The strange train ride ...

My first true solo trip.

Landed at the Berlin airport and spent 10 mins trying to buy a simple map. Then headed towards the train station that was going to take me to the city centre. There was no attendant and I bought the tickets through an automated machine. I missed getting on the first train to avoid heading in the wrong direction. Then I got on the Deutsche Bahn.

It was early saturday morning and the trains were quite empty. After a couple of stations a group of young men boarded. They sat in the adjacent seats across the aisle from me. Then one guy decided to sit across from me and began to stare. It was one of the most awkward situations. He didn't smile, didn't say hello and just stared. I avoided eye contact the best I could and hoped he would leave at his stop. I breathed a sigh of relief when this group finally left.

At one stop, there was a long announcement and a lot of passengers got off the train. It was not my stop until a few more down and so I sat there observing all the people getting off. But there were 2 more passengers a few rows in front of me that didn't move. The train doors closed and headed forward again, then it began to slow down and stopped in the middle of the tracks. I realized the announcement must have been for all passengers to leave the train as the train was going out of service.

The other two passengers that remained on the train turned out to be from London and did not understand German. They were ambassadors and lived in Canada before as I recall. I didn't want to be trapped on the train but at least there were others there. As we were chatting we noticed someone walking along the tracks, he must've been the train driver. We pounded the windows to draw his attention. He opened the doors and asked what we were doing inside. Then led us down to the track level and back to the station platform.


I met a travel buddy during my walking tour. She was a nanny living in Amsterdam originally from portugal who was taking a vacation. I have pre-registered for the German Government building Reichstag but she had not. Since I really wanted to check out the building and so had she, I explained that I had registered but have made a mistake and did not register my friend and was wondering if they could let us in. They asked us for our IDs and asked their manager and after many questioning we were through. Then another lady asked to see our tickets again and we explained again the situation. With some extra pleading we were let through :)

We explored the crazier parts of the city and went to a Thai restaurants with huge Buddha hands. Exploring the city with someone else is just so much more fun! Thanks friend for making Berlin memorable.