1 week in Brisbane

I am home. I'm moulded into a spot on the olive green velour couch (why do we still have this?) with the TV blaring in the background. A documentary on the Halloween movie franchise. It's interesting but I'm only half listening. Penny is curled up, seemingly into the smallest possible ball she could manage, her four little white socked paws poking out in a position that couldn't be comfortable.

Normally I would be extremely bored by this type of listlessness. However, after 10 months of travel - I'm loving my lazy days at home.

My beast of a car has been re-registered so I can transport myself from place to place, at the peril of the world environment. I had to get a Road Worthy certitificate and there was all sorts of drama on the phone with the RACQ lady insisting the road service mechanic wouldn't replace my battery because the car wasn't registered yet. But without a battery, I would be unable to move the car to get the certificate to re-register it so the mechanic would see me. It hurt my head. Fortunately the RACQ guy was not a jerk (like the call centre woman) and by the end of the day, my car was registered.


I have been helping as much as I can with the flood clean up. It is heartbreaking (and backbreaking) work. I learned how to break down walls with a hammer. At houses on one end of the street, life is normal, but down the other end lives are in dissaray, homes are uninhabitable and the residents are homeless. On Monday, I was working in the stairs of a house in Graceville, sweeping water from the Gurney upstairs down to the lower levels. IN the torrent, overlooked toys belonging to the little girl who lived were continually swept down the stairs. I salvaged as many as I could - 3 littlest pet shops (2 cats and a turtle) and a few DS cartriges. I had to let many go as they were covered in thick sludge, which had soaked into their once fluffy bodies. I would still be devastated if my littlest pet shop collection was lost, even today. THey are still very valuable to me at age 25.. so I can't imagine how that little girl would feel losing them.

We did a lot of sweeping and a lot of cleaning. We cleaned every item of cutlery and crockery - from knives to lunch boxes to a nice tea set. It's sad that the itmes that survive to fight annother day are take away containers and water bottles, ratehr than meaningful things like photos and soft toys.

Mum has helped me buy a month's membership and toowong fitness first. It's great to be back at the gym. Upon return, I hadn't exerciesed properly for 6 months- or done a class for 10. I also weighed 15kg heavier - tipping the scales at 90.1kg. I've been back at the gym for 5 days now- my first attack class back was a heartbreaking experience. I had gone from teaching the program to not being able to make it through a class. HOwever, my fitness is already quickly returning and I'm able to tough it out now. I have lost 4.1 kg - weighing in at 86kg. it's stil the heaviest i've ever been.. but I feel in 2 weeks time, I can be back below the 80kg mark and back into all my nice clothes.

I'm meeting Emily for lunch today at Grill'd.. it's danger time. But I think I've earned an awesome burger!

home once more

Well, I'm finally home. I was worried about getting home during the floods but fortunately the water level has dropped significantly and we were able to get through the city (albeit through a random route including musgrave road, broncos club and rockbourne terrace) and safely home.

I have sent in my details to volunteering QLD to help with the flood relief effort - although next week I may go up to Condamine/CHinchilla to help my sister move from one flooded town to another.

I had a day of ups and downs yesterday in Kuala Lumpur. Firstly, I lost my super-warm Bench coat somewhere in the dark, wet walk from the terminal to the hotel. I was very sad- and walked back and forth twice between the two locations, but to no avail. goodbye warm coat - fortunately I probably won't ever need you again - but you were a good friend.

I lugged my bags into my small-sized Tune hotel room, therw myself on the generously room-sized bed and logged on. Opening up my hotmail account I was shocked to see an email from Princess labled "Urgent - change notice Jessamy Ross". Perplexed, as I was due to join the Royal Princess in 4 days time, I opened the email and was greeted with news that was simply BEST EVER:

"We received a request from Operations to have you join the Pacific Princess to work on the World Cruise. This would change your joining date to 22 Feb."

UMMMM! YES!!! SO EXCITED!! WORLD CRUISE!!!

It's on another mega small ship, but it's no worry.. because.. WORLD CRUISE!

I was so excited to hear this.. plus I get quite a long time at home to relax and get prepared for joining the ship. Almost too much time- I don't knwo what I'm goin to do for cash in this time. I've registered for the dole and hopefully can get some temp work (or just spend my time helping with the flood).

