Germany

Berlin

Again, you should know by now that I live life spontaneously. I decided to go to Berlin on a whim when I found a cheap flight from Bucarest to Berlin for 5 Euro with Ryanair. I couldnt believe I was finally getting to go to this much anticipated city full of history and culture and at Christmas time, for 5 Euros. I had some friends in Germany who I planned to visit and with a week in between my arrival and my flight to Scotland, I planned to spend a few days in Berlin and a few days in Hamburg. I had organised a couch host for Berlin and was due to stay two nights with Yumiko from Japan. So far on my trip I hadnt actually stayed with any locals apart from Ruxandra in Cluj-Napoca but It was still super interesting to meet people who had moved here. Yumiko made me feel at home immeditaley and we got on well. I spent my first day walking from her place in the hip area of Prenzlauerberg towards Fredrichstrasse where I planned to see the famous Checkpoint Charlie and to hang out with my yoga sister Franzisca. That evening i attended a couchsurfing meeting at a local bar close to Yumikos place, which she joined too. It was great fun to introduce her to the couchsurfing community especially as I was her first guest and she was just getting into the experience.

​Over the next few days in Berlin both before and after going to Hamburg, I explored the city from all sides including Alexanderplatz, Tiergarten, Brandenburg Gate, The Berlin Wall, East Side Gallery and even visited a few museums including the super cool DDR museum (8 euro online), Topography of Terror(free), Otto Weidts museum (free) and Anne Franks museum (5euro). I did a lot of my sightseeing on my last day in Berlin via the Hop on Hop off City Sightseeing (20euro) which included two large routes which showed me a greater view of the city. I even got to reunite with Anthony who I had met in Serbia, Bosnia and Poland. I had some nights out with couchsurfers and met some amazing people, while I was there and organised two meet ups, one at Mein Haus Am See and one at Belushis where I was staying on return from Hamburg. Berlin was an incredible place and I was only sorry I didnt have longer to explore more of the vast city including the Christmas markets which were due to open when I left. Next time, Next time!

Hamburg

The idea of going to Hamburg came when a friend of mine who I had met in Latvia invited me to stay. He assured me it was even better than Berlin and I would arrive just in time for the quirky Christmas markets. I took a Bla Bla Car from Berlin to Hamburg and when I got to Hamburg I had a slight mishap with the trains. I boarded the wrong train which I confused for the local train. It was in fact the long distance train from Munich which did not stop at my friends place. After a bit of confusion I finally took the right train back and reunited with my friend Sean. He took me to his flat which was beautiully located on a corner street in the hip area of Sternscanze. He took me around the city, showing me some of the coolest street art and we ended up at the St Pauli Christmas markets which included many naughty gft stalls and even a strip tent, which was so famous here. Over the next few days we explored the city on foot, went to flea markets, Scandinavian Christmas Markets and lots of quirky cafes and restaurants. Hamburg reminded me a lot of Vancouver or Portland and It definitely had that X Factor which made it stand out from other cities. I was so happy to finally get to see another city in Germany and get to visit not only one Christmas market but four of them.