After a delayed bus leaving Krakow and a terrible 8 hours sleep without going to the toilet, for reasons I shall leave to your imagination, I got off the bus in Berlin at 8.30am. I sat on a bench, rolled a cigarette, phoned my Mum and cried! It may have been the lack of sleep but I didn't seem to have the brain power to fathom how to leave the station for my hostel. After calming down I decided a taxi was going to be well worth the 20 euros, and it was. Straight into my hostel and into my bed, where I spent pretty much the entire day, too blue to face Berlin.
Waking up the next day and feeling slightly more optimistic I headed out to see some sights. Navigating the underground train system to the main station I chose to start at the Reichstag Building. Grabbing a fresh pretzel for lunch at the bargain price of a euro, I strolled along through the water fountains and park area until I arrived at the Brandenburg Gate. Copping a squat on part of this ancient monument to eat, drink and make a plan for my next destination. Whilst taking some photos for the collection a happy Irish guy summoned me over to join a free walking tour of Berlin which would encompass the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe, Hitlers Bunker, the department for transport by air (secret Luftwaffe HQ), Checkpoint Charlie and the Berlin Wall amongst other places along the way and ending at Gendarmenmarkt to see the almost identical French and German Cathedrals - naturally the German building is slightly taller!
Having met fellow travellers Ali, Brett and Kelly on the tour we decided to grab a coffee in the square and chatted about the adventures we'd had so far. After we had finished our drinks Ali had to dash to catch her flight back to Milan and Kelly was headed to her hostel, so Brett and I decided to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening checking out the Topography of Terror and the museum underneath the Memorial for the Jews.
The next day after booking my bus to Dresden, I wanted to check out the manmade waterfall at Viktoriapark in Kreuzberg. So armed with my book, I followed google maps for an afternoon of relaxation in the sun. Looking up the waterfall to the liberation monument at the top was like something from the opening scenes of a Disney movie. I bought some lunch and ascended to the very top where I spent a couple of hours sat on the statue reading in the sun surrounded by tourists and locals alike.
Next morning it was time to pack up and ship out! I made my way to the underground station, and managed to not only navigate myself around some platform closures, but also help a German man on his way to a meeting too. A very proud moment in my travelling so far!
Arriving in Dresden I ate some lunch and then took to the pavement once more, the map.me app open and guiding me along. It only took about 5 minutes before the ship came into view and I happily checked in and got settled in my cabin.
Later on I took a walk along the river Elbe on the cycle path that conveniently connected my ship to the main square. Here I was astounded by the incredible architecture and the feeling of history all around. Choosing 'Dresden 1900' for dinner so that I could be seated below the Frauenkirche, I picked something from the 'Old Dresden' menu which sounded halfway normal - Roast pork and roast potatoes with bacon cabbage. For the first few bites it was very nice and then unfortunately the saltiness kicked in and that was the only flavour I was left to endure for the rest of the meal. God bless the apfelschorle! (Better known in England as Appletizer).
After dinner I ambled through the square when I heard music I recognised, following the tune I came across two men on the cobbles. One with a brass instrument of some kind and one seated at a grand piano. I stood a while listening to the melodies that made me feel rather emotional before walking back to the ship. I was suddenly aware of how much the temperature had dropped and made the decision to go and purchase a few slightly warmer clothes the next day.
After a couple of hours in Primark and lunch I decided to send some of my more summery clothes home, and so began the search for the allusive post office. Even Brett, who was by this time in Dresden too, was sending me google maps of possible postal locations. Once found and a DHL delivery box in hand I met up with Brett and we went in search of a beer garden by the river.
Afterwards we set off to find the famous dairy 'Pfunds Molkerei' to have an ice cream but on arrival we soon realised they no longer sell the delectable cones we were after. Although it was still an amazing place to see and I was a little sad that we weren't allowed to take photos. Onwards we went to 'England England' for dinner, where we indulged in high tea made up of sandwiches, scones with jam and cream, biscuits and tea that defeated the both of us. Full to the brim we decided to head to the river to get some sunset pictures of the Dresden skyline and from there did a little sightseeing, including the Zwinger Palace, before ending the night with beers (and Fantas for me) at a bar just off the main square.
Up bright and early the following morning I made my way back to the infamous post office with my parcel of clothes bound for home, before meeting Brett at the station to take a trip to Bad Schandau for some hiking! For those of you that know me, you have probably just fallen off your chairs at the prospect of me hiking - well pick yourselves up and read on because hike I did!
Once we arrived at the station we had to get a little ferry to take us to the other side of the river and into the town of Bad Schandau, from here we wandered until we found Rudolf Sendigs elevator, a 50 metre high steel tower linking the town to the village of Ostrau. At the top of the elevator there is an enclosure that was housing one sleepy Lynx. We walked on towards the National Park passing through the small village and a resort of some sort, where we used a very posh toilet that we probably weren't supposed to, until we reached the edge of the park and found a map. From here we roughly planned a route for the day that would take us through wooded areas, up hundreds of steps, through the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, up ladders on cliff faces, which I was certain would quite literally be my downfall, to the very top of the Schrammsteine Range.
The views were incredible and worth every single step we had taken! We made our way across the range, avoiding a lady armed with a metal detector that she clearly had no idea how to use but who provided us with a lot of laughs, and began our descent. Luckily there were no ladders on the way down but a fair amount of steps, most of which had seen better days, that zigged and zagged through the woods. Making a brief detour to the Kleine Bastei viewing platform above the village of Schmilka to look up the river. From this panoramic viewpoint it was hard to believe we had walked that far. After resting our feet for a little while we rejoined the path bound for Schmilka, a place that had now become something of a private celebration for the pair of us and will remain so well into the future. Finally back on a paved surface we headed for the ferry and the train back to Dresden, where myself and Brett would part ways to continue our solo travels of Europe.
I picked up a large English breakfast tea from Starbucks to aid me in my packing and started my final walk along the cycle path back to the ship for my last night on board before setting out for Prague the next day.