We decided it was time to travel and Berlin was our location....we also decided to go over 4th of July (which is just a regular day here in Germany)...and we also decided this on June 28!!! LOL Preplanning just went out the window. It was ok though...I got on the awesome Facebook group and found a recommendation for an apartment. I got online and looked...wasn't a bad price and only had 2 left...no credit card required so I booked it. later I read there was a cancellation charge...how I am unsure since I didn't give my info but none-the-less I didn't have any intentions of cancelling. I looked more at some tips and learned that to go up in the dome of the Reichstag building (the gov't building), you must pre-book an appointment time so I did that.
The time came and we headed up to Berlin...another debate for us was whether to take the train or drive. I had heard the horror stories of the "staus" (aka traffic jam that can last HOURS in Germany). I had also looked up ticket prices and since it was such short notice it was going to be 383 EURO!!! I did try the L'tur website which is known for discounts for last minute travel but it wouldn't work for me. Anyway in the end we decided to drive (for us it turned out to be a great decision).
We get to the apartment which is a beautiful, bright yellow building. However, the rest of the neighborhood was quite sketchy and run down. The people walking around weren't making me comfortable (sorry if that is judgmental). I walk into the apartment building and realize I am not sure how to "check-in" so I go back outside and call the number on the confirmation email. No answer and clearly I had reached a voicemail in German...hmmm...so I call back 3 more times and finally he answers. I ask "Sprechen Sie English (Do you speak English?)...he replies "um...nicht so gut" (not so good). Wonderful...I know some German but asking how I can check-in to my apartment that I booked is not in my vocabulary LOL so I try it in English anyway. He actually does know English but it isn't great...it was good enough to let me know that he had none of my information and would need to call me back. The Heavens opened up and we saw our way out of this potentially bad situation. He calls me back and starts trying to get our information...I say that's ok we found somewhere else. Who knew Holiday Inn Express were international haha. Luckily once I had talked to Booking.com (the booking agent that we went through), it all got cleared up and we had the cancellation charge waived. I am gun-shy to book another apartment...got to get some better tips. We called Holiday Inn Express City Center and they had availability...were in a pretty central location (for the things we wanted to visit) and were priced very reasonably (79 Euro a night) and also included a cold breakfast bar. We get there and check in then head out for our adventure.
That will be my next blog on my other computer where the pictures are located haha
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