Morning was a pretty easy wake-up, particularly as I'd actually let myself sleep. It also included a complimentary Nespresso and cold margherita pizza for breakfast.
I decided to wait until the listed check-out time of noon before leaving, taking some time for myself to fully recuperate. When it was time to go, I put on an outfit that made me feel spiffy, wore my key necklace, donned my favourite hiking jacket - it used to be my Oma's, so I know it's a good one - and rolled out with bags in hand.
I turned to GPS to direct me to the nearest train station - I'm still really grateful for Virgin's awesome roaming plan, far better than having had to get an eSim card, or pay out the wazoo - and started walking, snapping pictures as I went.
After 15 minutes of lugging my heavy suitcase down an uneven sidewalk, I made a groan-worthy realization. Walking to the Berlin train station (AKA the Berlin Hauptbahnhof/Berlin Hbf) would take 2 hours... Whereas the subway station to get to the Berlin Hbf... had been just across the street from the Bellman Hotel.
So, back I went, already sweaty - Germany was warmer than I'd expected - until I reached the Grenzallee subway station. All of the instructions for buying a ticket were in German, and I hadn't yet figured out the DB (Deutsche Bahn, their transit system) app. Thus, I messaged V. This wonderful human being planned out the journey for me on the app, and sent me the link so all I had to do was click and pay. Train ticket bought and with confidence re-instilled by V's tips, I marched back down to the subway ticket machine, managed to buy one and then validate it (with encouragement from a guy who didn't speak much English, but gestures are pretty universal anyway), and off I went to Wilmersdorfer.
After disembarking from the subway train, I plugged "Charlottenburg" into Google maps, and started following it - I needed to get to the Berlin-Charlottenburg train station. My stroll took me down this nice pedestrian promenade called Wilmersdorfer Strasse. I was enjoying my walk down it - it's a pedestrian shopping street maybe a little akin to Sparks Street in Ottawa, albeit with taller buildings and more cobblestone.
I was also happy to be ahead of schedule for my train (not really all that hard to do with these trains)... until I made a new discovery. If you put "Charlottenburg train" into Google maps, it'll take you to the train station. If you just put "Charlottenburg," like I did, you end up at an apartment complex modelled after the Charlottenburg Palace (a baroque palace in Berlin, located in Charlottenburg, which is apparently a district of the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf borough... no wonder the GPS was confused).
Anyway. Now, I was a 20-minute walk from the station, and my train - that I'd bought an expensive ticket for - was set to leave in 15 minutes. BUT THEN... alert, my train was now 5 minutes late. At the time, it felt fortuitous, but it was more so unrecognized foreshadowing - but we'll get there.
I ended up hailing a taxi because I was already tired, and the driver and I had a good chat on the short drive to the train station:
Me: My train is late, it looks like. So we should be okay.
Him: That's pretty typical for Germany.
Me: You run on your own clocks here, eh? I've never been here before.
Him: [laughing] And I think maybe you'll never want to come back.
(Of course I'll go back, but I'm going to rent a car next time).
He dropped me off right at the station, but when I got out, I noticed I was covered in these little white bits. I assumed they were from his car seat and didn't ponder much further on it at the time.
And now I present to you, a tip on non-Hbf train stations. There are no bathrooms, not even ones you can pay for. So be aware of that when planning your trips. I did learn that most trains have a bathroom on board, but then discovered they're usually out of order. Thusly, not having peed yet, I boarded my very late train, and sat on one of the fold-down seats along the aisle with my suitcase sat in front of me where I would rest my chin on it. It was pretty much exactly the right height, and was actually kind of comforting.
Sitting across the train from me was a woman with her toddler. And while the woman didn't say much, the toddler made pretty consistent, and varied, fart noises. I was highly amused, and we occasionally made faces at one another. When the woman's older kids boarded the train later on, it became clear that her lack of talking had been most likely due to a hearing impairment. I watched the family communicate via sign language, and it made me think about how while as a whole, sign language isn't universal, some signs within it are. Even so, you don't need to learn any complicated grammar structures or pronunciations of new words. And the cool part? When you sign, you might internally be speaking your own native language, but they're absorbing it and communicating back while internally hearing THEIR language in their minds - provided your signing dialects are similar enough. As someone who's had to learn the intricacies of some complicated language grammar systems, that's pretty cool to me.
