Wednesday at noon in Copenhagen. It is a bright and sunny day and it is flooding through the windows of the old and rustic train station. This is the first time either of us have taken a train in Europe and so at first we are a bit confused as to where to go and where to be, but quickly figured it out. As the train pulls out of Copenhagen I feel a slight ping in my heart, hoping that one day I will be lucky enough to come back.
We chug-a-lug through the picturesque winter countryside, the sun bright in our eyes. I listen to music and Corey pulls out his laptop to try and get at least SOME work done. An older Danish woman sits across from us eating a yogurt and cucumber sandwich that leaves a little white mustache on her upper lip. Soon a younger Danish woman comes into the cart and sits next to the elder. A contrast not only in age but in being as well. This woman and her orange-skin, rhinestone-nails, painted-eyebrows, thigh-high-boots is listening to Jon Bon Jovi as loud as it is humanly possible to on tiny headphones and sharing it with the 'less-than-thrilled' company around. Without implying too much of my personal opinion, I was strongly ashamed of my generation at that moment. I believe I could say the same for Corey too.
Our train was supposed to arrive in Berlin around 8:30 p.m. but because of the cold, rerouting and therefore missing connections, we pulled into the extensively massive Hauptbahnhof station at about 10 p.m. instead. It was weird because it was almost completely empty, however I guess that is to be expected at that time of night on a Wednesday. We try to figure out where the hell we are on a crappy little map in a book about traveling in Europe that I have. After deliberating, walking in the wrong direction and then coming back to 'point A' again, we finally grab our bearings and end up at our hotel, where I had myself a 'swank-attack' when entering the room as I had never been inside of something quite that luxurious before. Another world I'll tell 'ya (and I'll tell you all about it if you ask).
Hotel Tryp in Berlin. The swankiest of the swank (note how Corey 'demonstrates' the heated towel rack).
Berlin is HUGE. Someone once told me that I should have someone I know there, or someone to guide me around, and now I know why. It's not that it's easy to get lost but it is impossible to get everywhere you want to go. Especially in a condensed 3 day format. There are gems everywhere but they are so spaced out from one another that you can't possibly just 'walk around' for the day and think that you will see what you want to. You need to have a plan and a relative destination. At least that's what I think. However we did manage to see a lot and go many places. I just know that I am not satisfied and must go back to experience more, because there is always more in this city. More more more...
New Year's Eve in Berlin. I have never seen so many fireworks in my whole entire life. They started around 6 p.m. and lasted all throughout the night and into the morning. I feel it safe to say that 90% of the people out on the street had bought some kind of firework or cracker and so everywhere you turned something was popping or exploding. At first I thought it was annoying, but after a while became accustomed to it and actually wished I had some of my own.
Corey and I made it to east Berlin around 11 or so. We bought wine and beer at the gas station and wandered around the streets looking for the perfect place to be at midnight. About 5 minutes before that special time, people came out from everywhere and perched themselves over the canals setting up fireworks and beginning the countdown. It started with the boom from where I assume was Brandenburg Gates and then the sky was lit up in every direction with more booms and crackles than anyone could ever imagine. From bridge to bridge, balcony, rooftop and everywhere in between there were at least 10 people shooting fire into the night sky. Everyone was so happy and everyone was drunk. Happy New Year. 2011.
Fireworks on a bridge in East Berlin. NYE 2010.
I am slighty awkward talking about Berlin. There is too much to see and as I said earlier, I need to see more. I have that yearning to know what it feels like and right now I only know what it looks like. Which is amazing and incredible and large and intense and full of so much history and art and beautiful people. How can I possibly write about what it's like? So, here you receive a small depiction of my first impression and the forever-memorable new year's eve spent there. And, I hope (for my sake) that in the months to come I will be able to write about my return, and all the little details I discovered while within this world-of-its-own.
But wait, I haven't told you about Amsterdam yet.
