Berlin

I have now made my way to Gdansk in Poland. But first - Berlin!

I spent four nights in Berlin, staying with a couple from Couchsurfing that I was introduced to via my host in Lubeck. We had a good time, spending evenings playing the board game Settlers of Catan (I won two out of three of the games).

My days in Berlin were mostly spent investigating various sights related to the Berlin Wall. Having been to the Baltics, I have been to places that were behind the "Iron Curtain", so to speak, but it was very interesting to be in a place where that barrier was a very visible reality of life. I also got to browse some of the Christmas markets there in the city (they opened across Germany this past Monday, I'm told). Ate too much tasty food.

Caught the train to Gdansk early this morning. Well, more precisely, caught the train to Szczecin, where I had five minutes to find my next train, with no signs anywhere indicating what trains were on what platforms, so I took it on faith from a guy pointing vaguely in the direction of that one and saying "Gdansk" that that was the right one. I asked a couple of other people, and they seemed fairly certain, but I was still a bit nervous, though settled in for the five and a half hour train ride anyways. I was then joined in my compartment by a reggae musician from Jamaica, who, when entering the compartment, also asked if the train was going to Gdansk, and my answer was "I hope so". We had a nervous hour or so until the conductor came around to check our tickets, and since we weren't thrown off the train, we must have been on the right one, so we relaxed after that and had some good conversation.

Eventually the train pulled into Gdansk, and I found my way to my hostel. Then I headed out again to meet up with a local Couchsurfer for dinner, and we had a lovely meal at a nice restaurant, where I had hazelnut hot chocolate, mushroom soup, pierogies with wild boar and mushrooms in a rosemary and bacon sauce, followed by creme brule with lemon sorbet for dessert - and all for a very reasonable price!

Now I'm back at the hostel, and itching to get to bed, since I had to get up at 6am this morning. Goodnight!