Thoughts on language aside, while I'd planned to work on the train, not having much of a seat made that an inescapable impossibility. One of the first of a great many lessons about the Deutsche Bahn. So instead, I watched the scenery flying by the windows. The day was cloudy with a few little sprinklings of showers here and there - the greys made any Autumn-leaning trees really pop. I won't lie, in the stretches of forest, it felt like I could be train-ing through Canada. Which isn't a bad thing, just another of those instances of sonance (as opposed to dissonance), where you could be a world away and still find echoes of where you're from.
I also observed that Germany has a lot of graffiti - some of it nice, some of it not.
Another pattern that emerged, was in the villages and buildings we whizzed by. While there were beautifully quaint ones, there were also a lot of derelict, run-down, abandoned ones too. In fact, they were often situated right next to each other, as though divided. V later told me that while the run-down buildings might have been victims of the recession, it's more likely they were bombed. A very common theme in most things I asked about... it was a bit of a sobering mindset adjustment, to be reminded that while Germany has rebuilt, the scars are still there. I carry a similar juxtaposition within myself, if we're being honest. My scars might run deep, but I know what they are. Much like the Germans see those ruined buildings and all of them know and understand the cause, even if they weren't yet alive then. Maybe that's part of why they keep them up instead of knocking them all down entirely. To remember.
One strong sight that stuck with me, was that of a ruined, smoke-stained train station that likely used to be thriving before being bombed. I couldn't help wondering if that outcome had ever crossed the builders' minds when they made it. It also got the song "Eglantine, Eglantine. Oh, how you shine!" from Bedknobs and Broomsticks stuck in my head because there's a "vision" of Eglantine walking down some abandoned train tracks in a showgirl outfit. Bombing happened in that movie too - though it took place in England rather than Germany. Completely different perspective on the sides, too.
Anyway. in the midst of all of these thoughts, I got a message from V, followed by a call: "You're not going to make your next connection because the train is late."
My stomach sank as I realized that because of the later hour in the day (it was around 6 pm Germany time at this point), an alternative route might get me to Erfurt much later than I wanted. V looked up a few alternate routes for me and sent the links, which I then looked at. And then as luck (or poor transit systems) would have it, my connecting train was running late by about 8 minutes. I told V I'd try and make the original train at the next station (Dessau Hbf) and if I didn't catch it, we'd see where to go.
And of course, I couldn't help comparing the connection only being make-able because both trains were late, to how often two friends (or more) make plans to meet up. but then both/all are late. But, it saves them each from feeling guilty, because the other one was late too. Granted, trains don't feel guilt lol. Even if they should.
So, was she able to connect?? Tune in next time to...
Just kidding, I did manage to make the connection, never you fear. This train had a lot more bikes on it (very common in Germany; that's something I quite like about it, the amount of bicyclists and the biking infrastructure). There was a sign on the train window that said "Maximum 12 bikes" and my thought was, "What happens if there are more than 12 bikes on board...?" Probably an answer I'll never learn. Though V did say it happens all the time so... I guess the world doesn't end or whatever.
Finally, we pulled into the Leipzig Hbf, where I had 20 minutes to kill before train #3 to Erfurt Hbf. It was kind of like a shopping mall, indoors-ish, and there were a lot of pigeons... one even swooped right in front of me. It made me feel like a Chosen One.
However, I'm sure you can imagine that after the initial subway mishap, and two train rides (neither of which had working washrooms) what my first stop would be...
If you guessed coffee... you're sort of right! I did stop at a crepe and coffee cart on my way to the bathroom. I ordered what I Google translated to be a Nutella crepe, and a cafe latte. Europe is big on their lattes and I am all about it. I was excited... up until the lady tapped a taped-up sign that read "No card, cash only." But she herself said, "No cash," so I was confused. I held up my card with my eyebrows raised in a questioning manner. She shook her head and tapped the sign again, "No cash."
I asked, "Card?"
She realized her mix-up, shook her head at herself, then said, "No card."
