berlin calling

spent four days in berlin on a whim. ry*nair had free tickets (literallY!) and i jumped at the chance to skip the country yet again. was fortunate that a family friend invited me to stay at his (empty) holiday home and i thoroughly enjoyed the sprawling apartment. can you imagine 1 x me in 300 square metres of space? i was rattling around the place :D

it's the longest time i've travelled alone and i managed to get myself all the way to berlin and back without incident, save the potential conman at the s-bahn, but more about him later. was initially a little apprehensive about solo trippin', especially to a brand new city. was in osaka on my own earlier this year but i'd been before and was familiar enough with the city. my thimble of japanese came in handy, too. berlin was a completely different story! hardly anyone spoke english and i couldn't read the menu :( obviously my biggest concern was not being able to communicate effectively in case of emergency but filling my tummy.

that said, i went on an alternative berlin tour my first morning there to orientate myself with the different neighbourhoods and public transport and save talking to some american tourists on the same tour, i didn't talk to anyone else the rest of my stay. before you think i'm a hermit-in-the-making, i did talk to the girl in the bakery where i bought breakfast in the mornings but all very practical interaction, nothing voluntary or social, if you get what i mean.

but, solo travel's an underrated concept. i really enjoyed being alone and the time out i got in berlin. haha, as if my time in stockholm's in such great demand when really, it isn't. yet it was great to be footloose and fancy free, exploring a vibrant city without a care in the world. plus, i'm glad that i'm secure enough to enjoy my own company. or maybe it's not security but an inherent misanthropy cultivated over years of being an only child ;) my mother was unamused when i suggested that maybe i was like those wolf-children, abandoned at birth and raised by wolves without any human interaction though. oops.

was pleasantly surprised by how affordable berlin was. even in the christmas markets where one would expect a blatant mark-up of the prices, capitalising on yuletide spirit and good cheer, the gluehwine / fries / currywursts /crepes were inexpensive and i ended up grazing my way through the city every day without a 'proper' meal because there just wasn't a need for one, although i probably ate more without realising it because a kebab / bratwurst mit brotchen / crepe every hour probably adds up to more than three square meals.

found authentic chinese food too and very happily ordered enough for four people. the waiter was horrified. and even more so when he cleared my empty plates. oops again.

so that was berlin! safely back in stocks and i'm thrilled that it's the last i've seen of skavsta in a long while. yay!

oh! i was telling you about the conman. so this random guy approached me when i was at the ticket machine (EVEN THOUGH THE ARE NO BARRIERS ON THE METRO, I STILL BOUGHT A TICKET *shoots meaningful look at my less scrupled friends*) and asked if i wanted to buy a ticket. well, duh. and he tried to sell me a ticket that had already been validated but he'd sneakily validated it upside down so the timestamp was semi-obscured by the print. couldn't fool my perfect eyesight though and i returned the ticket with a dirty look. the would-be conman then started exclaiming in mock embarrassment and repeatedly berated himself for being 'stupid'. needless to say, i ignored him and he continued to bang his head against my ticket machine. weirdo.