Hostels are Cheap Hotels

I LOVE my hostel too! I have two twin beds, which I could push together, but do not mind them being apart, for I can use the other bed for next-day clothes staging. My room also has a wardrobe, table and two chairs and a bathroom with toilet, mirror, sink and shower with hot water! Speaking of hot, I also have a semi-private patio that I can access from the 2 doors that are apart of my wall of 3 windows (with the single being a window that partly opens for fresh air). And if it gets too cool, I can turn on the radiator heaters! All of this for 58€ a night!!!!! Did I also, mention I am about 1.5 blocks from the train station? Did I also mention the complimentary wi-fi in the lobby? The only downside is this place has the tiniest elevators I have ever seen in my entire life…. It could only fit me and my luggage, but how many times would I be transporting me and my luggage? Twice.

the beds

the wardrobe (tilt head to left for a better view...I have not learned how to adjust pictures after uploading so, please be patient)

the toilet and you flush by pressing the button above (tilt head to left)

the sink

the shower (tilt head to the left)

one view of the patio window, with one of the windows opened (I quickly closed it after taking this photo.)

another view of the windows....

the elevator...told you it was tiny!

the reason why, it is made for 4 people...

How Thank you Rick Steves for this one!!! I will stay here again!

P.S. This place is so great, I will call it a hotel from now on….

Rail Adventures

I LOVE trains! At least, I love the trains in Germany, and I am sure I would in the rest of Europe! It is such a great hassle-free way to travel. I bought my ticket, got on, rode for around 3 hours, got off and was at my hotel.

They have comfortable seating, are super fast (like 180 mph/300 km fast) and offer door-to-door service, or close to it. A few things you might need to watch out for are reserved seats and the kids-free section, if you do not want to be attacked by 4 year old twin boys, who could have been extras in Children of the Corn….

So, you can reserve seats on the train. You do not know this until the person who reserved the seat arrives and pretty much kicks you out. How lovely?!?! And to make matters worse, I was so flustered by the situation that the guy had to speak to me in English so I could understand.

I ended up moving further down in the car and was in a row by myself, the whole time worried someone else would come and try to claim my/their seat. Anyway, no one did, but the terror twins. These kids ran all over the car and occasionally into the car behind us. Side Note: The high-speed ICE trains in Germany have glass, electronic doors, like a store, that connect the cars together. You do not to manually open the doors to walk between like you do on a subway. So, the terror twins would then wrestle all over the car and occasionally into the empty seat next to me. What did their mother do? Nothing! Augh!

Packing for Two!

No, I am not pregnant! I am, however, going to be packing for two (2) trips at the same time... I found a few days ago, that I am going to New Orleans from January 10 - 13. I leave for Europe on January 14. So, in early January, I will have two (2) pieces of luggage open: one (1) for New Orleans and the other for Europe! Then, I will take a early flight back from New Orleans on January 13 so, I can do laundry and final preparation for Europe!