We exchanged apologetic shrugs (I hadn't taken out cash because it made me nervous to carry around - a mindset that has very much changed since I've been in the UK). Looking back at the "no card" incident, I don't think it was so much a machine malfunction like I'd thought at the time, but likely related to how many German bakeries take only cash these days, they don't accept cards. Germans like to take stands where they can. And often choose very interesting hills to die on, so I've learned.
Off to the bathroom I went. Back in Ottawa, bathrooms are generally easy to find - such as in gas stations, coffee shops, certain stores, etc. They're also free.
Here, in the Leipzig Hbf, they had the "Loo & Me" which required payment to use. I'd never seen that before, and would come to see it a lot in Germany. It was €1 ($1.63 CAD), and I didn't have cash so... I tapped my credit card, struggled to get my suitcase through the turnstile, then waited in line. The bathrooms themselves were fine, it was just... something to get used to. Though at least I had known in advance that restaurants there charge for side salads and if you order water (I also learned the default for water is sparkling, so you have to specify "still" if you don't want sparkling), thanks to a very dear friend in the UK.
Anyway, first paid bathroom experience now under my belt, I went in search of coffee, since my previous attempt had failed. There were a lot of different stands in the Leipzig Hbf, and I ended up settling on one called Le Crobag, which made me giggle to say.
I got a latte macchiato and an apfeltasche (basically an apple turnover, or "apple pocket"). I had them while I was on the third train, standing near the doors as the seats were all full again. This train had been early, much to my surprise, and a lot of people had already boarded before me. This ride was relatively uneventful, until the train slowed down and even stopped. I got a message about the delay via the DB app, but not the reason as to why. Until V messaged me with "Why does it say that the police had to intervene with your train?"
Me: Does it??? We did slow down for a while...
V: I work for the government, Alison, I can't host a wanted criminal.
Me: Shiet, you got me.
It was light-hearted at least, and wasn't more of a delay than I'd already experienced. And then, FINALLY, I pulled into the Erfurt Hbf and got to meet V in person for the first time! We shared a hug for the ages. After which, she insisted on wheeling my suitcase, and told me I'd essentially gotten the full "Deutsche Bahn experience" with all the things that went wrong. Little did we know, that "experience" had only just begun then.
As we waited for the tram, V told me that there are many things Germany is divided on, with a very visible example being that of Berlin. Apparently the more financially inclined sought to change all of the lighting in Berlin over to a whiter shade of pale, but they only did it for the "rich side." Which means if you look at Berlin from space, you'll see half the city is lit with a white/more halogen lighting, and the other half is still yellow. The division of Germany (and Europe) will come up more in later posts, so now this feels almost like foreshadowing. I also learned that Germans are divided on what you would term the crust on bread. Apparently there are many conflicts about it, and you can tell what part of Germany someone is from depending on what term they use.
We then boarded the tram - V had given me two tickets: One I validated for that ride, and a second to use during my stay. She's so sweeeeet. After V pointed out her workplace and a few other things on the way to her apartment, we finally made it.
She helped me lug my suitcase up the three small flights of stairs, and I got to see her very beautiful apartment. Wherein I learned that in Germany, you have to buy your own kitchen, even if you rent. That's so strange to me, but I think it also makes sense. Although, it would make moving even more difficult. And really, moving is hard enough as it is.
V then made us dinner - it was charcuterie-esque in nature and, as a charcutie fan, I found it perfect. We had some bread with different spreads, tiny pickles, sauteed mushrooms, cheese, and "baby mincemeat" (basically a version of mincemeat for beginners to try as she was unsure of if I would like it, or if my body would handle it alright. The answer was "yes" to both. I had zero problems, and now I like mincemeat. We chatted for a bit while V showed me where a few things were. She then went to bed early, and I got some work done before putting myself to bed, too.
It only took an entire day... but I'd finally made it to Erfurt. Do you see yet how frustrating those trains were? No? Don't worry, there will be more. As for now...
Erinnerst du dich, als wir uns alle liebten? (Remember when we all loved each other? - a la Google translate, so grain of salt)
Much love,
Alison
Song recommendation: