It is Wednesday, Jan. 28, a frigid and sunny day in Boston as I prepare for my semester abroad in Berlin, Germany. There were some hiccups, but as far as clunky travel stories go, this was not the worst.
As my red-eye to Frankfurt am Main gets ready to land, a nice German man that I can only assume was the captain, informed me that my train to Berlin had been cancelled, but I was in luck! The first train to Berlin left Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof [Hbf] (central train station) at 7 a.m., just a mere 80 minutes after we landed. I just had to hope the first S-Bahn (commuter rail) train from the airport left on time at 6:20 a.m.
I leave Frankfurt Hbf unscathed; the German trains are still maintaining their punctual record. In a sleep-deprived stupor, I was able to wander through Berlin to my hostel, which I have learned since arriving is the second-best-rated hostel in Europe.
My luck continued as my bed was ready as I tumbled in the door at 11:30 a.m., well before my 3 p.m. check-in and my original arrival time. In proper European fashion, my bunk was on the fourth floor and there was no elevator, leaving me and 75 pounds of luggage for the worst step-climber workout of your life.
However, in my first days here, I was able to sleep through the jetlag and get a cup of proper coffee at a lovely little cafe called The Impala, the less tame of the impalas and understandably so; the food was great and cheap. I also managed to visit Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate) and the Bundestag, the house of the German Federal Parliament.
Friday night is trivia night at the hostel, let’s see if I can kick some European butt. Next week, I will update on my swift trivia victories for KSC and my homestay family. Tschüss!
Timothy Fitzpatrick can be contacted at
tfitzpatrick@kscequinox.com
