Travelogue (Part 2)

Avignon

After Nice, our next stop was Avignon. Surprisingly, it was not that difficult to get around France with the trains. The TGV trains are the only ones that require reservations. In regional trains you can sit where ever you like.

Essentially, the main sight in Avignon is the Palace of the Popes. After you've seen that, the rest is optional. Originally we wanted to go on a day trip to Pont du Gard, an old Roman aqueduct but all the tours were booked. I would recommend that you reserve a tour ahead of time. Day two in Avignon was spent thinking of ways to fill the time. The weather was terrible while we were there as well. One night it rained and hailed, which caused it to be quite loud on the roof of the old hotel. In addition, there was thunder and lightning.

After two nights in Avignon, we headed to Nimes, where denim originated. The arena in Nimes was pretty well preserved. After Nimes we went to Arles, where we stayed for 2 nights. I thought Arles would have more to see, but actually it's quite a small town. They do have a lot of shops selling tourist kitsch though. After Arles came Aix-en-Provence, which is a university town. Aside from that, there weren't any "must sees". That's why we only planned to stay a night in that town. That brings me to the next stop, which was Cassis. Yay, I was so glad to get back to the beautiful coastal towns. After wandering a bit and consulting a map, we found a viewing point that was very relaxing. Probably spent an hour there just soaking in the scenery.
To complete the tour, we wound up back in Nice.

By the way, here are some random observations I noted when I was in France:

1. Some women in France wore these harem style pants that are puffy. Perhaps they will become popular in the States soon.
2. The French really do carry around loaves of baguettes in their hands.

Lessons I learned:

1. Pack some Airbornes. I developed a cough mid-way through the trip, which kind of spoiled the trip a bit because I wasn't feeling 100%. The cough was very dry. Airbornes might have helped keep me healthy.

So after Nice, my travel buddy and I parted ways. I went onto Berlin for 2.5 days and she went home and then to Munich. My experience at the Berlin airport was somewhat comical, but not really. After disembarking from the plane, I did not pick up my luggage because I thought I could do that after I exited. That's the way the Frankfurt airport is organized. Anyway, that was a bad move because I could no longer turn back due to security reasons. So now I had to ask around to find out where my luggage would end up. A Lufthansa employee pointed me in the direction of the Zoll/Gepaeckausgabe, which was in another terminal and quite hard to get to based on her description. I wandered some more, asked some more people until I finally found my way to this depressing looking grey trailer where they bring all abandoned luggage. Fortunately for me, by backpack arrived safely at the Gepaeckausgabe and I was reunited with my belongings. Wunderbar!

My next adventure was to get to Schoenhouse Apartments where I would be spending my next 2 nights. I took the TXL bus into town. Got off at the Alexanderplatz stop, then took the U2 up one stop to Rosa-Luxemburg station. Exited the station, got onto the street level, crossed Tor Street and then found the apartments. I highly recommend this place if you are traveling with a larger group and want to live like a Berliner for a couple days. For my apartment, it cost me 75 EUR a night, which is not bad relative to a night at a hotel. The place is fully furnished and feels like a German person's home. There's a washing machine, microwave, stove, oven, fridge and even a dishwasher! Only thing that was missing was shampoo. I wish they provided that.

Locationwise, it's not that central, but it's still doable if you know how to take the subway. In addition, there are many resources nearby such as a pharmacy and a supermarket. Also, I really liked how they decorated the apartment. When I checked in, I was upgraded to an apartment that could sleep 3 people, so I really had more room than I needed. Finally, there is a little cafe in the lobby that served food until 7 PM. I had dinner there 2 nights in a row because it was affordable and convenient. The pasta the first night tasted better than on the second night though, so it was hit or miss. My only gripe is that the booklet that's left in the apartment stated that it was possible to call up the kitchen from your room and order a meal that you could pick up and enjoy in your room. Unfortunately when I tried to do that, I was told that everything was "self-service" and that I would have to go to the kitchen to place my order. That was a discrepancy which I pointed out to the person on the phone, but to no avail. You can be sure I left that feedback on the comments form I handed over once I checked out. Oh, one more quirk about the place is that they want you to pay upfront for your entire stay at check in. I thought that was kind of weird. In accounting speak, that's a prepaid asset on my books and unearned revenue on Schoenhouse Apartments' books.

Overall, I found that Berlin is a very artsy city with many affordable places to eat and drink. Coming straight from Nice, the prices in Berlin were so cheap! I think they're even cheaper than in San Francisco, but then again, the cost of living here is not exactly cheap. I liked wandering through the Hackesche Hofe, with its tasteful stores. I even ended up getting a souvenir - an long sleeved T-shirt with the Ampelmann figure on it. The T-shirt is very thick and of a good quality.
Also, I cannot say enough good things about the chai at Einstein Kaffee!! Their chai latte is so smooth, thick and creamy. I consider myself a chai afficionado because I've had them at multiple places here in the States. For example I've tasted chai at Starbucks (too sweet), Peet's (not sweet enough) and Coffeebean (closest thing to Einstein Kaffee so far). Go to Einstein Kaffee in Berlin if you get a chance. You can be sure I'll be back if I find myself in Berlin again anytime soon.

One observation when I landed in Germany is that it was suddenly "louder" in my head because I could finally understand what the people were talking about was they stood around me waiting for the connecting flight. When I was in France, I didn't really understand a word they were saying, so I just tuned them out. However, when I was in Germany I had an experience similar to what Mel Gibson went through in the move "What Women Want". He started hearing everything that women were thinking silently to themselves. Funny!

Well, that brings me to the end of my travelogue. Where to next year?