And we're off!

This week, my blogs will be about my trip to Germany! Check back each day for more information about our holiday!

On Saturday 18 February, Whitney and I left for Berlin. We left Clermont at 4:30pm and were supposed to arrive in Paris Bercy at 7:57 and leave from Paris de l'Est at 8:20. 23 minutes to get off the train, change stations, and board the next train. Doable, says the woman selling us our tickets, if you know how to navigate Paris. Luckily, Whitney is familiar with the metro and says she can get us there. While we're on the train though, Whitney is getting nervous thinking that the metro may take too long to get us there, so we decide to go ahead and pay more to take a cab to the next station just for safety's sake. Unfortunately, while we were on the train, the conductor comes on the intercom and informs us that we are running 10 minutes late. 10. Minutes. Late. We did not have 10 minutes to spare. We begin freaking out, because it's impossible to change stations in 10 minutes. By the time we actually arrive at Paris Bercy it is 8:13. We take a cab "très vite"to the other station, hoping that the other train is running late too. Arrive at Paris Est at 8:38. Train has left the station.

We go talk to the ticket people to try and get the situation figured out. Luckily for us, we were dealing with the nicest people in all of Paris. They gave us new tickets to Berlin for free and a free hotel room because the next train didn't leave until the morning. It was a wonderful blessing.

So Sunday 19 February, we really leave for Berlin. We arrived around 5:30pm, bought our train tickets for the rest of the week and found our way to the youth hostel.