befok!

I just took a quick walk through the Virgin store. All the items that have =
been marked down in their normal stores are being sold at the full price =
(minus the tax of course). I did spot one item that was cheaper, but on the =
whole it doesn’t seem worth shopping at duty free stores.

Wednesday we spent the morning doing washing and then went to the British =
museum. They have a really excellent Egiptian exibition and we also got to =
see the Rosetta Stone. We then met up with Rob, Henriette and surprise, =
surprise Ryan. We the went to see Sir Sloan’s house. It is an eclectic mix =
of artifacts and antiques. We ended the afternoon with high tea at the =
crypt.

After a quick stop at Virgin mega store it was back home for dinner.

Thursday it was up early to do some last minuet shopping. We went to =
Harrods, which after shopping ar KaDaWe was more of the same. We then =
popped in at ?Summerfield?. They had a much better electronics section than =
Harrods. Then we went looking for La Senza, the girls managed to find =
something nice =20

Back to the appartment for lunch and final packing. The tube ride to =
Heathrow was mildly entertaining when there was a bit of name calling =
between some idiot, who insisted on playing his (c)rap music on the train, =
and some other idiots on one of the platforms.=20

Check in was a breeze. Once again we were overweight (must be all the =
chocoate) but they didn’t give us any grief. Security was a mission. They =
scanned my bag, jacket and my shoes. Salom=C3=A9 got frisked (by a woman). =
It took about 30-40 minutes to get through security. We took a quick walk =
through the duty free shops, but there was nothing interesting.

We are now waiting for our boarding call.

So this is the end of a stunning holiday, which is rather sad. I am however =
missing the comforts of home and my cats

Tuesday we visited the National Gallery and the Tate Modern. The Tate =
Modern was very interesting. They had huge slides ranging from the first to =
the fith floor that you can ride for free. They also had all sorts of =
interactive things for you to do. Their audio guides were also the most =
advanced I have seen. They were Pocket PCs with a map of the museum and =
when you brought up the item it would show you the picture as well. Very =
cool! The modern art made mixed impressions on me, some of it was just =
stupid; a 5m x 5m canvas painted grey. Other things like flags made from =
sand in glass containers interconnected with tubes and then filled with =
ants was very original.

We then headed to our self catering unit in Earl’s Court, which was just an =
absolute pleasure after some of the hotels we’ve stayed in.

In the evening we went to Bond Street to meet some friends for dinner at a =
realy nice Italian restaurant. The food was excellent, pity the is no such =
thing as smoking and non smoking, but aparently that will be changing in =
June.

Nico and Chantelle joined us as well which was great as the arrangements =
were very last minute. It was good to catch up on what everyone had been up =
to.

I think I’m starting to get the hang of the London tube system. Navigating =
the Metro’s and Trams in Europe has helped

We arrived at our hotel in London late in the afternoon. After dinner we =
met the Contiki group downstairs and said our final goodbyes. Then it was =
time for some DVD shopping at Virgin and HMV. I got some cool stuff for =
myself and picked up some presents as well.

Tomorrow we move a self catering appartment in Earl’s Court and then it =
will be more shopping and sight seeing.

We have just passed through Dover and are on the way to London. It is wet =
and grey.

Oh I forgot to mention. I touched a computer for the first time in almost a =
month yesterday. I helped Kirsten copy some files onto Jonnies laptop. Best =
of all it was in Hungarian!

We arrived in a rainy Amsterdam late in the afternoon on Saturday and went =
to a cheese and clog shop wher they showed us how to make cheese and (drum =
roll) clogs. The clog making process was quite interesting. All the tools =
looked very primitive but each performed its task well. We also got our =
first taste of stroopwafels. It’s almost like a compressed waffel with =
syrup in the middle (yum).

Then it was checkin and dinner. After dinner some of the group went into =
Amsterdam for the night. We opted to spend the evening at hotel as a live =
sex show was not high on the list of things to see.

Sunday we went to see the Anne Frank and van Gogh museums. Both were very =
good. The tram system in Amsterdam is very cool, but confusing. Their map =
could be better. After sightseeing we walked up the main shopping streets. =
I tried out poffertes (tiny pancakes) and frites (their version of deep =
fried chips) both were excellent. It rained in the afternoon. This was =
actually the first time we had rain while sightseeing on the entire trip. =

Later in the evening we went on a canal cruise, which was lots of fun. We =
tought some of the Aussies how to play wargames. I had a chat with the bar =
lady in Afrikaans while she spoke dutch to me. We could understand each =
other reasonably well =20

After the cruise it was back to the hotel. We had a few drinks in the bar. =
I introduced Springbokkies to the Aussies (it was actually on the shooter =
list!). Interestingly they have a mango flavored Malibu.

Today we are making our way back to London.

Friday we stopped off in Hamburg central at about 1pm and had 4 hours to do =
some sightseeing and shopping. We walked down to the Rathaus, passing the =
largest electronic store (Saturn) in Europe on the way there. We then set =
off for the Hamburg dungeon.

This was heaps of fun, the whole show was in german, but some of the actors =
repeated things in English and all the visual material was subtitled. I got =
tried by the Inqusition for dancing around a Nunnery naked (LOL). By the =
time we got out of the dungeon we had just about enough time to get back to =
the bus. We did however manage to buy some beers on the way to the pickup =
point. We also got a Mezzo Mix, which is Coke and Fanta mixed. It actually =
tastes pretty good.

We then checked into the hotel and headed for dinner (no hamburgers were =
served . After dinner it was up to the room for beer and cards (and =
chocolate). Lindsy joined us. Henri=C3=ABtte stuck a match into a block of =
cocolate as a birthday cake, After a few rounds Lindsy went to get =
something from her room and just as we were getting worried that something =
was wrong she appeared with a silver platter containing desserts and =
sparkles. I was totally blown away! So the night ended off on a good note =
and we all had lots of fun.

We had frikkadel (hamburgers) as part of the breakfast spread this morning. =
So now I can say I ate a hamburger in hamburg

We are on the road to Amsterdam.

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.