Berlin to Paris, in 3 days
please read disclaimer before reading if you haven't already :)






some people are into the architecture of churches and other buildings. i'm into the architecture of playgrounds. a playground i found in berlin....


....right down the street from this apartment building. i saw the pirate flag, the tibetan flag, some cool graffiti, and thought i would probably like these people that live here. too bad i don't speak german.


























some pictures of the East Side Gallery, i think the largest section of the Berlin Wall still standing, but don't quote me on that


after 3 days of getting used to being on my own, having to carry my own bags, figure out what i want to do with my day and where i want to eat all by myself, and e-mailing farms to see if i could come and work, i left the Sunflower Hostel in Berlin to follow the directions i had gotten from a girl in Berlin.
If you do not know about couchsurfing, you should really check it out, whether you are travelling yourself, or want to meet people that are travelling. www.couchsurfing.com . it hasn't actually worked for me yet, but i think the more people that do it, the better it will work. anyway, a girl from this website gave me very specific directions on how to get to the best place to hitchhike from berlin.
I almost took the train, but realized that would have been out of laziness, no other reason. I had also looked at this other website: www.digihitch.com , where people discuss hitchhiking experiences, and found that a lot of people said that it had worked for them. So with this support and the directions, i stuck out my thumb at this gas station/restaurant/rest stop.
After about 15 minutes, i got a ride from a nice German trucker. Unfortunately i speak no German, and he spoke no English, but we were able to communicate the basics. So he dropped me off a couple hours down the road at another rest stop like the last. A lot of nice people were stopping, but not going where i was going, towards france. I ended up sitting up all night in the 24-hour restaurant, which was really nice actually. Except that i had no bed, and could not speak the language of anyone there, it was fine. I read Mrs. Dalloway, ate when i was hungry, and was safe and warm the whole night.
Once it got light, i went out again, and stuck my thumb out. This time a really helpful Greek trucker picked me up, and he took me about 3 or 4 hours in the direction i was heading. We stopped at the trucker stop and had free coffee, and he dropped me off at another perfect place to get a ride.

This time, after about 45 minutes, a young Italian businessman in his speedy Mercedes picked me up and took me to Stuttgart. He dropped me off right outside the hostel, and told me where the best place was to get ice cream, as well as a general orientation of the city. a lot like the bus tour. only this time i got to experience the lack of speed limit on the autobahn. we were going

about 200 km/h when there was no speed limit. it was awesome!
once in stuttgart, i decided to stay the night in the hostel, and then take the train to Paris the next day. By the way, if you're ever in Germany, don't go to Stuttgart. But if you have to go to Stuttgart don't go to the DJH hostel on the hill. It was so institutional, with lights going off when there is no movement, and long hallways that i kept getting lost in. And if you find yourself having to go to that hostel, don't go there after no sleep the night before.




The train ride was really nice, but boring, compared to the last couple days. I got to Paris and found a great hostel, the Aloha hostel, where i met people from Australia, Greece, Italy, Canada, and Uruguay.




yay! i made it to Paris! i know, i know, of all things to take a picture of, why the eiffel tower? well, i was only there for one day, and thought i should at least go there.