Our European Adventure, Day 5

This morning we were shaken awake by a train attendant who alerted us that we were about to arrive in Berlin. I quickly packed up my things and was about to go to the bathroom when Madeline realized her money wallet was in a different place than she had put it the night before. She lost all of her cash. Jean recalled seeing someone poke their head the train car around 3 AM, but he said they quickly left once they noticed he was awake. She only noticed because the wallet was moved slightly down the table, but luckily they left all of her belongings except her 70 euros and about $20.

I was careful to make sure I had all of my things before running down to the bathroom with my bag of toiletries. After washing my face, I noticed the train had stopped moving and we had already arrived in Berlin. I rushed them out of the cabin as quickly as possible, in the process forgetting to pack my bag of toiletries, including my toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, and face cream. I just cannot win on this trip.

We oriented ourselves in the station, but were required to wait outside of the ticket office to purchase public transportation tickets because while our train was nearly two hours late in arriving, we still had to wait outside the office until 7AM when it opened. I bought our city travel cards that came along with a nice, informative booklet on tourist places around the area.

We navigated our way out of the Hauptbahnhof afterward and walked the 100 meters or so to our hotel, Hotel Meininger. The hotel is actually really nice. It has a modern decoration that appeals to me and it was quite cheap. We were able to store our luggage and purchase breakfast from the hotel before figuring out the best way to the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. We piled onto the train that took us one station over and then another that directed us out of the city and into Oranienburg. From there, we found the city bus that would take us a few stops away to the camp. Amazingly, all of the hour journey was covered by our transit cards.

The camp was very draining, according to Madeline. It was horrible to think about all of the people who died on the soil that we walked on. While not many of the buildings were still standing, the memorial had buildings erected for the sole purpose of educating people on the history of how the camp came to be, who was trapped within its walls, and how the city was involved. Apparently, the city had originally had a smaller camp in the center of town, but it was closed down after they prisoners were forced to build another closer to the outskirts. We viewed the second camp, who was notorious at the time amongst the press because of its proximity to Berlin.

The entrance to the camp

A memorial in the camp

After taking pictures around the memorial and walking throughout the exhibits, we walked back to the city train station and boarded a regional express train that cut the journey back to the hotel in half. I managed to purchase deodorant (after looking all over the pharmacy for something that looked similar) and a toothbrush before leaving the train station and we all took showers after checking into our hotel room. It felt really refreshing to wash off the grodiness of the train and then take a nap to catch up on some sleep.

We woke up around eight and went out for dinner at a small Italian restaurant that we found in town. The food was actually fairly delicious and we wandered in during happy hour, so we were even able to sample some very cheap drinks in addition to our pasta and pizza overload. We managed to stay under ten euros per person, so we’re keeping to budget too. Now we’re just hanging out in the hostel for the time being to prepare for tomorrow.

The views from near our hotel

Some cool graffiti we spotted on the way to dinner

Our European Adventure, Day 3

Today was definitely not the best travelling experience. After getting up, we all trooped down to the dining hall in our hostel for continental breakfast. They offered multiple kinds of bread, meat, and cheese so we feasted on sandwiches. When I went up for seconds though, I made the mistake of thinking it was safe to leave my purse in my chair as the rest of the group was at our table. When I came back, my purse was gone. Not only did that purse include our travel vouchers for the day and my souveneir cash, it also included all of my credit cards and 370€ that belong to my school. Also included were my digital camera and passport. Gone. In the blink of an eye.

Even though it was only three in the morning back home, I immediately called my mom and we began cancelling my credit cards. After all the cards were cancelled, I was able to look up the US consulate and begin the process of obtaining an emergency replacement passport. Unfortunately, since all my credit cards and money were stolen, I was forced to borrow money to pay the $135 fee as well as the 6€ photo charge. My passport was done within hours.

With my new passport, I was able to file a police, politie, report on the stolen items, although I highly doubt it will do any good. My copy of the report is in Dutch too.

By the time everything was taken care of, it was 530pm and our day was nearing a close. We had missed lunch between me needing to run around town and everyone else napping, so we headed to Sara's Pancakes house to sample the local pancakes and waffles - a favorite among locals. While the pancakes were bigger than our heads, they were quite expensive, starting at 5.50€ each. Their thinness made them more similar to crepes too.

Dutch pancakes - maybe not the most appetizing picture

After dinner, we tried to track down a place that I could have money wired to in order to pay for our stay until we are able to get to Poland. We finally succeeded in finding a GWK Travelex at the Central Station that partners with Western Union. In order to find this, I had to sneak onto the tram by pretending to scan a card before walking on. Thankfully that worked since my travel card was stolen along with everything else.

It takes awhile for the money transfer to go through though, so we hopped on a sightseeing canal cruise that we had already paid for to kill time. The sights were quite pretty. The gables along the canals are beautiful. It's also interesting to see how small the buildings along the canals really are in the front because they used to be taxed on how much of the building faced the water. The water is actually quite dirty though, with lots of stuff floating in it.