After a long bus and ferry arrived I arrived in Berlin. The bus station was busy, dirty and full of all sorts of people. I was super hungry and went to order McDonald's only to be rudely told that they didn't take visa cards. If I knew this was going to be the first of many encounters with rude people that night I would have jumped on a bus and left Berlin.
I knew my hostel was only around 2km away and saw it on the way into the bus station. I hopped into a taxi and wasn't able to give him an address (which was stupid of me). I told him that the hostel was only a 1km down the road, he mumbled something in German and we sped down the road. I realised on the way that we were going in the wrong direction and was to scared to approach him about it so I told him to pull over. I got charged £19 for a five minute taxi ride. He would of had to be one of the rudest people I have ever met and I have never been happier to get away from someone in my life.
I now ended up being a 35 minute walk away from my hostel. I considered ordering another taxi but was to scared to come across the same man so decided to hike my way home with two bags. With only screen shots of maps on my phone I tried to navigate the way back. For the first half an hour I was heading the right way until I found myself completely lost. I was wearing the biggest coat and dripping in sweat (gross) all the while people were staring at me like a poor backpacker. It was around 11pm, there were drunk German men everywhere, it was pitch black and I was feeling pretty miserable. I was to scared to ask any of the locals on the street for directions so went into a pizza shop. The nicest young German guy who could hardly speak any English offered to call me a taxi. Over the trip I have instantly fallen in love with any young guy who has been kind to me in the midst of chaos- he was another one of my victims.
I was now feeling better knowing that there were some kinds ones out. I got into the taxi and gave the tax driver the right address this time. Everything was going well until he told me that he didn't take Visa cards. I asked him if we could find an ATM and he looked at me like I asked him something ridiculous. We found an ATM and I ran out to get the money as fast as I could and then found out the ATM wasn't accepting visa cards- come on life give me a break! I had a crazy taxi driver waiting for me and probably charging me by the second. I considered running for my life but then remembered I would still be in Berlin and that no one would help me. So I got back in the taxi and had to break the news to my taxi driver- he didn't take it well. I gave the man a tip and for the second time of the night was happy to never have to see his face again.
If this wasn't bad enough I arrived to my hostel and was greeted by the rudest staff member ever. He literally gave me my key, pointed to a door and didn't explain anything about the hostel. I regrettably booked a ten bed mixed dorm and what I didn't realise was that this hostel was also used as accommodation for homeless people-I guess the name says it all (sleep cheap hostel). I arrived to my dorm to find nine gross, alcoholic and smelly old men that I was going to have to share the dorm with. The man below me sneezed literally every ten seconds. I could feel all the diseases spreading across the room and seriously wouldn't be surprised if I woke up dead. I slept with my valuables in my hand and was hoping that my whole backpack would still be there in the morning.
I woke up the next day trying to stay positive at the fact that I would have another day and night there. I thought I might as well see Berlin while I had the chance so I headed out to the city. There is a cheap bus that loops around the city and passes the main attractions which I spent most of the day on. I visited Museum Island, Berlin Cathedral, a funky market and strolled around the streets until I couldn't deal with all the people anymore. I tried to find the East Side Galley but everyone that I asked gave me the wrong directions. This sucked because I really wanted to see the Berlin Wall and doubt I will be rushing back to Berlin anytime soon.
Somehow I managed to get myself home on the public transport. I was staring at a map for literally half an hour trying to work out what line to get back. I wasn't going to ask anyone for directions so I just hopped on the tram line that looked closest to the hostel. There was a young man on the tram who was the only person that didn't look like they hated the world so I asked him if it was the right way. He hardly spoke English but told me the way. Meanwhile everyone else on the tram was just staring at me. I made it home in one piece and back to my hostel dorm where an Indian man was staring at me and another man was bringing in his bulk supply of beer.
Berlin is a beautiful city but the fact that I was having such a bad week made me not appreciate the city as much as I could have. If I was to come back to Berlin I would stay in a 5 star hotel and try and avoid as many people as I could. It was definitely the worst part of my trip so far and I was looking forward to getting far far way from there.
