My Take, By Tamara

You’ll want to read on to hear about another interesting day in Berlin, but first let me tell you that unless a rice miracle occurs and the concierge in Budapest has access to a universal adapter, I will lose all ability to communicate with friends and family back home. So if you don’t see posts in the next few days, never fear, I’m fine, just disconnected (not by choice). Intrigued? Read on…

Error No.1: My inability to figure out ticket machines in foreign countries cost me 60 euros today. It pains me to think about it! I have a mental block when it comes to those machines and the one this morning was no different. I couldn’t figure it out and hopped on the train anyway. I made it 4 out of 5 stations before a ticket collector came into the car. When I asked him how much he advised me that there was a 60 euro fine for boarding a train in Berlin without a ticket. We were fast approaching my station so I just got out the money and paid him, wondering if he was some scammer collecting tickets. But he gave me a receipt for my money so I think he was the real deal. I found the one thing where SEPTA actually beats a train system in Europe – you can buy a ticket on the train! Of course there are ticket machines everywhere in Berlin so they’re really isn’t a need to buy on the train but it would be a nice alternative especially for foreigners! By the way, on the way home, trying to figure the machine again (I wasn’t about to board another train without a ticket), I enlisted the aid of a German who was surprised that the station I was heading to didn’t come up on the machine when I tried to buy a ticket. He promised to tell someone about it and get it fixed. LOL, I was just glad to have a native agree with me about the unnecessary confusion with those machines.

The Berlin Marathon was this weekend and it ended up having a big impact on my day in Mitte (the city center). Several roads were shut down for the marathon, but not only to automobiles. Pedestrians couldn’t cross either, so I had to use the subway tunnel at a few intersections and walk a block or two out of my way several other times. Then I’m quite certain the Marathon is the reason nearly all of the shops on Ku’damm were closed, even KaDaWe, the super awesome department store I was looking forward to shopping in. Then the marathon also packed out the restaurant I had planned to eat dinner in so I settled for room service. (Have to get up early for my flight to Budapest.)

Error #2 – the BIG one. For the second time this year, I left my phone in my back jeans pocket and forgot to take it out when sitting down on the, you guess it, the toilet. My phone fell into a clean bowl and I immediately fished it out but as of now it’s not working. Thus the needed rice miracle noted in the first sentence. If the rice doesn’t dry out my phone, I will be without my major source of communication for the whole week. I’ve thought about what that means and it’s not pretty!! No alarm clock, no phone, no Facebook or Instagram, no checking in at all the neat new places I’m going to see in Budapest, no checking-in for my flight home, no checking the weather. The list goes on and on. I will be so upset if I have to go a week on vacation without my phone but I’ll survive and make the best of it. I guess I’ll remember how we used to do all those things before phones became so smart.

My other source of communication, this MAC, is also in jeopardy of being shut down because I forgot that the adapter I have for Europe is only 2-prong and my laptop uses a 3-prong plug. If I can’t find a universal adapter in Europe, I won’t even be able to blog. UGH! This is a travel blog and I’m traveling, so therefore I should be blogging.

We shall see what happens but know again that if you don’t hear from me, I’m all right and I’ll share my pics when I get back home. But I truly hope that doesn’t happen.

One of today’s highlights? The Fassbender and Rausch chocolaterie I found across the corner from Gendarmen Markt. It had a volcano-like fountain made entirely of chocolate and so many delicious chocolate confections. It smelled fabulous inside. I treated myself to caramelized almonds in dark chocolate – wunderbar!

Just a few pics today from around Berlin – but look for lots more to come from Budapest, whether in real-time or delayed a week by my loss of communication.

The horses atop the Brandenburg Gate, also the finish line for today’s Berlin Marathon.

A view of the Berliner Dom

A more panoramic view of the Berliner Dom and the Spree River