Catch Up - Sunday 24th August

Somewhat ambitiously, we got up at 8:45am for a 10:25am train. This left us really rather rushed through breakfast and we had to hurry to the metro station to get the underground to Bruxelles-Midi train station.  We managed to get into a carriage, although being an intercity ("IC") train it was super busty. We're living life on the edge, employing the risky strategy of not making train reservations. This can be problematic and could leave us seatless if I goes wrong!

When we crossed the Belgian-German border, Mitch got especially excited and kept shouting "Deutschland! Deutschland!"  We changed trains at Cologne, grabbing some food at the station, and arrived in Berlin in the afternoon.

The U-Bahn underground was too tricky to comprehend so we walked to hostel. When a woman stopped to offer us directions, we weren't exactly filled with confidence when she said "that's far away", especially as at this point we'd already walked for twenty minutes. Our bags were heavy, and it was a relief to find The Grand Hostel (Templehofer Ufer 14), and extra satisfying when we got a free welcome drink.

The room was the only one on our trip to not have bunk beds, which we made the most of. The showers were separate, and shared, as was the loo, but we're pros at this by now. 

As German supermarkets close on Sundays, we patrolled the local district for an eatery, eventually picking a Sri Lankan/Indian restaurant where we enjoyed a good curry before turning in for the night.