Turkey has had cases of bird flu right.

Having survived the rigours of packing up the site and spent a day trying to recover from the "I'm sure it's not bird flu" lurgy that has taken up temporary residence within me, it was time to head to Berlin for the whistle stop tour. Compared to previous trips this one is a little more organised, regular readers will know of my previous efforts where it's pretty much the norm to arrive in a foreign land with no accomodation, map, language skills or currency. This time I've got the currency, accom booked and a map for Berlin, plus courtesy of the world cup a minor ability with the local lingo. So the late night arrival into Berlin was a bit uneventful really, arrive at Tegal airport, walk out the front, get a bus into town and a cab to the hostel, all too easy. The big plus was I got to go past the Brandenberg Tor on the way.

With the weather being a little overcast and only having one day to see the sights of Berlin, I opted for the 'free' walking tour . OK so there may have been a little misguided logic about this, it's overcast, there's drizzling rain and it's cold so why not go on a walking tour around the streets of Berlin. But it turned out to be a great way to see the main sights and listen to two Americans who's concept of humour was on another planet compared to everyone elses in the group. Oh the postscript to this little tale of the American was that when I was leaving Berlin to fly to Prague, who should be trying to make sense of the ticket machine at the railway station, you guessed it. Me being the all round genius when it comes to the ticket machine had my ticket in under a minute, meanwhile the US guy and his family were still wrestling with it. The tour guide was a law graduate from Melbourne and was full of all the useful facts that you need to know as you walk the streets of Berlin. The real bonus was he knew where to find a good drop of red after the tour for a post tour debrief. He did point out though that the worst people to have on the tour are a group of drunk Aussies, closely followed by a group of drunk Kiwis.

After trying the best drugs that Turkey could offer to kill off the "I'm sure it's not bird flu" I've done that fun thing that you do when you don't speak the local language and gone to a Berlin chemist to try out what drugs Germany has to offer. The best tip that I can offer when doing this is know your active ingredients for your cold and flu drug of choice. After rattling off a few different brands and getting a series of blank looks I opted for that magic word - pseudoephedrine, although I did get a little concerned when the pharmacist walked out the back for a while, fortunately she didn't think that I was planning a little hostel room cooking of speed and the Polizei didn't arrive!!

How good is the German train system, the ease in which you can get around Berlin is amazing, especialy when you think that the city was divided by a huge fence not all that long ago. Maybe that is what Sydney needs to improve the rail system, put an APEC style fence down Anzac Parade for 30 years. They even have a ring line that joins all the lines heading into the city. The other bonus is that you buy one ticket and that is it away you go.

Oh and Prague is living up to all expectations so far but more about that later.

---

---