Berlin again!!

---

Well i arrived back in Berlin by the skin of my teeth. the train to Norway was delayed which meant i had to catch a later train to the airport (only just made check-in) - and it was forward planned dad!!! doesn't always work 😉 caught up with Brad and Em and boarded the plane. a very very quick all wheels landing. not very pleasant. bit of shuffling happening around on the run way but we got there in one piece.

i grabbed my luggage and said my good byes to Brad and Emma as i was catching a different train which......isn't there. it is dark i am at the end of the line, no map. I said my Hi's to Brad and Em again and boarded their train to catch a connection a little further within civilisation.

Louise met me at the S Bahn station near her house and we headed back there to join the festivities. i said my Hello's to everyone or should i say my Hallo's or Guten Abend's because most of them did not speak english all too well. this i found fascinating and i think people find it a little strange that i am quite happy to sit at the table for an hour listening to a completey foreign language of which i understand very little. i guess that is why i have learned it well enough to recognise a fair bit of conversation and what the conversation is about.

19th July Thursday


a fairly late nigth and a fairly early morning don't mix too well but there were things to do! after breakfast Lou and i headed to the exhibition centre where there is a display of art and sculptures from the New York museum. we had to buy tickets in advance but unfortunately you may only do that on the day you wish to enter the exhibition...which for us was tomorrow. so after a quick lunch we headed for Alt-Tegel to meet Louises friend Philip. Philip was driving us to Sachsenhausen - the model i.e. camp which others a based on concentration camp. it was a very interesting memorial. again; like Dachau, very few, if any animal noises could be heard within the confines of the camp.

After our excursion we went back to Lou's friend Tim's place and then headed out to a german Pot Black for a few rounds of pool. Who won you ask? who do you think won!!! 5/2

Lou and i went to see the new harry potter movie after that (its really good mum, check it out) and we had dinner at the Caroboree restaurant outside the cinema. is that word familiar? it shoul dbe to many of you, it is an Australian restaurant. i had a Kangaroo steak wrap while Lou had a Macadamia and Pesto pasta. i would highly recommend them!

20th July Friday

Long movie another late night and earlyish morning. unfortunately i had written a whole heap of stuff below this but for some reason it got cut. so now i will be brief

went to the Art exhibition today. it has a really fascinating ticket system where you buy your tickets, enter a code and then wait till you are called via sms. now i am generally not one for looking at paintings but they had some pretty famous artisits. i managed to look at paintings for 90 minutes and i was actually interested. it helps when it is good art. i even b ought a replica poster of one called 'the weeders'

i had offered to cook dinner for the Thorans tonight so I cooked the Atlantic Salmon and salad recipe that i had got off Bev. it was great. Wolfgang prepared some Nuremburg Wurst specialty for entree's and altogether it was a feast fit for kings! after dinner Lou and i went out with her friends to a cocktail bar. a quiet night chatting to her mates and steves who were great because they didn't mind speaking english at all! although it was a quiet night we didnt get back til 5.

21st July

6 hours sleep the off to a lake for a ride and swim. the weather was great, water was warm (weird i know) and the bicycle breaks are put on backwards to the bikes i am used to. one thing led to another and now my big toe is the loveliest shade of purple. soft sand, sharp corners and moronic pedestrians do not make a good combination.

i bought the new Harry Potter book today!!!!

i ended up late for a BBQ (i like being late about as much as i like brussel sprouts) because i had to go sort out some train tickets and then the trains weren't running from A to C unless i went via Z

it was a polish BBQ and i tried some really crazy foods like Brootwurst (blood sausage filled with barley) it was akin to haggis and tasted quite nice.

we also saw a hedgehog and our host eggy managed to pick him up. it was like petting a pine cone.

22nd july


quite a lazy day just packing and trying ot translate german kitesurfing magazines. i think everyone has the kitesurfing bug and we were all dreaming of ifs and whens.

after dropping lou at the airport and being dropped at the trainstation i met up with brad and emma for dinner at cancun in potsdamer platz. fantastic food and Lambrusco.

---