Then I had a little nap. A few hours later, I checked my email again and found the WORST news. Mum had emailed to say they had to get our Gemma Dog down. Gemmie was 14 and had been having problems with her back leg. We had been geting it treated for the last few months, but yesterday she couldn't get up. She is a big girl, and it was hard for mum and dad to get her out to the car. She was a bit distressed. Mum said her tail had stopped wagging in the last few weeks. Gemmie was a beautiful dog- she had a beautiful smiling face and the gentlest nature. I will always remember when our cat had caught a baby scrub turkey, and gemmie chased him away and picked up the bird gently in her mouth and brought it to us. she had a gentle and loving nature and was a wonderful dog. It was her time to go though - she had a good innings, and without being able to walk, she would have no quality of life. It is not the same here without her. She will be missed, but i feel priveleged to have known her.

I am not going to do anything today. I am just going to lie around - maybe take the dog for a walk. The mighty boosh is on TV though - so first order of the day is a bit of tube time.

I have to start making trivias - two trivias a day for the time i'm home = 70 trivias. time to get trivia-ing. except penny (my sister's dog) is barking at me. I'm glad she's here or the house would feel really empty.

Almost Home

I can't believe it - my Eurotrip is coming to a close. The 63 days have just disappeared to nothing by like a fat kid on a smartie. I've been to random places in England, Ireland and Scotland, Seen Paris, witnessed snow for the first time, had an (almost) white christmas, and visited the Germans, Danes and Dutch in their homelands.

I've drank alot of beer, ate a lot of junk food, explored 12 museums, danced in 4 clubs and drank in countless bars, eaten raw herring, had blood thrown on me, experienced -18 degrees, visited a concentration camp, donated umbreallas to randoms, climbed the eiffel tower, had newyears under the brandeburg gate with the hoff and mostly stayed for free with fabulous and kind friend.

I have one day left in london before I leave. Tomorrow.. I don't know what I will do. perhaps visit the south bank once again now the weather is less inclement and take some more photos of the hosues of pariament. Also, I have yet to see tate britain. I think we are going out for steak and cocktails as a "farewell" dinner - but apart from that, my trip is over.

I'm coming back with about 6kgs more stuff- mostly jackets and winter warmers- oh and a very heavy leather hippopotamus (curse you shopping spree fever in copenhagen).

Today I went and bought a big plastic zip bag from the 99p store. the zip promptly broke, but fortunately I also brought duct tape and I'm gonna wrap that thing up good. It's gonna be more tape than plastic.

I am in transit for two days - the 12th and the 13th - and I arrive in Brisbane at 7:50 am on Friday Morning. I leave at midday on the following monday -for a total of 3 days at home. I have so much work to do in that time - just check out the preliminary list of activities I have to devise/write up/make powerpoints for.

- 12 good trivias
- pub trivia
- joke trivia "yo mama" jokes
- 4 multimedia trivia
- movie trivia
- movie trivia 2
- total recall trivia
- animal & nature trivia
- rapid fire trivia
- line dancing sheets
-party line dancing sheets
-my own poolgames line up
- paper flower making sheets & new flowers
- re-do all about the music gameshow x 2
- jeprodised trivia
- majority rules
- blanketty blanks
- liars club
-who wants to be a millionaire
-speed pictionary
-my own version of scattegories
- valentines quiz
- easter quiz
-australian quiz (australia Day)
-other event trivias

I'm really focussed on producing EVERYTHING from scratch because I really don't like the quality of alot of the stuff I've inherreted. I'm also going to build in as many original elements in these events as I can- and I know from last contract that this is very hard to do at sea. I'm going to do some cool new trivias with alot of multi media- also put my graphic design skills to the test.

It's alot to get done in a few days so i'm going to have to be focussed and work hard. I also have to try and find time to catch up with as many people as possible. EEK.

I'm a little nervous about going to the royal, because quite honestly, I don't know what to expect. IT's going to be completely different to the Emerald Princess - it's literally a quarter of the size. I have no idea what type of facilities it has - will my multimedia trivias even be able to play - and with only 700 people on board - will there be enough of a crowd to even play them the way i've been accustomed to on the EP?

I will find out in 1 week when I fly to Papeete to join on the 17th. They are flying me all the way to LA, then back to papeete - so what should have been a 6 hour direct flight is now a 20 hour epic. ALthough it will give me time to put the finishing touches on things.

