Were already running late and we havent even made it to the airport yet...there are 7 of us going on this trip and ive already learned from the last group outings that something always goes wrong. I was defiantly right things were not going as planned. Before the trip the whole group of us decided to travel to Germany for Octoberfest but of course we decided this and got the group together far to late to actually find a place to stay in Munich and the flights there were way to expensive for any of us. Instead we decided to buy a plane ticket to Hamburg, in northern Germany and get a German rail pass and take a train to Munich and just rent tents and camp out. To no surprise of mine we waited to long to buy the rail passes and the prices increased (a lot). We decided that our best bet would be to buy a twin rail pass where you pit 
2 manes on one pass and just split the cost making it a lot cheaper for all of us. To buy the rail passes you have to be a US citizen and they must be sent to the US, well we were leaving in about 2 weeks at the time that we bought the passes so we had to buy them and have them sent to the US and the shipped to France. So here comes the night before we are going to leave still without passes just informed that there are no tents left at the camp site so were about to leave for Germany with no means of transportation and no accommodation, only a plane ticket to Lubeck a small town about an hour outside of Hamburg. Needless to say i was not happy and very stressed out. We got on the phone with the Poste and they informed us that out rail passes were in Marseille the same town the airport we were flying out of was in. They told us that we would be able to stop by and pick them us the morning of our flight and that it would be no problem. Once we got to the airport in Marseille the boys went off to find our rail passes while the rest of us checked in. Once they came back with the tickets i sat down and began to read all the restrictions, i learned that we must always be with the person whose name is also on the pass. Its common sense but none of us really thought about it, German, Travis and I all planned to stop in Berlin before heading to Munich and Kat, Sara, Jules and Saquib all planned on going straight to Munich. Well of course Jules and i were on a ticket, German and Kat were on a ticket and so was Travis and Sara, so at this point all of our plans needed to change. Me and Jules are both pretty stubborn so we both wanted to do what we originally planed to do but we knew that wouldn't happen. So after a bit of compromise we decided that we would spend the night in Lubeck then head to Berlin early the next morning stay one night there and then head to Munich to finish off our trip at Octoberfest, this way we would both get to do what we wanted.
2 manes on one pass and just split the cost making it a lot cheaper for all of us. To buy the rail passes you have to be a US citizen and they must be sent to the US, well we were leaving in about 2 weeks at the time that we bought the passes so we had to buy them and have them sent to the US and the shipped to France. So here comes the night before we are going to leave still without passes just informed that there are no tents left at the camp site so were about to leave for Germany with no means of transportation and no accommodation, only a plane ticket to Lubeck a small town about an hour outside of Hamburg. Needless to say i was not happy and very stressed out. We got on the phone with the Poste and they informed us that out rail passes were in Marseille the same town the airport we were flying out of was in. They told us that we would be able to stop by and pick them us the morning of our flight and that it would be no problem. Once we got to the airport in Marseille the boys went off to find our rail passes while the rest of us checked in. Once they came back with the tickets i sat down and began to read all the restrictions, i learned that we must always be with the person whose name is also on the pass. Its common sense but none of us really thought about it, German, Travis and I all planned to stop in Berlin before heading to Munich and Kat, Sara, Jules and Saquib all planned on going straight to Munich. Well of course Jules and i were on a ticket, German and Kat were on a ticket and so was Travis and Sara, so at this point all of our plans needed to change. Me and Jules are both pretty stubborn so we both wanted to do what we originally planed to do but we knew that wouldn't happen. So after a bit of compromise we decided that we would spend the night in Lubeck then head to Berlin early the next morning stay one night there and then head to Munich to finish off our trip at Octoberfest, this way we would both get to do what we wanted.Once in Lubeck everyone stresses seemed to go away we were all SO excited for our first trip out of France. It was a dreary, rainy day but i didn't really mind i was just ready to go explore and have my first Germ
an sausage and beer! One of Jules friends Jacob met us
at the airport, he had lived in Germany for several years so he was fluent in the language and a huge help for us. We got on the bus and headed to our hostel to set our stuff down and figure out our next move. Lubeck in a cute town with beautiful old building a a ton of charm. Everyone seemed to be so nice compared to in France, i never really thought that the French were rude but in Germany everyone was just so nice and helpful. Jacob walked us around for a bit before we were all hungry and stopped
at this little hole in the wall restaurant. It was dark and gloomy and very German, we sat down opened the menu and realized that we had no idea what anything was...its not like France where you could somewhat guess, i had NO idea! All of us knew what we wanted a big beer and a big hearty meal, we have all become wore out on the french cuisine of bread, cheese, ham and wine. Our waitress was so nice and so friendly she helped us each pick out something because she spoke English very well. I ordered a dish of potatoes with cheese, spinach and tomatoes covered with cream sauce and more cheese...it was the most amazing thing i have ever had! By far my favorite meal i have had here in Europe. After a while of talking taking pictures and digesting the 10lb mean i just ate we headed off to another small restaurant were we had a few drinks and just talked to Jacob about Germany. After that me and German decided to head back to the hostel while the others went to a club.
