LUCKY PHIL

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After 6 hours of driving we make to the centre of Berlin, around 3.30pm. Our booked hotel, the 3 star Leonardo has overbooked. So they offer us another place to stay at no extra cost....The Hotel Ellington. 4 star and closer to the main attractions........what could we do??? We had to be polite and take up their offer, didn't we???? At last a win! especially after paying Euro 1.57 per litre for fuel x 2( AUD $2-10) Afterall doing 240kph does chew up the juice.

After the 3 'S's ( you know....s--t, shower n shave) we go on a 5pm river cruise, to get our first sights of the new Berlin, along with English/german commentary, and beer! Everywhere that can, will sell beer. Planes, trains, boats, tobacco shops, the corner shop....it's unreal. You can also buy your cigs from machines installed on walls. No ID??? No problem...just look for the random cig machines placed all over Germany in village back streets, next to the florist shop, outside the public toilets. Oh yeah, and another thing, you must pay to use toilets, the clean ones anyway. Usually .50 euro cents and the lady out front makes sure you do! But then her job is to wash down the place every 5 seconds! So when you consume beer on a boat, then walk a bit, nature calls. So to avoid paying our 'penny'....what do you do??? You sit down at a cafe, buy another round of drinks so you can use the toi toi for 'free'. See a pattern yet?
So by midnight we finally arrive back at the hotel, after much fine food and drink.

Saturday......It has rained overnight and now a pleasant 20c
U has organised a morning tour of the Reichstag(Parliament Building), so our passport details etc had to be given weeks before so that we could enter. Fabulous architecture, inside & out, and we spent around 2 hours in there. Then it was off to see many other features of this historical city. We came across a haunting memorial to the Holocaust victims, that had been respectfully created in an area, where a building that once housed a portion of the Gestapo, had stood and a portion of the Wall was still in place. This display showed many stories of families effected by the wars and with 100's of tourists moving through it, it was eerily quiet at the same time. Very moving and memorable. Onto the famous Brandenburg gate. Until you stand under it, you have no idea of the sense of scale nor the impact of the old West/East Berlin. There is a separate road surface that has been laid to so where the Wall used to be. It runs all around Berlin etc.

So we stroll, photo and video crazy, and then Phil puts his hand on his pocket....and no wallet! Noooooo!
We've been pick pocketed! The crafty scoundrels. He didn't feel a thing. So with Claudias' help we ring international lost cards and so on. The language barriers, the fright of having our cards in someone elses hands, and knowing we were continuing our tour of Europe from Berlin made for anxious moments. Of course I scolded Phil for having his wallet in his back pocket to begin with, but what was done is done.
I still had my cards but the linked ones would of course be stopped also. So numbers were given etc and we were awaiting a call back (to Claudia's mobile phone) when about an hour later, Phil re rumages thru his back pack for the umpteenth time, and yes...there was his wallet, safe n sound, containing everything. I was ready to kill him myself with my bare hands if necessary! He vowed and declared I never put my wallet in there! Triple Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

So now to recontact the international banks lost/stolen cards to attempt to not have our cards cancelled! Thereby leaving us short of funds. Luckily as it turns out for us, the action to stop was pending and not completed. Definately Lucky Phil that day , twice over. He lives and we still can spend!!!

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