befok!

Thursday morning kicked off a quick stop at a remainder of the Berlin wall =
known as the East Gallery. We then took a quick drive around the city and =
got stopped by the border police who wanted to check the bus and drivers’ =
papers. Their vehicle had the word Zoll printed on it. Which obviously =
means something respectable in German, but is slang for joint in Afrikaans. =
We then took a guided tour through Berlin which started at Karl & Engel =
square. The guide really knew his stuff, he gave us a rundown of the =
history of Berlin and then took us through a number of sights. We walked to =
Museum Island past the Berliner Dom and then to the Neue Wache which is a =
memorial to war and tyranny. The roof has a hole in it which allows the =
light and rain to fall on a statue of a mother holding her dead son. The =
Pergamon and Altes museums amoungst others are located here, hence the =
name. The Altes museum has a giant bowl which was carved from a single =
piece of stone standing in front of it. It was supposed to have been placed =
inside the museum, but it was only finished after the museum and could not =
fit through the entrance Across from the meseum was the site where the =
Prussian Schlo=C3=9F Palace used to stand before the Russians destroyed it. =
Part of it now houses the former East Berlin parlement built by the =
Russians which is now in process of being dismantled (what goes around =
comes around).

We then crossed the Schlo=C3=9F br=C3=BCcke past the Deutsche History =
museum which used to house weapons for Prussians and then later for =
Hitler. We then passed the Humboldt university where Einstein used to =
lecture. Next was Bebel Platz which is famous for the book burning by the =
Nazis. We the walked down Unter den Linden passing the Russian Embassy to =
get to Brandenburg gate. It is the last remaining city gate of Berlin. =
Hotel Adlon is a stones throw from the gate. When it originaly opened it =
had a collection of over 200000 wines in the cellar, which was more than =
the current emperors collection.

Passing through the gate put us in West Berlin where we walked down the =
side of the Tiergarten to the Holocast museum which is an arrangement of =
individually shaped stones set in such a way to represent an abstract =
Jewish graveyard.

We stopped at the site underwhich Hitlers’ bunker used to lie. It is now a =
parking lot surrouned by flats. On one tour a resident told the group that =
Hitler no longer lived there. We passed the largest remaining Nazi building =
which used to be the Air Ministry, the Russians renamed it to the Ministry =
of ministries and it is now the Department of Finance.=20

We ended the tour at check point Charlie which was the scene of many =
interesting escape attempts. The museum hosts a number of interesting =
contraptions used to escape East Berlin.

We then walked to the Reichstad with the hope of walking up the glass dome. =
On te way there we passed the Audi store which had the new S3 and TT! So we =
popped in for pictures and a bit of drooling. VW was next door so I got =
pictures of the “off road” Polo and new Eos. We then popped into the DG =
bank to look at the giant fish created by Frank Gehry’s. When we got to =
Reichstad the queues were too long so we gave it a miss. We the went in and =
up the Berliner Dom for some really nice views of Berlin.=20

We then caught a train to Kaiser-Wilhelm Ged=C3=A4chtniskirche for some =
pictures.=20

It was now time for shopping. We started at CD store and picked up some =
nice albums (new Apop, Suicide Commando, Diary of Dreams an E Nominee). We =
then walked down Kurf=C3=BCrstendamm which is one of the main shopping =
streets. We went into KaDeWe which is 5 floors of shopping and 2 floors of =
food. Half of the one floor was just chocolate! We had some hot chocolate =
there which was devine and of course we bought more chocolate!

The train trip back was eventful as the train we got onto never left the =
station. The announcement to say what was wrong and what the alternative =
train was in German. So we got some help from a Asian man and got back to =
the hotel. Berlin has a very intricate rail and tram network.

This morning we are on the way to Hamburg. I plan to have a very big beer =
to celebrate!

We arrived in St. Goar late yesterday afternoon. They are famous for their =
beer steins and Steiff teddy bears (which are insanely expensive). They are =
on the bank of the beautiful Rhine river which we drove along.

At the end of dinner we were surprised with birthday cake. It was a =
combined effort for me and the other birthday boys and girls.

Some of the group went off for wine tasting while we caught a quick snooze. =
We met in the bar area again at 9pm for a fancy dress party. Originally it =
would have been held on NYE, but got postponed for obvious reasons. We went =
as vampires (the other three found the costumes while I was Schnapping). =
There were some cool costumes: ninja turtles, pirates, catwoman, a ninja, =
charlies’ angels. There was even a f-in’ drunk guy running around in a =
family guy boxer short (oh my eyes). We ended the evening with a few games =
of big two and a bottle of Baleys with Lindsy.

This morning it was back on the bus at the crack of dawn for a long drive =
to Berlin. It was an amazing sunrise which reminded me of Cape Town.

