I have been immensely enjoying my time in England and despite being there only a week, found myself going on a trip to Berlin. Our flights and hotel were booked and on the day of the trip, we ended up being late to the airport. We had to take a bus there and we knew we would have to rush on arrival.
I step up to the check-in window and let the person working there know my reservation number. We were flying Ryanair so the flights were reasonably priced. He punches in the number and then lets me know I have to pay 55 pounds since I did not do the online check-in. Naturally, I was furious as I got nothing from them about check-in. He said they emailed me and I showed him that they, in fact, did not. Nevertheless, there was nothing he could do and I had to pay the fee to be able to go on the trip. I then tried contacting customer support through their online portal to get a refund, but to no avail due to the length of the queue so I will have to keep you posted on that.
During the check-in process, my friend and I were separated as they had to file a DEA form, digital entry application, due to COVID. I found it suspicious no one mentioned it to me but was not going to go out of my way to ask when we were already in a rush. I started going through security first and the line was extremely long. We were texting throughout and the anxiety started increasing in regards to whether or not we would even make the flight. We had another friend already in Germany that would be waiting for us to all meet up at the hotel so we could go out that same night after arriving.
Unsurprisingly, I had to go through bag check again since the machine thought it detected something weird cutting away at what little time we had to get on the plane. At this point, we still had no idea what gate we were supposed to get on and we were cutting it dangerously close to departure time. I finally finished going through security and started walking through the jungle of candy shops and perfume pop-ups that exist at every airport. I realized pretty quickly that I needed to run—an extremely uncomfortable prospect due to the over-filled backpack I was wearing.
I stopped at the nearest screen I saw and found we were at gate 30. Immediately, I texted my friend that was still going through security so they would not have to stop to find out. Out of breath and exhausted, I stood at the door waiting for the shuttle to take me to the gate. The flight departed at 7:05 and it was 6:45 when I reached the gate and I thought I was finally done.
I was not.
At that moment, they let me know I need to file the DEA and they kept reassuring me that I would not miss the flight. I, however, was worried about my friend that was still waiting for the shuttle and frankly, still fuming over the extra 55 pounds so missing this flight was just not an option. They give me a paper copy of the form and give me the link advising me that it would be faster digitally.
It was such a relief to finally be in my seat and have that anxiety leave my body. My friend managed to just barely make it boarding the plane at 6:53. The flight itself went smoothly and an hour and a half later, we were in Berlin!
We get off the plane and meet up going through the security line there only to get separated again. My friend was pulled aside by an officer and questioned a lot more about where they were staying and even had to show the hotel booking (Before conclusions are jumped to, I am North African and the friend is white).
After a multitude of pictures to show where we are, we were reunited and now had to make our way to the hotel only we could not figure out the train. We did not know how to purchase the tickets or which side of the tracks to be on yet once we figured out the tracks, the train just bolted right past us. It did not stop at the station leaving us extremely confused. I was even texting one of the German associate students back in London so she could help us navigate the system.
After getting a ticket, we almost missed the train and had to run to get on it. There is already too much running in this story and it only gets worse. We’re on the train and we make friends with the guy that was sitting across from us as he suggested certain places and restaurants to visit then, of course, we miss our stop and get off one stop later.
We were starving and chose to stop and get some McDonald’s before continuing down our path to the hotel. The prices were extremely offensive. A McChicken costs $1 in the United States but I paid almost $5. It was also quite different to be fair: it was long as opposed to round and they did not use a bun opting instead for a different kind of bread.
We ate quickly and started walking, already exhausted from the day and the heavy backpack that was digging into my shoulders. It was a long walk to the hotel and then we saw a large line as we had made it in right after a group of people checked in together for a trip. Twenty minutes go by and Alex informs me that we were actually at the wrong hotel.
I begrudgingly get up as we start yet another long walk to the hotel. It was 11:30 pm. Going out that night was out of the question entirely. Finally, we get there and check-in at 12:17 am, and go to sleep. You know when you lie down and your body just aches more because it needs rest? That is exactly how I felt.
The morning comes and though my body longed for more sleep, I got up and started my day. We walked all over Berlin and went to the museum of horrors as well as tried out different restaurants and cafes! Berlin was beautiful and so fun to explore. We did, however, run into an issue at a sandwich shop we were in as their system only accepted one of our cards. Thankfully we did not run into this issue anywhere else but it is worth noting for the sake of this article’s topic.
After a long day of exploring, we wanted to go out for the night and go dancing in Germany. We made some friends with people our age at the hotel and ended up splitting up to get different kinds of foods for dinner and would be meeting up later. I’ll be honest, I fully wanted to go to sleep and forget about going out for the night. We walked almost 30K steps that day and my body was feeling it. I wanted to be a trooper though and go out with my friends, so we get to the pub they wanted to go to and show all of our IDs then he asks for our proof of vaccination and here comes the motherload of things to go wrong:
I lost it.
In my mind, it had to be in my bag because I didn’t take it out since arriving at the airport, but it was not there. I started freaking out because I had no record of it on my phone and was worried about making it back into the UK for my flight the following day. We search through my purse and take my backpack apart on the hotel floor and still we cannot find it so I decided to call Walgreens back home to help since I know they have it on record. It cost $50 to be able to make the international phone call since it took so long to get off hold at the pharmacy which only added to my frustration.
Thankfully, the pharmacist was able to make me a new vaccine card and since I worked for that store before, the manager just texted me a picture of it to use as proof of vaccination. I can pick up the new card once I am back stateside but for now, this picture would have to do. I did not run into any issues at the airport using it and the rest of my time in Germany was smooth sailing—if one can even call it that after everything.
All in all, it was most definitely an adventure for the books and I am sure I will be able to laugh about the chaos that ensued one day. In the meantime, I am focused on recovering from the cold I caught since I did not pack appropriately and was actually freezing 90% of the time. Germany is such a beautiful country and I smile every time I see the stamps on my passport. Now I just have to fill the rest of its pages.
