5/8 Day 16: Left backpacks in Berlin Hbf. Went to East Side Gallery Berlin. Took SJ train from Berlin to Stockholm. Departed Berlin at 6.05pm and arrived in Stockholm at 12.39pm the next day (supposed arrival time was 9.56am). We had an option to choose between SJ and Snälltåget. Last year, we took Snälltåget and this year, we took SJ because our travel companion works for SJ and can buy at an employee's price.
6/8 Day 17: Arrived back in Stockholm.
Costs
(A) Food
(1) Breakfast at Einstein Cafe - Paris set breakfast consisting of croissant, brioche, baguette, jam and butter EUR10, cappucino EUR5,60. shared tip EUR5,20. Total EUR17,33 / SEK203,68
(2) Slice of cake at Wilde Matilda - EUR5,70, cappucino EUR3,90. Total EUR9,60 / SEK112,83
(3) Sausage with bread from a stall in front of Berlin Hbf - EUR4,50 / SEK51,61
(B) Transport and Miscellaneous
(4) Locker storage at Berlin Hbf - Shared EUR6 / SEK68,82.
(5) Toilet at Berlin Hbf - EUR1 / SEK11,40
(6) Overnight SJ train ticket from Berlin to Stockholm - SEK1163
The Story
The Story
05082023: Yesterday, we bought a 24-hour train and bus ticket and guess what - we used it today too because we checked out early and hopped on the bus and commuter to bring us to Berlin Hbf. Yahoo! Lucky us that we bought the 24-hour ticket yesterday later. We left our backpacks in a storage locker in Berlin train station.
Now, we can look for breakfast. It was brunch instead at 10.20am at Einstein cafe so we did not had lunch today. It was not filling but I did not mind.
I pestered my travel companions to visit the East Side Gallery of Berlin to see another part of Berlin Wall which has paintings on it and unfortunately, graffiti on the other side of the wall. There were many people here too.
At the end of the wall is a small cafe where we had beer. Then, we walked back to town. Stopped and had cake and coffee break. A slice of plum cake and a slice of black forest cake. They looked so tempting on the display.
Right in front of Berlin train station, there was a small street festival going on and food stalls were set up. We bought sausage with bread. The bread was very dry but the sausage is good.
We had a difficult time identifying the platform that our train will arrive. Luckily, one travel companion is a train nerd so he knows how to look for the platform whereas I just wait for his answer. Our train is due to arrive at 5.57pm at Platform 6 but arrived at 6.05pm instead. Not too bad since SJ train is infamous for being never on time.
SJ overnight train does not have a restaurant carriage and I was very surprised by that! There is a small room in the train that sells food which is of course, limited. We had a bad experience with the breakfast order. We placed an order that evening for breakfast and the staff informed that it is not required as there is sufficient bread for everyone. Guess what, not true. Because the next day, there was no breakfast as the same staff said that we needed to place an order the day before and needs to serve for the sleeping carriage (i.e. first class) and will only offer us if there is any available. WHAT THE....
As compensation for us to wait, we received an energy bar and a cup of coffee. A staff came by at 10.40am asking if we would like breakfast. We said no.
It was a bad experience for us with SJ train. The fire alarm took off at 8am and lasted for an hour. I would definitely not take SJ overnight train anymore. Thank goodness, there is another option with Snälltåget which has a restaurant carriage, by the way. We were also supposed to arrive by 9.56am but we arrived at 12.39pm instead. So, I sent in a reimbursement claim for the delay. We were reimbursed 50% for the delay.
That marks the end of our train adventure in Poland and Germany. What an adventure! I am enjoying a lot of my train adventures, being able to go to different parts of a country via train. I will definitely do another summer train trip. And wherever possible!
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Here are the list of places I went. You can click on the link and be directed to the posts immediately.
Day 1 - Ferry from Stockholm to Gdansk
Day 2 - Arrive in Gdansk. Went to Westerplatte and Brzezno beach
Day 3 - Walking tour, Gradowa Hill.
Day 4 - Train from Gdansk to WarsawDay 5 - Walking tour. Overnight train from Warsaw to Zakopane
Day 6 - Arrive in Zakopane. Thermal bath.
Day 7 - Tatra mountains - Kuznice, Giemont (almost)
Day 8 - Tatra mountains - Murowaniec, Lake Czarny Staw Gasienicowy
Day 9 - Zakopane town
Day 10 - Train from Zakopane to Krakow
Day 11 - Wieliczka Salt Mine, Walking Tour
Day 12 - Auschwitz
Day 13 - Train from Krakow to Berlin
Day 15 - Museum island, Turkish area
Day 16 - East Side Gallery Berlin, back to Stockholm (this post)
I have mentioned some of my expenses in each post and I did have other expenses which are not illustrated in the respective posts. For total and different category of expenses, I will sum it here.
1) Transport - Ferry ticket SEK1.893. Train tickets in Poland and Germany SEK2.760,81. Total SEK4.653,81 per person.
2) Accommodation (Airbnb) - SEK5.102,42 per person
2) Accommodation (Airbnb) - SEK5.102,42 per person
3) Food and tips - SEK7.742,56 (my portion). I ate lesser than my travel companions.
4) Entrance fee (Auschwitz, Salt mine) - SEK769,44 per person
Total Cost for the trip SEK18.268,23 for 16 days.
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