Ah so much to remember - I also have to go and get costumes for Australia day, Valentines, Easter - and for any crew themed discos - so i probably need to take some fluro things, a corset and various other costume items.

So much to plan. Good thing I have 2 days transit to start figuring it all out.

Amsterdam

I didn't take any notes of what we did in Amsterdam, and I can't really be botehred to try and remember everythign we did there- so i'm just going to say a few things.

Amsterdam is awesome. Such a cool city. When we arrived, skies were grey but tempereatures were between 1 and 7 degrees- so for once, we weren't paralysed by cold. Everyone in Amsterdam rides a bike. There are bikes everywhere. Take your eyes off the footpath in front of you to examine a cool bird (they have some really pretty birds in Amsterdam) and you're likely to trip over someone's bike. They say there are almost 500,000 bikes in Amsterdam- and almost 50,000 bike thefts every year. I feel like if they didn't leave them lying all over the footpath, this number could possibly be reduced.

I love Amsterdam. We visitied the Van Gough Museum, Anne Frank House, Rijkstal museum, Dam Square, Leidseplein area, various clubs and bars, red light district.. everywhere. I especially enjoyed the Anne Frank house - imagine being in the space they lived in for all that time. THey actually had more space than I thought- although being in an enclosed space with 7 other people for even 1 week would be claustrophobic. The museum is inspirational, and downstairs tehre is a really unique exhibit. There is a large room with tv screens where theyplay a moral problem facing people in teh current world - italians wanting to ban crosses in classrooms, banning anti isamist groups from protesting in the UK. THey present the story objectively then ask you to say "yes" or "no" to the proposal. You press a button then the screen displays how people in the room voted in percentages. Very interesting stuff.

I loved the van gough museum as well - he truly was an insane tallent.

Amsterdam in general was a great - and the higher temperatures were a welcome relief. It's sad to be back in London after the Eurotrip - only 2 days until I go home - but it is nice to lie down and sleep for a bit - we had a hectic two weeks of exploring, partying and good times!

I'm ready to come home now though, provided brisbane hasn't been washed away by the time I get there. I talked to my sister on skype today - she's in Condamine helping with the flood relief. The flood waters are rising again though, and I think she'll probably be stranded there. I imagine I won't get to see her before I join the Royal Princess this time next week. But I will get to see Penny Pup, who is in Brisbane - which is very nice- I havn't seen her for 9 months!

Copenhagen

Copenhagen

In yet another of a long string of extreme early morning departures, we slipped through the thawing snow towards Bullostrasse (BoUUUllostrasse) station near our "Come2friends" apartmenthaus in berlin. it was the unfortunate hour of 4:30am. It feels like a large portion of my trip thus far has been spent thrashing around in the frozen darkness of the wee small hours in attempts to catch cheapo early morning flights.

We again kicked the butt of our fellow early morning cheap-o travellers in requisitioning the entire front row of the easyjet cheapmobile. I, however, did not enjoy the flight as I was sandwiched between Jed and a window and couldn't move.. or breathe. I must admit, it is pretty cool sitting up the front- you get to see all the stuff the flight attendants do (their main duty apears to be opening and closing cupboards in a random fashion throughout the flight).

I won the race off the plane- and as there was no customs or passport sightings AT ALL, i was the overall first person to get through to the bag collection. Why I care about this, I have no idea- but during this trip I have noticed I seem to have an inherrent tendency to view everything (subconciously, I feel) as a race. Especially eating. and getting off planes. Life is NOT a race - unless you're a sprinter when yes, it probably is.

We caught the train to Copenhagen central.. which is spelled KobenHaVen or something. We got very excited as a train approached and raced to the yellow line, only to realise it was a horrible ugly goods train and that our fellow passengers were mostly laughing at our embarassment.

Copenhagen central is a particularly beautiful station - with a huge high vaulted ceiling. We graually found our way through the ice towards our accomodaiton. When we arrived however, there was nothing there. Just a block of flats with a green door, some boarded up windows and the names of people beside every alarm buzzer button. DIdn't look like Sweet4you guest house to me (Come2friends in berlin a least had a sign.. although we do see a disturbing trend in the use of the word number word formula in naming hotels).