an sausage and beer! One of Jules friends Jacob met us
at the airport, he had lived in Germany for several years so he was fluent in the language and a huge help for us. We got on the bus and headed to our hostel to set our stuff down and figure out our next move. Lubeck in a cute town with beautiful old building a a ton of charm. Everyone seemed to be so nice compared to in France, i never really thought that the French were rude but in Germany everyone was just so nice and helpful. Jacob walked us around for a bit before we were all hungry and stopped
at this little hole in the wall restaurant. It was dark and gloomy and very German, we sat down opened the menu and realized that we had no idea what anything was...its not like France where you could somewhat guess, i had NO idea! All of us knew what we wanted a big beer and a big hearty meal, we have all become wore out on the french cuisine of bread, cheese, ham and wine. Our waitress was so nice and so friendly she helped us each pick out something because she spoke English very well. I ordered a dish of potatoes with cheese, spinach and tomatoes covered with cream sauce and more cheese...it was the most amazing thing i have ever had! By far my favorite meal i have had here in Europe. After a while of talking taking pictures and digesting the 10lb mean i just ate we headed off to another small restaurant were we had a few drinks and just talked to Jacob about Germany. After that me and German decided to head back to the hostel while the others went to a club.The next day i woke up at 7 and began to get ready for our train ride to Berlin! I was so excited! Berlin is a town with so much history an
d so many incredible things to see i was just full of anticipation. The only thing i was worried about was where Jules, Saquib and I were going to stay. The rest of the group decided that they were going to spend 2 nights in Berlin compared to our 1 so they had there own plans. I slowly started to wake everyone up from there crazy night at the club got some breakfast and headed for the train. Once we were in Berlin thats where we were parting ways. Jules and Saquib ended up finding us a place to stay with a co
uchsurfer named Andre. Couchsurfing is this online program where students share there couches with other travelers so they dont have to pay for a place to stay. I felt a lot better now that we had a place to sleep so now we just had to figure out what we wanted to do for the day. We ended up running into this kid from Ohio who had been in Germany for a couple days already so he asked if we would mind if
he came along with. The 4 of us decided that we wanted to head to Brendenburg Gate, the Reichstag, the Holocaust memorial and of course the Berlin wall. The weather wasn't much better in Berlin it was rainy and crappy all day but it seemed to fit the city well. Finally after struggling to figure out the Deutsche Bahn system we headed to the gate. It was kinnda strange because once we got there there was a world inlin
e competition going on at the spot where such historical events went on and men and women were skating around in neon spandex...it was quite a site. After the gate we walked a little further down to the Holocaust museum...it was amazing everyone was walking threw with their umbrellas in the rain, it just seemed very somber and fitting. I was getting tired of walking around in the rain so we decided to try and get a hold of Andre and meet up with him. We walked back to the train and found our way to Andres we set our stuff down changed o
ut of our wet clothes and the Andre and another couchsurfer he had with him, Jasmine took us to this bar where the played live music. After the bar we went on a walk past part of the original Berlin wall, it was a part where they had recreated the other side of the wall to show what the "death strip" would of looked like. It was the c
raziest thing to picture how this wall was all over the town, they have signs on the sidewalk and a path to show where exactly it was and it just seems to be everywhere. I just remember walking around the town and noticing every time i crossed it, it was really hard to imagine what it must of been like to live there around 20 some years ago. Berlin was an incredible city I only wish i had much more than a day to explore all the amazing things in the city.
