge, implies Single Trip. This ticket costs 2.30 EUR. We had to board an express bus to Hauptbahnhof. Yes, try pronouncing that. Naturally the Germans corrected us whenever we asked for directions, but I can’t remember how they pronounced it exactly. The bus ride was about 20 minutes and took us to the Central Station.

So we reached the Central station and we looked for the ticketing counter. We wanted to purchase tickets to get to our hostel. The name of our station was Worcestershire Sauce. Hrm, perhaps it was Warschauer Strasse, but I kept pronouncing it as Worschauser Strass, and the locals got it so I guess its not a problem. So anyways when we got to the ticket counter, I enquired about the tickets and the lady over the counter enquired, how did we get here.

Perplexed, I handed her our boarding passes, and she said, no, how did you come to central station. I told her we came via the express bus and she asked to see our tickets. The nice lady told us that our tickets were still valid and we can get over to the platform and catch any train that is heading in the lines of S3, S5, S7 or S75. I must tell you that the Metro system of Berlin, whilst looking at it at the start is confusing, in actuality is quite simple. They only have two tracks, North and South, and East to West.  These are named the S-Bahn and U-Bahn.

So anyways we boarded the train, and reached Warschauer Strasse. Naturally being the (only) man of the pact, I lead the way. The two other girls kept bitching that I was leading them the wrong way, but with my superior skills and sense of directions (barring that one Incident when I could not find Pandi’s of PJ) I lead the girls to our hostel, through their constant bitching that we’re lost.

We stayed in Plus Hostel Berlin, and it was an amazing place. It was actually some sort of fort-esque building transformed into a hostel. There was a swimming pool (which we did not use as it was bloody cold), a Sauna (which we also did not use as we were rarely home), free Wifi, free computers with internet, and what other nonsense you would expect from any place of accommodation. The place was cheap, about 8 Euros a night, perhaps because we booked early.

When we tried to check in, we were told that since we are booking for a 3 people in a 4 seater room, they had to put us in a room with 1 other person. That was fine, we met an Australian lady who was working in what she called Sustainable Fashion. Not going to get into that one.

Anyways, first night in, we decided to meet up with Rajesh, Sam, Lavan and Atiqah. The only reason we decided to meet them was because the genius known as Atiqah said she checked the map and our hostel was just a stone throw away from theirs (Generator Hostel Berlin). Sadly, her cartography skills leaves much to be desired. It was by no definition nearby.

The Google Nexus one saved us. I tell you this phone is awesome. The Nexus One has a built in GPS (as opposed to AGPS other phones use) so we were able to navigate the streets with the GPS tickin’ without a data plan. Of course it was necessary to load up the map prior to this via WIFI, but it got us there. We took a tram ride from our place until the fourth t-junction. From there it was a 1km or maybe 1.5 km walk towards generator. We later, much to our dismay found out we could have taken another Tram that travelled this way, which dropped you right in front of the generator hostel.

So we met up with the kids (who already decided to have dinner without us) at Burger King. There was this Chili Cheese Nuggets that was sold here, and it was amazing, for the lack of a better word.

With dinner done, we wanted to get some of that beer Germany is famous for. So we roamed around and about looking for a bar, and in one isolated corner walking through a dark alley that is completely covered in spray paint, we found a decent bar. Well bars actually, but the bar that we did enter, we entered because one of the worker, who was Bangladeshi, spoke to Abilash and told him that he’s pretty.

At the bar, we drank and drank and drank. The conversation was good, the food was decent, but most of all the environment was great.

The local brew. Warsteiner!

Abilash pretending to be on the phone.

As they say in Germany, Prost.

Abilash flirting with the Bangladeshi.

Having drank quite a bit, we decided to call it a night and headed back to our respective hostels. With that, day one comes to an end.

 

We got up early for the second day, or actually I got up pretty early because of the loud snoring that was taking place in my room. I went to the receptionist to get some ear plugs, but at this point I was too wide awake to go back to sleep.

We got ready and went over to the Generator Hostel. However, this time we were quite aware of the second tram and took it to reach our destination. Once there, naturally the others were not ready. In fact none of them have even showered yet. So we went down to the lobby and used the WIFI for a bit. Eventually they came down and we all had breakfast. Breakfast at generator was free, however, the three of us who are staying at Plus Berlin decided to take the chance and free load.

The food wasn’t great or anything, but it was your typical European breakfast. It was pretty similar to what was served during my Barcelona trip. With that done, it was time to explore Berlin! We decided to take the Free Walking Tours  that was done periodically over the day.

We knew that we were going to use the public transportation today several times, so we decided to buy a day pass (which is valid for 24 hours since first use). So we got ourselves a Tageskarte.

