Back in Berlin!

In my previous post, I have said I will try to write about the experience of my first day being back in Berlin when I get back to hotel at night. I really wanted to do that, but it was such a long and tiring day (which is also why this post might be a bit longer than usual) that once I got in my room, I just laid down on the bed and fell asleep the very second my head touched the pillow. Usually, I have a bit of an uneasy first night when I get to a new hotel, but last night, apart from maybe waking up once, I slept like a baby! 😀

The day actually started a day before I was supposed to leave for the airport. Since I had a relatively early flight from Venice, because of the shuttle service to the airport, it meant that I had to leave Ljubljana at 1:30 at night. I did take a short nap while I was still at home, and a few even shorter ones on the bus, but we all know that that’s not really the best thing.

After landing in Berlin (you can check what I had to say about the time in between here), the first thing was to collect my public transport pass. Now, that’s where things got really funny, for the first time that day. After handing the employee at the information desk my ID, once she realized where I was from, she immediately started speaking Slovenian. For the first few brief moments I was a bit surprised, but quickly “snapped” out of it and we had a bit of a laugh. Never would I have imagined something like that happening at an airport in Berlin. 😀

Since I already checked in to the hotel online when I was still at home, I also had a chance to choose when will I be arriving at the hotel. The usual time to check in at the hotel reception is after 3pm, but since I got to the airport at around 10 o’clock, I thought if I let them know I’ll be there early, they can make something happen, and even if that wasn’t the case, it wouldn’t be a problem. So after we checked everything at the reception, it was clear that I wouldn’t be able to get the room I booked, because it wouldn’t be ready until later in the day, I was offered an upgrade and I would be able to get the room keys within the hour. The upgrade wouldn’t cost me that much, so I said okay. That meant I had about an hour to see what is there to see around the hotel itself, maybe some coffee shops, restaurants and things like that. When it was time to come back to the hotel, the receptionist I’ve already handled everything with, was busy, so I had to talk to her colleague, which funny enough, comes from Croatia. 😀 We got everything sorted out and I got the keys to my room. Since I left my luggage at the hotel the first time I arrived, we also had to find that, unfortunately we were unsuccessful the first time, but the receptionist said that they might have taken it to my room already.

So, when I got into the room, my first thought wasn’t where’s my luggage, but instead, what will I pay the upgrade fee for when the room is exactly like the one I have booked in the first place. But okay, I thought they must know what they’re doing. Only after all of that, it was time to think about my luggage. 😀 I couldn’t find it anywhere in the room, so I headed back downstairs to the lobby, and the man who had stored it, showed us where it was. Another funny thing happened, that man also came to Germany from a former Yugoslavian country, didn’t quite catch which one exactly, but we also spoke Croatian. I could almost say that in these 30 hours (at the time that I’m writing this) since coming here, I have spoken more Slovenian and Croatian than English. 😀 Especially after joining up with other Slovenian fans at the game, but we’ll get to that yet. After about an hour or so, the telephone on the desk in my room started ringing, just as I was coming out of the shower, and they were calling me from the reception desk, just to tell me that they have made a mistake, that I actually didn’t get the upgraded room, so that I won’t have to pay the upgrade at the end of my stay. If I hadn’t taken a shower yet, I would probably move to that other room, but since I had already settled in, there was no point.

The room itself is amazing, as I have already thought before. It really does look like in the pictures, everything looks brand new, very luxurious (which is to be expected at a 5-star hotel), and all in all very cozy. The bed is a little bit on the firm side, but I prefer that so it’s great! As I’ve mentioned already, I have only used the shower so far, while I’m still waiting to dip into the bath, once I finish writing this post. 🙂 Another very interesting thing to me is the fact that when you turn the tv on, it’s connected to a speaker in the bathroom, so you can also listen to it while being in the bath.

By the time I was done checking out the room and all that, it was a weird time, I could say. I was getting pretty tired already, and if I had laid down, I’d probably have fallen asleep and woke up who knows when, but since I bought a ticket for all 3 matches on yesterday’s schedule, I decided to head to the arena where the matches are being played, and I had plenty of time, so I was in no rush at all. I arrived there at the end of the first match, so there was a lot of time to spare. The organizers have prepared some fan entertainment, but there’s just so many passes that you can do, before that gets boring too. 😀 By the time Slovenia was about to come onto the court, I seriously thought I was going to fall asleep, but luckily, I joined other Slovenian fans and I quickly turned my mood around. I was awake like I had gotten out of bed just an hour before that.

The game with the hosts, Germany, was intense from the very beginning, even though our team didn’t really start that well, but, after a 5 set thriller, Slovenia won and, with a game in hand, joined Germany at the top of the group table. We have been outnumbered on the stands by quite a large margin, but that didn’t help Germans cheer louder than us! Even the organizers of the tournament were baffled and were constantly photographing and filming us, and we were on TV screens a number of times. My phone kept going off constantly, with people texting me that they saw me while watching the game at home. 😀 I almost wasn’t able to speak after the game, that’s how loud we were during the whole game. When I woke up this morning, I wasn’t really that much better, but until now, it got significantly better so I can almost speak normally. 😀

As you can see, a lot has happened yesterday, that’s why this post is coming to life later than expected. Until next time I write my experiences about this trip, because today isn’t really that interesting, to be honest, so I might join 2 or 3 days together and write about them, so stay tuned for more! 🙂