Day 1: Sleepiness, Skittles, and So Many Cigarettes

Just to get things straight, I've traveled overseas before. I've even traveled very close to Germany. I know all about the long waits in line, the running between connecting flights and especially the overwhelming sense of tiredness in your body when your internal clock is forced to cope with a new time zone. I'm very well aware of this, but it doesn't make it any less miserable.

I spent approximately over 29 hours awake from the time I woke up to drive to the airport Wednesday morning to when I was finally able to sleep Thursday night. Much of that time was spent in an airplane, and you would probably say "why didn't you just sleep on the plane," and to that I can only respond with: "I can't sleep on planes." I've never been able to do it before, and I certainly couldn't do it this time. Once we landed in Berlin, I took a taxi with my travelling companions to our hostel across the city. The ride there was beautiful, as we got to see most of the city's famous landmarks. The taxi driver did basically refuse to take us to our destination however, as he passed it and tried to act like he was going the right way. This was all of course an act to get more money out of us, but that's to be expected when 4 tourists with no real proficiency in German hop into a taxi cab in Berlin.

Once we checked our luggage in my companions and I decided to stay awake until nighttime to adjust our bodies to the new time zone. In order to keep ourselves awake we took our own little walking tour of the city and were introduced to its beauty.

After grabbing lunch at a restaurant near the Spree river, we crossed the bridge to see the Berliner Dom.

The Dom is an old cathedral on Museum Island in the Mitte district of the city. We were unable to go inside that day, but we walked around the entire building and marveled in its size.

Out in front of the Dom, there is a large grassy area that people can go and relax on, so we did. It was very interesting because it allowed me to relax and observe the people of Berlin at the same time. One of my earliest observations was that SO MANY people smoke cigarettes in Berlin. In the U.S. cigarette smoking is beginning to get phased out, especially by the younger generations, but in Berlin almost every single person smokes regularly. It is a small, yet interesting cultural difference I observed early on.

The grassy area outside the Dom was great for observing people and taking pictures as it appeared to be a central public place of relaxation. I had to be careful however, for it became increasingly easy to fall asleep on the grass given the peacefulness of the area and my insane sleepiness. I resorted to eating the bag of Skittles I had originally reserved for the plane ride to Europe. They did the job well enough, but it was still a struggle to stay awake.

The first night in Berlin my companions and I stayed in a hostel called the Citystay Hostel in the Mitte district. It was my first time staying in a hostel and I was quite amazed with the experience. The place had a warm and cozy feeling, despite it being inhabited by mostly total strangers. The lobby area was very cute, especially the courtyard area.

We spent most of the evening at the Hostel and we all enjoyed some drinks at the Happy Hour in the bar downstairs. It was a fantastic atmosphere and it was interesting to see so many different people from different parts of the world shacked up in the same building. That probably sounds a lot like any hotel anywhere, but the feel of the hostel is a very different one. A homier one. A cozier one.

And speaking of "cozier," after my first German drink I went to my room, climbed into the top bunk, crashed harder than my computer on this spotty Berlin Hotel Wi-Fi, and proceeded to sleep over 12 hours. I knew I would sleep for a while, but it didn't make it any less enjoyable.