Brace yourselves. If I even say the half of all I want to say, this is going to be the longest post ever!
Germany, Here We Come!
So Friday morning, after having dropped the kids off for school, I was off of work for the weekend and free to leave for Berlin. And in true "Catherine-style", I waited til the last possible minute to pack. When I left to take the kids to school, my clothes were washing. And having 4 hours before my departure, I planned on coming back to the house, throwing them in the dryer, and then showering and getting ready. It would have been such a fool-proof plan if only I had remembered to take into account that our clothes dryer does not drain itself before I jumped into the shower... Thus meaning, I forgot to empty the reservoir, and while I was on my merry way getting ready, my clothes were lying sopping wet in the dryer. Fortunately, I did catch this in time, but in true "Catherine-style", it was last minute. So while having to wait an extra hour for my laundry, I opted to have a few cups of coffee. Well, two to be exact. And though it may not sound like much, it is for me.
...Now let's fast forward to when I am finally packed, met up with Carlos, and running behind the planned schedule to catch the bus to Bremen. The actual commute of traveling stresses me out anyways. Combine that with
Killing Time in Bremen
So after the bus ride to Bremen, Germany where we were catching our first train, we had a couple hours to kill. We opted to 1) eat, and 2) walk around and explore the city.
The first thing I noticed after stepping out into the city was all the cable cars. I don't know if it is all of Germany or just Bremen, but cable cars are a pretty happenin' way of getting around. The second thing I noticed walking down the street was the most awesome store ever called Sex Up Your Life. Ha ha... And I don't mean that in some 'kinky porn-addict' kind of way. It was much more classier... More of a 'If I ever had the body of a Playmate, I'd totally wear all of these outfits (for Halloween)' way. That's classier, right?! Haha... Anywho! No Judgement Coyote* here!
*A Nancy/Vanderbilt phrase. Think "Ackward is to Turtle as No Judgment is to Coyote." Get it?
So about the time we had finished a tasty Turkish dinner, it was nightfall. And still having an hour or so, we followed the crowd of people and headed toward the city center. There was both great shopping and beautiful old buildings. Most of the old buildings and churches were in the actual center--or what I assumed was the actual center--of Bremen. And just standing there in the square, taking in the 360 (degree) view of it all was absolutely amazing.
As a general side note, I am in love with old architecture. Especially so when it comes to churches. Just being surrounded by so much history blows my mind. And it is absolutely gorgeous. I don't understand why we don't build such beautiful churches still today in the US! I mean, forget about these big, gymnasium-looking mega churches and actually build the most beautiful monument you can in honor of your God! Yeah,... Anywho!
Also while in Bremen, it seemed that many of the kids were celebrating Sint Maatin. It looked to be exactly like the Sint Maarten we celebrated here in the Netherlands, but obviously on a different day. And in all the festivities, there was a small parade. So while in Bremen, we were treated to a festive atmosphere among the historically rich city center. It was so, ahh.... Great. I mean, I couldn't help but to wear a big
So yeah, Bremen was a great city to get to explore for a couple of hours until we caught our next train!
Death By Train Tracks
At about 7:15 that same Friday night, we were catching our first train from Bremen to Hannover, the station where we'd catch our final connection to Berlin. The commute to Hannover was scheduled to take a little over an hour, and we were going to have half an hour of downtime between trains there. ...But that is not quite how things worked out...
So however long into the trip to Hannover--I am not exactly sure because I was drifting in and out of sleep the whole time--the train slowed and came to a stop on the tracks. This is about the same time that I was waking up from my nap. After stopping for a few minutes, a lengthy announcement came over the speakers. One problem: It was in German, and only German. So Carlos and I had no clue what was going on. But something about the reactions of the other passengers told me that it was not a routine stop... As soon as we saw the fist BAHN (or train system) worker, we asked. However, the crewman obviously did not speak English either. And apparently, neither did anyone else on our (train) car. But after five minutes or so, the crewman managed to find a translator and came back to fill us in. What I understood from the broken English of the translator was: "A man kill himself. He jumped on tracks. We cannot go forward. We go back to Eyestrup--last station-- and they bus us to Hannover from there." Yeah... So apparently suicide by jumping in front of trains is big in this area. From my understanding, guns are too hard to get here, and so I guess the next, most convenient thing is the train... And still to this day, I am not sure whether or not it was specifically our train that hit the man or if it was maybe one ahead of us on the tracks... But coincidence that it was Friday the 13th?!
Either way, it was quite a long delay. By the time our train backtracked it to the nearest station, and enough buses to carry everyone away showed up at the Eyestrup station--which to me looked to be like BFE*, or well, in this case, BFG--there was no way we were making our next train in Hannover. And when we actually did make it to Hannover, there were no more trains to Berlin for the night. So we had to wait til, at earliest, the first train of the morning. But luckily (thanks to a Passenger Bill of Rights of sorts here), the BAHN gave us a voucher for later train tickets and put us up for the night in the InterCity Hotel. And to my delight, I had my very own room at this lovely hotel that I would never have been able to afford myself! So though the whole situation was very much unexpected, it wasn't too bad at all. If anything, it just gave us a chance to go out and see more of Germany!
*BFE= Bum F*ck Egypt (AKA the middle of nowhere)
Southern Comfort
So what does one--or well two, in this case--do when unexpectedly in Hannover for a night?! Well if you happen to be (or be with) a 21 year-old American who hasn't had a drink in a couple of weeks, you find the nearest bar! And that is exactly what we did!Just walking around Hannover, not knowing one way from the other, I found exactly what I was looking for! I caught a glimpse of a huge Jack Daniels patio umbrella and headed in that direction! When I got there, it is a total oasis--of Southern comfort! Somehow I believe I managed to come across the one American bar in Hannover, and Jack Daniels was their specialty! Being a Tennessean abroad, could I pass that up?? No!
So after a chill night drinking Lynchburg Lemonade, Caparinhas, and LITs surrounded by Germans (who presumably didn't speak too much English), we briefly explored the city. But I do mean briefly. Because the most exciting we came across was the Walk-up McDonald's window. But then again, after a few good-ole whiskey drinks, a Walk-Up McDonald's window is pretty freakin' exciting! Heh!
And yeah.... About that (first) 6'oclock train to Berlin...
Better Late Than Never!
We didn't exactly catch the first train of the morning to Berlin. Or the second for that matter. Actually, not even the third, fourth, or fifth... More like the first train after check-out time. Yeah, that is the one we caught.
So a little before noon, we were finally catching the last train to Berlin!
Since this this post is--and the next one surely will be--so long, I am going to divide then up. So to please continue to the next post to read more about (actual) Berlin!
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