Tuesday, October 23, 2018

How to delay an international train by 20 minutes



Our next stop on our travels was Berlin, where we stayed in our first AirBnB – something I suggest doing if you have a big enough group as it can work out cheaper than hostels and you can end up with a pretty nice flat.

Steeped in history, our time in Berlin was spent visiting famous attractions such as Checkpoint Charlie, Brandenburg Gate, the Berlin Wall, the Reichstag and the Jewish memorial.

The last two are the ones I recommend if you are tight for time; the Reichstag was hugely impressive, and it’s pretty surreal  knowing you are standing in the spot that members of the Nazi’s stood in while Hitler gave one of his speeches just metres away.


The memorial to the murdered Jews, with a museum underneath which is very easy to miss, is a very interesting but emotional attraction to visit. The museum includes many personal stories of those murdered, details and photos of concentration camps including Auschwitz, while also having some gruesome letters that those Jewish wrote after leaving or returning various concentration camps.


Now, if you yourself are interrailing, I suggest from first-hand experience to be careful and not lose your interrail pass. Travelling from Berlin to Prague, I explained to the conductor I’d lost my pass, showing all the confirmation documents in an attempt to not have to pay an extra €120 for a ticket. After the conductor left and thinking I’d won the battle, I was then an hour later greeted by three fully loaded German police standing outside our carriage. Also trying to make me pay the extra €120, the train was halted to a stop for 20 minutes at the station, therefore affecting further trains, all due to my ability to lose my pass. Delaying as long as possible by repeatedly emptying my bags, the police clearly got so fed up of me that they disappeared, not to be seen again.



Tune in next blog to find out how our jobs as bouncers in Prague went...

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