Our whirlwind night led to a slow-moving morning, as not one of us managed to open an eye until after 10:00 a.m. The complimentary “we are sorry” breakfast provided by the airline ended before we woke up, so after a shower, Brian took Noah and Emmie to the nearest small-town bakery to buy a late breakfast to bring to the hotel room.
Noah and Emmie pose outside Hotel Ork, our home for a night after our canceled Air Berlin flight.
Noah loved his croissant, as did Amanda, Cassy, and Emmie. Emmie even ate a chocolate-frosted donut along with her croissant!
We were still enjoying our ham and cheese croissants and doughnuts when we got a phone call saying that our complimentary lunch was ready. We went downstairs to check out what we expected to be a collection of uninspiring bagels and ham sandwiches, but instead were directed to the hotel dining room for what turned out to be a very delicious meal.
Tomato soup and rolls were up first. Brian was quite horrified, and rather offended when Cassy and I found our hotel soup to be delicious and preferred it to the tomato farm tomato soup from earlier in the week. Our second course was a seasoned chicken breast served over mashed sweet potato purée and a small fresh salad. Once again, we found the entree tasty and, despite being mostly full, we all made big dents in our meals! Even Eilidh got in on the oral eating action by chowing down on the thinly sliced cucumber pieces mixed into the salad. She refused any other bites but she loved those cucumbers!
Eilidh loved the cucumbers from our lunch salads!
After lunch, we had just enough time to finish packing before we got the call that our bus to the airport was ready. Eilidh and I dozed for much of the hour ride back to Keflavik, and once we got back to the airport, the check-in and plane boarding processes were fairly routine. Berlin Air provided small goody bags for kids including a tic-tac-toe game and origami packet, which provided entertainment for much of the flight. (Mommy may have been kept the busiest, as the designated origami paper-folder.) Eilidh received her own bag, complete with a diaper, wipes, bib, and baby bottle.
Before boarding the plane, the kids played well together at the airport’s LEGO table.
After a 30-minute delay, Eilidh was excited to see our plane at the gate!
There were no freebies on Air Berlin, so we racked up a bit of a bill putting together hodge-podge meals for our suppers. Purchases included two tapas meat, cheese, and olive “plates,” a chicken sandwich, and a giant bag of airplane-shaped gummies from Haribo. All in all, the meal was solid, as was the flight, though we departed and landed about 30 minutes late.
Like in Iceland, we deplaned onto the tarmac, and loaded into a bus.
When we arrived in Berlin around 11:30 p.m., we did a fair amount of walking, but despite the late hour and travel fatigue, we were able to successfully maneuver 2 adults, 1 teenager, 3 kids, and 8 bags through the airport, onto a bus, on and off two different trains spanning three subway stations, and through a new neighborhood to our next home: the East Seven Hostel in Berlin.
Emmie poses in front of subway station graffiti as we wait for the S-bahn train.
While this was not the first time we’ve stayed in a hostel, it was the first one which actually had other guests present! (See also: Europe 2015, Day 12 – Appenzell, Switzerland) Our private dorm-style room was equipped with two sets of full/twin bunk beds along one wall, a standalone twin bed along the opposite wall, and a baby cot in the middle. In addition to the beds, there were some wall hooks and a large set of lockers, in a throwback to the older hostel days.
Our room included a private family bathroom, but it was across the hallway: fairly accessible, but not ideal with kids in tow. We arrived so late, our check-in consisted of handing off keys and information, with official paperwork, payment, and general reception desk access available in the morning. Cassy and I hoped to take showers, but the hostel worker left when we arrived, so we were unable to “hire” any towels until the following morning.
After dressing our pillows and duvets with the provided covers, everyone crashed… except Brian, who walked a block away to the Burgermann restaurant to do some late-night blogging.
Eilidh looks like Noah in the cucumber eating photo!