When we arrived in Lucerne on Sunday our tour manager, Kirsten, annouced =
some terrible news. The wind was too strong on Mt. Pilatus and the cable =
cars had been stopped so we would no longer be spending New Years Eve on =
the mountain

We went to see the Lion monument. It’s a huge skeeping Lion carved into a =
cliff overlooking a large pond.

We then walked over the Chapel brigde and went to look at some swiss =
watches and knives.

We then walked around and looked at some other shops and bought some more =
chocolate

Then it was back on the bus and off to the hotel 10min up the road at the =
base of Mt. Pilatus. We have had some crappy hotels, but I think this one =
was the worst so far. The whole room smelt musky. The bed was like a cot. =
The matress sunk in so you could bash your ankles on the wooden sides. The =
bathroom turned into a water feature after you showered. It was just such a =
let down. I then also discovered that the liqure I had bought was not the =
flavour I had ordered. Dinner, unsurprisingly, was nothing spectacular and =
I was feeling rather glum by the time we finished dinner.=20

Originally we would have celebrated NYE in the hotel on the mountain, but =
now alternative arrangements had to be made. They managed to arrange free =
entry into a club in Lucerne, but none of us felt like spending the evening =
in a smokey club.

After dinner the whole group met on the roof of the hotel for a surprise =
from Kirsten and Jonnie (the bus driver). They had arranged for some =
sparkling wine and gold schnaps. You mix half a shot of gold schnaps with =
the sparkling wine to turn it into a tasty drink. They also gave us glow =
sticks, which we used to take some cool pictures.

Kirsten donated the leftovers to us, so we had some sparkling wine ontop of =
the two beers and liqure. Lindsy decided at dinner time that she would join =
us for an evening of cards and drinks in our hotel room. After a few rounds =
of Uno and some drinks I was starting to feel better. We had some good =
laughs and lots of chocolate. So in the end it was a cool welcome to the =
new year.

It was raining on new years morning (Monday). We had the option of going to =
Mt. Titlis to see snow which was an hour by train, but the train trip and =
cable car to go up to the ski resort would have cost us about R750 each, so =
we opted for more card games and chocolate in the hotel with Lindsy. By =
late afternoon the rain had cleared so we took a walk up the base of Mt. =
Pilatus. It gave us a really nice view of the valley and surrounding =
mountains. As we walked down the sun was setting and all the church bells =
were ringing which set a really perfect scene. I got some nice pictures of =
the sky and mountains.

This morning we are on the way to the Rhine Valley and have just crossed =
back into Germany.

First stop after leaving Munich on Sunday was Vaduz. Lichtenstein is one of =
the smallest countries in the world. They fall under the protection of =
Switzerland.
=20
We tried to get our passports stamped (you can get it done for 2=E2=82=AC), =
but we could not find a place that was open

10min after getting on the bus we were in Switzerland where we stopped off =
in Lucerne. So we were in three countries in one day, pretty cool

Border crossings in Europe are a non-event. If the tour manager didn’t =
announce it you would never know you had crossed over. I was expecting huge =
road blocks and fences, but all I have seen are a few policemen stopping =
random people.

After check-in and dinner it was into town for a walkabout and beer. The =
others did not feel like going out so I hooked up with some crazy Aussies: =
Virginia (Regie), Robin, Anna and Sandy. There was also Lindsy from =
Canada.

Lindsy and I did some window shopping while the others headed towards the =
beer. Almost all the cities we have visited have pedestrian sections lined =
with shops that stay open till 7 sometimes 8pm. We went into Saturn. They =
have 3 floors of electronic devices! They have isles where you can play =
with all the latest phones, PDA’s, GPS’s and MP3 players. It’s a Geek =
paradise

We ran into some idiots who thought it was funny to throw a huge cracker =
under my feet. It pissed me off, but I left it at that.

We then headed towards the H=C3=B6fbrau Haus were we hooked up with the =
Aussies. They were sharing a table with a young German couple and a old =
lady they dubbed Nanna. It turns out she is a regular and visits every =
second night. She even has a special VIP card. We ordered the 1l mug. It =
went down like a homesick mole! The German couple had a bottle of a vodka =
based drink which got passed my way, tasty. After lots of prosting we =
climed into the second round. We sat next to the oompa band. Once in a =
while they would hit a croud pleaser and everyone would break out in =
song.

There were some Asian tourists who wandered in, cameras clicking away, so I =
beconed the one over to hand me the camera to take a picture of her. She =
was quite excited about it so I passed her my beer which really delighted =
her. She was laughing after checking the picture

There were some men with funny hats walking around. The girls flagged them =
stole their hats and took pictures of themselves wearing the loot.

What a great night of fun.

Best wishes for the new year!