Pedal to the Metal!

Day Two: Berlin, Deutschland

Rachel and I decided we never really wanted to sleep in very much because we were only spending a few days in each city, and didn’t want to miss out. We started on our first full day by waking up at eight. Our first task: to find some noms (food, if you’ve never heard me talk before). Berlin is set up kind of funny, and we would have to travel a tad to get to a place with substance. Since Germany is awesome like the States and drives on the right side of the road, Rachel and I figured the best way to get around was by bike. Rachel had found some info at the hostel about renting bikes, and we simply trudged down the street (I say trudge because it was a slight trek) to the bike rental. It was only €10 for a whole 24 hours, so we were excited.

Rachel on our bikes

 We hopped on and headed south. I led our feeble “pack” because I could read German and knew a few random words. Quick German lesson: “Sprechen Sie Englisch?[sprae-ken zee aang-lish]” will save your life. It means “Do you speak English?” Perhaps knowing “Wo ist die Toilette?[vo ist dee toy-let-teh]” as well, at least for emergencies (Where is the restroom). Most Germans speak English though, especially in big cities, so I wouldn’t worry too much. Ah, but being surrounded by German can give you a major headache. All of the signs trick you into believing you can understand them because of the similar alphabet, but it’s a lie. Especially if you’re like me where you’ve studied German long, long ago, so the German is familiar, but you have no idea what it means. Can we say, frustrating much? Most deffers (Oh, “Vielen dank”[feel-en dah-nk] is also good to know; it means “Thank you”).

Our amazing breakfast

Now that you’re a mini-beast at German, let me continue. We rode down to an area Rachel knew had some places for a bit of “früstück,” or breakfast (don’t ask me how they got that word. Sounds like “you stuck” though). There was a couple cute little cafés and we sort of randomly chose one. We picked well though, seeing as they gave us a beastly meal for €5 each. Our stomachs were soon full of fresh fruit, a boiled egg, and two croissants each smothered in Nutella. Rachel and I ended up ordering a lot of the same food throughout the trip partially because it was easier to just have me order that way as I could pronounce everything. We also have similar tastes.

The Jewish Museum

After that, we rode our bikes over to the Jewish Museum. It’s an amazing place, and definitely worth seeing if you’re ever in Berlin. I think the architect may have had a tad bit too much fun in designing it, but that’s all right. Rachel and I both have slightly short attention spans now for museums though, because most are free in London, so we skimmed over all of the reading things (yes, they had English, but still…). We went through everything though, and then hopped back on our bikes to go farther into the city.

Inside the museum. I did nothing to this picture.

Berlin’s Alexanderplatz makes it super easy to tell where the city center is. It’s like a huge pin stuck in the earth and you just head towards it. Don’t worry, you get to it eventually. We did a bit of souvenir shopping (the only shopping we do on the whole trip, just to let you know) and ate a late lunch. German food is fantastic. Don’t believe me? Well, this is what I ate: minced meat rolled in cabbage and drenched (yes, drenched) in gravy with bacon on top, served with potatoes and salad on the side. I also had a “Schokokuẞ” [shock-o-koose] for dessert. It was chocolate and mint ice cream with whipped cream and chocolate sauce. Not only did this all taste delicious and fill us up, but compared to the prices in London, it was super cheap! Put simply, Rach and I ate our way through our trip, but we did so much walking (and biking) that we probably only gained muscle, which is what we both want anyway.

The Berliner Dom

We travelled back and returned the bikes before crashing in the hostel for the night. Somehow, Rachel and I always had something to talk about, and her company was the most enjoyable part of this trip.