Sam was excited about the prospect of being able to travel the whole day without shelling out 2.30 euros for each trip! The day pass was 6.30 euros. Here’s how elated Sam was;

Anyways, we decided to take the train to reach the place where the walking tour starts. It was time for the obligatory photo shoot;

Abilash was quite excited to find the shop of overpriced coffee conveniently located next to the area where the walking tour begins.

 

Anyways, this is the Brandenburg Gate. Atop the gate is what is called the Quadriga. It is supposed to be a symbol of victory, and survived well into World War II, despite being badly damaged. It has since been restored.

 

Pretty Majestic, don’t you agree?

 

If you focus real hard, you’re able to see a brown bear in the background!

To give you a rough idea of how big the gate really is, here’s a close up;

Those tiny spec of black spots are us!

Whilst we were busy taking pictures, Sam saw opportunity!

Lavan, who let the opportunity pass was flabbergasted!

It was close to 1 O’clock and we decided to quench our thirst while waiting for the tour to start. With Abilash constantly reminding us there was a Starbucks, we headed there.

Eventually the Tour started. It was a Free Walking Tour, and you just followed the group as the guide explained the historical significance of whatever we’re visiting. They operate by tips, which isn’t obligatory.

The first stop of the tour was the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Where others saw Historical Significance, and sympathy for the Jews, we saw photo opportunities!

 

Our tour guide, who was explaining things rather well, whose name I have forgotten is actually a Brit.

That’s him, in front of a painting of a photograph taken of a Soviet Soldier jumping over the Berlin Wall!

As you walk through the city, you can see ample of graffiti work all over the place. Some of them were rather perplexing, as to how they managed to do what they did in high places such as this;

 

Next in line was the ex-air force building. It is currently the Internal Revenue Service building. Outside, is a portrait the soviets used for Propaganda, showing how everyone was Happy with Socialism.

 

Directly in front of this portrait, is an equally sized photograph of the real situation, with people rioting and generally being unhappy with the status quo.

 

 

As we walked on, we saw the remnants of the Berlin Wall. There isn’t much left, but whatever is left is for historical purposes. At other parts of Berlin where the wall was destroyed, wherever the wall stood, there is a marker on the floor to indicate where it once stood.

 

As we walked on, we reached Check Point Charlie. Apparently it was the crossing point between East and West Berlin. It was a gateway to freedom for East Germans.

 

Picture shows how it looked like during the cold war.

After the checkpoint, the tour guide said that it was time for a 20 minutes break. The temperature was getting way too cold, so we decided to take a break from the walking tour and make our own way to one of the main points of attraction not included in the tour. So we gave him his tip and went on our merry way to have some lunch. We went to the nearby McDonalds.

At this McDonalds, I was surprised! They actually had a vegetarian burger, something I felt was very un-German-esque;

With lunch gobbled up, we headed to the Jewish Museum. Interestingly, somewhere in the Museum, there was a wishing tree with an instruction board;

Naturally I took this opportunity to make my Wish which is world-altering to be honest;

 

Lavan did not understand the concept of writing down the wish and placing it on the tree, so he decided to mount the tree;

 

After the Jewish Museum, we went to a huge square, the name of which I have forgotten. There were plenty of shops around here and many of them were having a sale. Needless to say Abilash went wild. Even I wasn’t spared as I got myself an ESPRIT shirt.

 

With the shopping done, it was time to hit the pub. We found this really amazing pub which let you fill up your own pint. The pub had a large projected screen that shows who is leading the chug-table. The chug-table is ordered from whichever table that consumed the most beer to that of the lowest. It also compared the bar we were in with other bars of the same franchise all over Europe. I’ll just let the beers pictures do the talking;

Sam trying his luck to pour himself a pint. It was easier said than done. There were two levers there that you had to tweak to get the perfect pint.

15 minutes into the night we decided that Gokul pours the best pints, so he was designated as the bartender and filled everyone with the beer they needed.

Not entirely sure what Abilash is doing here.

My beer mug, almost always empty.

The Chug-Board Score List!

The beer dispenser computer. You could also order food directly from this computer.

 

I was really sleepy and eventually fell asleep;

As I was in my slumber, Abilash took the opportunity to snap a quick one with the waitress;

We decided to call it a night and headed to our respective hostels. We had to catch a flight tomorrow so we needed to hit the sack. Anyways  The next day, we got up early to grab some quick snaps of the remnants of the Berlin wall located near our hostel. Shortly thereafter, we took a flight to Rome!

Stay tuned for part 2 regarding the journey at Italy!

To end this post, here’s a picture that I think Anu might find interesting;