d so many incredible things to see i was just full of anticipation. The only thing i was worried about was where Jules, Saquib and I were going to stay. The rest of the group decided that they were going to spend 2 nights in Berlin compared to our 1 so they had there own plans. I slowly started to wake everyone up from there crazy night at the club got some breakfast and headed for the train. Once we were in Berlin thats where we were parting ways. Jules and Saquib ended up finding us a place to stay with a co
uchsurfer named Andre. Couchsurfing is this online program where students share there couches with other travelers so they dont have to pay for a place to stay. I felt a lot better now that we had a place to sleep so now we just had to figure out what we wanted to do for the day. We ended up running into this kid from Ohio who had been in Germany for a couple days already so he asked if we would mind if
he came along with. The 4 of us decided that we wanted to head to Brendenburg Gate, the Reichstag, the Holocaust memorial and of course the Berlin wall. The weather wasn't much better in Berlin it was rainy and crappy all day but it seemed to fit the city well. Finally after struggling to figure out the Deutsche Bahn system we headed to the gate. It was kinnda strange because once we got there there was a world inlin
e competition going on at the spot where such historical events went on and men and women were skating around in neon spandex...it was quite a site. After the gate we walked a little further down to the Holocaust museum...it was amazing everyone was walking threw with their umbrellas in the rain, it just seemed very somber and fitting. I was getting tired of walking around in the rain so we decided to try and get a hold of Andre and meet up with him. We walked back to the train and found our way to Andres we set our stuff down changed o
ut of our wet clothes and the Andre and another couchsurfer he had with him, Jasmine took us to this bar where the played live music. After the bar we went on a walk past part of the original Berlin wall, it was a part where they had recreated the other side of the wall to show what the "death strip" would of looked like. It was the c
raziest thing to picture how this wall was all over the town, they have signs on the sidewalk and a path to show where exactly it was and it just seems to be everywhere. I just remember walking around the town and noticing every time i crossed it, it was really hard to imagine what it must of been like to live there around 20 some years ago. Berlin was an incredible city I only wish i had much more than a day to explore all the amazing things in the city.
After the short stay with Andre we left early the next morning to head to Muni
ch and Octoberfest. After about a 6 hour train ride we arrived and headed straight to the campsite to put down our bags. We were to excited to get on our way so we stopped by the side for about 20mins and then was off again. We headed down to the festival where i was going to meet one of my friends from Long Beach Myke. I was really excited to see him because it was really nice to see a familiar face. Octoberfest was INSANE! It is bigger than you can imagine, everything about the whole festival is extravagant from the carnival rides to the massive tents tha
t fit around 5 thousand people to the litters of beer and whole chickens that they feed to you and the thousand of people that are dressed in traditional German outfits. I have never seen so many drunk people from 18 to 80 and people from all over the world, everyone was just so happy which is no surprise. We spent about 2 whole days 
at Octoberfest and then spent part of one day exploring the city of Munich. Munich wasn't as nice as Berlin in my opinion but it still was incredible.
ch and Octoberfest. After about a 6 hour train ride we arrived and headed straight to the campsite to put down our bags. We were to excited to get on our way so we stopped by the side for about 20mins and then was off again. We headed down to the festival where i was going to meet one of my friends from Long Beach Myke. I was really excited to see him because it was really nice to see a familiar face. Octoberfest was INSANE! It is bigger than you can imagine, everything about the whole festival is extravagant from the carnival rides to the massive tents tha
t fit around 5 thousand people to the litters of beer and whole chickens that they feed to you and the thousand of people that are dressed in traditional German outfits. I have never seen so many drunk people from 18 to 80 and people from all over the world, everyone was just so happy which is no surprise. We spent about 2 whole days 
at Octoberfest and then spent part of one day exploring the city of Munich. Munich wasn't as nice as Berlin in my opinion but it still was incredible.
I had the best experience in Germany. The whole country is amazing and i would love to go back there someday and spend more time at each place. It was a great first adventure even with all of the hold-ups and complications!
No comments:
Post a Comment