“Tommy” the Tank Engine | Daniel Rockwell

“Yes. Veggie Döner...extra sauce... everything but onion.” As the employee stuffed a freshly grilled piece of pita with lightly pickled cabbage, bright red tomatoes, and succulent cucumber salad, I knew this was a sad goodbye to such a sincere stay in Berlin. While Spencer finished licking the last bit of the chili sauce off his fingers, a couple of us boarded tram 12 to head back to the hostel to spend a reflective Sunday night together.

As I walked into my room, I was greeted by a couple contradicting smells. The smell of Tide Pods, dirty socks, and gummy bears was a sensation I had not yet experienced. The sheer amount of unfolded shirts I had lying on the ground made me legitimately uncomfortable. After Alex played “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen for the 15th time of the day, I decided to buckle down and begin packing my two suitcases. I folded everything exceptionally mediocre, except for my coveted cheetah print long sleeve shirt. Finally, I had everything packed and could peacefully fall asleep in order to prepare for the early 8:30 AM meeting time.

Brrring! Brrring! Brrring! My 7:30 AM alarm hurt way more than my typical 6:45 AM alarm back in Baton Rouge. After wiping the sleep out of my eyes and brushing my teeth, I played some music at full volume to wake up my roommates for our next adventure in Brannenburg. Once watching a complete and utter mad house in my room for nearly an hour, all four of us had our bags packed and were scurrying out the room at 8:29 AM!

While we all rolled our suitcases through the revolving doors at the train station, our fearless leader Myers guided us towards the correct train that we would be on for 8 hours! Yes, 8 hours. Imagine taking a train from New Orleans to Dallas! After grabbing a quick and healthy breakfast consisting of ripe cherries and sparkling water, a blurry mass of hundreds of tons of steel passed our eyes for at least 2 minutes before coming to a screeching halt.

As we quite literally dashed into the train, people were throwing their luggage left and right. Honestly, I could have lost both suitcases and not have even noticed! Finally, we all sat down on the worn out 10-year-old carpet covered seats furnished inside Cabin 6. Once we all got situated, half of the group fell asleep within seconds, as if they just finished a marathon, while the other half popped in their Apple AirPods and began relaxing for the long journey ahead . Alex, of course, had “Call Me Maybe” on an 8-hour loop. Brannenburg, here we come!