TRAVELLING GERMANY: PART 3

Excitement, fear of the unknown, happiness, gratitude — just a few feelings running through me as I sat down in my seat on the Deutsche Bahn looking out the window on my way to Berlin!

Here I was officially on my way to the country’s capital and really beginning my travels on my own.

Fittingly enough, for my first solo stay in Europe I booked a hostel.

I feel like staying in a hostel is a must when you’re exploring the world on your own for the first time, gotta have those experiences in your back pocket.  I should add though, the night before my cousin and I were looking online for hotel options and the only availabilities were either WAY out of my budget or not in an area close to where I wanted to be (Mitte) — so piece of advice when you plan to go to Berlin: book in advance no matter what time of year!

That said, while I was excited to have the hostel experience, I still wanted my own space, so I made sure to book my own private suite.

I lucked out BIG time and found the cutest hostel in Mitte, Berlin, The Circus Hostel (booked on the Hostel World app on my phone, after reading a lot of positive reviews and looking at its website).

I had my heart set on that area because it’s in the centre of historical attractions, a shopping district and has endless options for eats, plus my family recommended it as well.

My dorm was so cute: bright, had a big bed (well, two singles pushed together — but felt big!), couch, kitchenette, and full bathroom — but the view was my favourite, overlooking the city, these photos don’t give it justice!

After getting settled in that early evening after taking the tram from the train station to my hostel, I went to wander the city before the sun went down: I’ll never forget that moment I was in the middle of Rosenthaler Platz and looking at the Fernsehturm (the tallest building in Berlin, the TV tower) with the cotton candy sky backdrop.

I had one plan in that moment: walk towards the Fernsehturm, get dinner, then grab a bottle of wine and head back ‘home’ with some treats to curl up in bed with a book.

On the way, I walked by a lot of cool looking restaurants, stylish boutiques, and had dinner in a plaza near the Hackescher Markt Station (you can tell it’s a hot spot for tourists) where there was a 2-man band performing a variety of songs as I sat on the patio — with an entire pizza and wine, thank you.

As I sat there stuffing my face and enjoying the music, I was surprised when my server asked me out on a date — which never happens in Vancouver (if you’re single reading this, I know you feel me) — but it turned into a regular occurrence throughout my travels. I love Europe.

I respectfully declined the lovely young man, but felt very flattered of course!

On my way back home that evening, I stopped by a market to get my goodies, and when I was in line to pay, a man (maybe in his 40s) nicely dressed in a stylish striped long-sleeve T-shirt and wearing a beret totally made fun of me because it was so obvious I was not from there — what gave it away? I had a lock on my Herschel backpack.

I know… total nerd. I’ll pause for you to laugh at me.

After he poked fun, reminding me that a lock won’t stop someone from stealing my ENTIRE bag (LOL) he offered to walk with me for a bit.

“Where are you from?” he asked.

I replied, “Vancouver, Canada!”

“You must be vegetarian!  I hear all Canadian women from there are very healthy and like smoothies,” he said.

I had a good laugh and told him he wasn’t wrong! “But we don’t actually love kale as much as you might hear.”

I never did catch his name, it was beginning to get quite dark, so I wanted to get back to my dorm — he gave me some suggestions of where to check out and we said good night.

Across the street from my hostel was this cute cafe, St. Oberholz — plenty of healthy options to kick start your morning with (breakfast sandwiches, croissants, muffins, granola, breaky bars), also can you tell what drew me to it in the first place?

Since I really only had a full day to explore and see the major sites on my list, I wanted to allow myself a lot of time, so I planned out the points I wanted to go on Google Maps the night before.

I wanted my trip to be filled with stories and sightseeing, shopping wasn’t a priority.  I wanted a heart full of memories and experiences, not material — but I did bring myself home a couple of timeless pieces, so everyday I have a bit of Europe with me.

If you are interested in shopping, you can find a lot of funky shops in the Rosenthaler Platz area, on Rosenthaler Straße towards the Fernsehturm, and also another street I stumbled upon when I was heading to the Berlin Wall Memorial is Münzstraße — but you will find a lot of cool stores everywhere, these two just stood out the most for me.

The shops along there reminded me a lot of Gastown and Yaletown with unique clothing boutiques, stores filled with eclectic art and home decor.

Berlin TV Tower || Fernsehturm Berlin

A heads up for the tower:  you can ride all the way to the top for an apparently epic (I don’t use that word lightly) view of the city — but because it’s a huge tourist attraction, buy your tickets in advance.  When I went there was a huge line, but I wasn’t disappointed to miss out on that experience, I wanted to see Berlin on the ground.

Near the tower is Alexanderplatz, it’s a buzzing public square that’s a bit of a transit hub, has a cool fountain a lot of people were taking pictures with.  You can see that and the tower up close in my IG highlights titled “Germany” and “Germany P3.”

BERLIN WALL MEMORIAL