After checking in I decided to get unpacked first and then go find some dinner. I apparently waited too long because most places were closed already. I have limited cell phone coverage, talking 2G speeds, so looking places up on the fly isn’t the easiest. I finally stumbled upon the Wulle Café & Speisenwirtschaft where one of the workers took pity on me and helped me order a pork schnitzel and fries. And a beer of course.
Funny story here, when I attempted to pay with my card the machine didn’t work. Tried that a few times and still not working. Tried a different card and same thing. Tried a third card and still no dice. The lady was very confused and said that she didn’t know what was happening. I asked if there was an ATM close by so I could run to get cash. I figured I could leave something with them so they knew I’d come back. No, she tells me, “Just come by before the marathon and bring it in. I trust you.” Wait…What? You’re going to just let me walk out of here? Crazy!
I was able to find an ATM a couple blocks away and pulled the cash and ran back to settle my bill. I found out that this lady had run the Berlin Marathon 10 times! She’s not running this year but said she’s going to watch the race and she’ll be cheering for me and the rest of the runners.