Happy Birthday Bryan, Happy Birthday...

I am starting to realize this is probably a good idea to break these days up...this would have been one massive entry! I continue to the anniversary of the day of my birth. I warn you, it is probably not what you expect for an American's 21st birthday...

31/03

Happy 21st birthday!
I got up at 7:30 and left the hostel with Pat and Katie. We walked the way we came the day before, but made some stops along the way (phew...). We stopped at a bakery and got some breakfast. I had an eclair with OJ. Good stuff. We made it to the Hbf and Pat needed some cash from the ATM. We got to the ATM and Pat did his thing, but the ATM was taking forever! It eventually got to the point to where I said goodbye to them at the ATM and they had to run to make their train and I waited for the money. A couple seconds after they left, the money spit out and I made a mad dash to their train to try and catch them before they left. I made it, and got them the money. Lots of excitement for early in the morning! Once they left, I was alone again in a foreign city, not knowing the language. Neat-o. I stopped at an O2 store and bought more credit for my phone...I hope it lasts longer! I ventured off into the city and I walked down to the Brandenburg Gate where I spied a tour bus similar to the one I had taken in Dublin. I figured I had a load of time and could part with the money to take a tour, since I really liked the one in Dublin. I got on sat up on top. It was a gorgeous day and I took full advantage of the pleasant weather. Our tour guide was Lazlo and he conducted the tour in German and English. For the first half of the tour, what he conducted in English was solely for my sake, as I was the only one on the bus who spoke English. Awesome stuff. He did well to not speak directly to me when he spoke in English, as that would have been awkward. I saw a good portion of sights, including the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, the Berliner Dom, Alexanderplatz, Checkpoint Charlie, and other things as well! Once done with the tour, I asked my tour guide where I should go in the city, seeing as I didn't have a lot of time. He pretty much told me I was travelling around wrong and that I should have just stayed in two places for two weeks and If I didn't do that, I would be better off staying in the US. Well, awesome. It definitely made me think...Am I doing the right thing by travelling this much?? It set the tone for the afternoon. I walked around Unter der Linden (the main road by the Gate) and walked to Museum Island, where there are a lot of museums (not free)...I didn't stay long because I was quite hungry and had to pee. I stopped at Einstein Kaffeehaus because I remembered Jon saying we might stop there in Bonn so I was going to check that out. Right before I stopped at the coffeehouse, I wanted to see if I could find the US embassy right next to it. I was quite confused because there were German police all over that location and I was unsure if I could go around it. I tried asking one of the officers but he only spoke German and he didn't understand me. I opted to just going to Einstein and I had a turkey sandwich (which came with mayo, gross!! Justine, you would be proud...I suffered through it.) and a latte, which was very good! I plan on going to a souvenier shop to get a flag before heading back to the Hbf. I really don't want to miss my train! I was able to call Justine and my family for a little bit on the way back to the Hbf. I realized that it must be so expensive to call the US with this SIM card. I just used all my minutes and I didn't even talk for that long...no more using this card for me.
I stayed at the Hbf for way too long and I wasted a lot of my time in Berlin...It was hard trying to do things without any company and trying to do it for free. I was also carrying around my backpack the whole time. I could have explored Berlin a lot more, but I didn't know what to do with myself. I walked around the station a lot and ate at McDonalds (it is cheaper) and pretty much didn't do a whole lot. I did some crosswords. I shouldn't make this mistake again... and I hopefully won't do this in Paris. I will have Molly to show me around and stuff. Train comes, and I see this group of kids walk past me and I think to myself 'Gosh, I am going to be stuck with them...' Well, I find out I don't have a couchette like I thought, I only have a regular seat the whole night. I am also with those damn kids. They are young (15 and younger) kids from Berlin. The first thing they ask me is if I speak any German; I say no, and they reply...So you can't understand anything we say?? and I say...yes... and they laugh. Great...and to top it off, they brought their own alcohol to get drunk with. Fantastic! Shoot me now. Happy 21st birthday to me.