I find it strange that I had fewer problems getting to my hostel here than getting anything in Paris. I'm essentially illiterate here. The signs aren't really in English & German - they're for the most part just in German. And my attempts to ask "sprechen sie englisch?" just gets "ja"s in response and then more German. BUT... at least people are really trying to help when I don't even ask for it (which I have to say really made me feel a little better about continuing this trip.)
This morning on the way to the airport I really didn't feel like coming to Berlin... I just wanted to go home. Paris really sucked the will to keep traveling out of me - as crazy as that sounds! I usually love traveling but somehow people's attitudes there just wore me down and really made me question why I would ever want to not be in Canada... and then I started thinking about all of the other places I've traveled to and I realized that I've never felt this way before (other than maybe last time I was in Paris.)
I sat in the plane, feeling sorry for myself, put on some LCD Soundsystem and with the song All My Friends it somehow all seemed to come together. I'm definitely feeling better and enjoying this somewhat - so far - alienating experience.
Today I walked around quite a bit and saw some pretty crazy things, waited in some pretty crazy long lines and was pretty cold too. I think I need to find a sweater and some shoes. I've talked to a few people so far but for the most part feel like this may be a hard and lonely three days if I don't learn at least a few more words of German. My initial thought on this city is that it's a little strange. You can tell that a lot of it got destroyed during the war and they are still working on rebuilding it. With that in mind, a lot of the buildings are fairly recent and there are a lot of apartment buildings everywhere. I've only visited two main areas in the city so far so maybe this impression will quickly change once I explore some more.
Also, so far my hostel room is empty. Which is kind of disappointing. On the upside it's extremely clean, organized and probably the nicest hostel I've ever stayed in. [Can I hear a woot woot for the HUGE lockers right next to your bed, with locks?!] I'm concerned that it's cleanliness may translate into being a little less 'entertaining'... but I've still got hope.
Tonight I'm planning on going out. I haven't decided where yet. I have a list of a few places to go to. I may try to find some people in the hostel to see if anyone is up for some good old techno.
And with that here are more Paris pictures I posted on flickr yesterday (I'm doing them in batches of 5... if I have time before heading out tonight I may post some more.)
Another one from my Saturday Shopping set:
I was waiting to meet up with Ryan B and got tired of taking shots of monuments... so I turned to tourists:
Taken in the park in front of Les Invalides:
Random parade shots:
2 comments:
STILL rebuilding from the war? That can't possibly be right...can it? Glad to hear that you're in a better mood. Try to find some good music while you're there!
I'm excited to see some more shots... Especially if you push yourself a just a little bit more. :)
Have fun!
Well, a lot of it has already been rebuilt - there's one building that I know of that remains half destroyed and it's going to stay that way. [for shock value and all - people like seeing bombed churches you know?] But in general, you can tell that the city's undergone a lot of changes in the last 60 years. I'll write more about this in my next blog entry hopefully.
There are TONS of cranes all over the skyline here - it seems like you can't take a picture without at least one crane being in the background. So maybe they aren't rebuilding so much anymore - maybe it's more of an expansion?
There are tons more shots... the further I get into the Paris set the more 'daring' it gets I think... I haven't looked at all of them yet. Berlin so far not so good for photography.
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