We stood outside in the snow, wondering what to do. Was sweet4you a scam hotel? had phebe's credit card details been stolen by nigerians? were we orphans in a strange city? well, apparently not. Upon calling the booking website, we were able to reach the owners and found out that our room would not be ready until 1. It was 10am and we were very cold. Our apartment appeared to be located in the middle of the red light district, and all the bars in the vicinity where we could have sheltered were named "Erotic Corner", "Porno Shop" or "Spunk" (which is particularly distasteful).

Also we were carrying luggage. We retreated back to the central station to wait in the warmth. We found a Danish shop, and being in Danish-land, we had Danishes. THE BEST. EVER. DANISHES. The Danes can do a good Danish. But they sucked at coffee. It was litereally dishwater. We sat in that little cafe, stealing mcdonalds free wifi ad taking up space for several hours. The toilet was really unique, in that it offered a selection of underwear and beauty products for sale, shoudl weary travlelers require refreshments. It was also free to use the toilet - but to wash or apply make up cost 10 kroner. Very interesting system.

we also encountered a particularly disturbing person at this time. THis creepy english guy just went and sat down with two lovely danish girls who were sitting nearby our suitcase hovel. They were very polite girls, and humored him when he asked where their boyfriends were. However, when he offered them money for favours they sensibly ran away. He sat there for 5 seconds, then hobbled out after them. I hope they are ok. he seemed a bit feeble and drug-addict-y so i think they would have been able to fight him off if push came to shove.

We were a bit dubious about our living arrangements when we returned to the apartment complex. It seemed a little "dodgy" to be sure. However, once inside it was actually very modern and nice. HOweve, the floors were very very dusty. I think ou cleaning lady was scared when we came in and left wihtout mopping. but the floors were covered with grit which was unpleasant on the footsies. The bathroom was another interesting bathroom (2 from 2 so far). It was very small and so had a shower that was kind of.. just a shower head in teh room. whenever you showered, the floor was flooded with water. The tiles were heated to help the water evaporate, but the combination of heating and gritiness made the bathroom especially creepy.
There was also a mystery staircase.

WIth only a few hours of sunlight remaining on this, the first clear day we had seen so far and the promise of constant rain for the remainder of our stay, we ventured out on an extreme photo-taking adventure. Although extremely nerdy to say, I felt like I was in a kind of live-action game of Pokemon, where the pokemon were the sights of the city, and we had to "catch them all". All I can say regarding this is- what is wrong with me?

Anyway, we roamed past the CIty town hall square (and statue of Hans Christian Andersen) and onto Stroget, Europe's longest pedestrian shopping area. This street is great - filled with happy people and a myriad of interesting shops- including the best lego shop ever. We ran in and were transfixed with joy. Every lego set you could dream of were there - including the oldschool medieval and pirates sets (my favourites!!). THere was an activity centre where you could create your own lego guys to purchase from the pieces in teh tubs. THere was also a section at the back set up like a giant lolly shop - wehre you could "pick & mix" lego bricks to your own desire in clear plastic cups of varying sizes. There were giant lego statues everywhere! Also, there were special screens that you stood in front of with the lego box of your choosing. The screens had a webcam attached and played back an image of you as usual, but the box was converted into the lego model, fully built with the lego guys moving around. There were rockets flying and horses gallopin around everywhere. It was AWESOME!

Pressed for sunshine time after our distracted visit to the Lego store, we raced up to our next stop - the Round Tower. A 17th century tower located in the heart of the city, it is unusual in that rather than ascending via a spiral staircase, the path up is a spiral slope. Riding a bike down the tight curve would be a dream come true. At the top we were met with a gorgeous panorama of the city. The sky was puctuated by spires and churches - and in the distance high smokestacks and wind power turbines. Copenhagen is a super-environmentally friendly city- burning waste for power and also harnessing the power of the prevailing winds. These industrial structures did not "spoil" the view at all, enhancing it with their inbteresting shapes and inherrent eco-friendliness.

COpenhagen is a simply gorgeous city - wonderfully scandanavian. HOwever, everyone here speaks perfect english. Everyone. Even random policemen we talked to spoke perfectly and had even visited australia. A lady stopped us in the street to ask if we needed directions as soon as phebes map was beign opened. The people in this city are just wonderful. We didn't have a single negative encounter.

after wandering the full lenght of the epically sized Stroget, we reached the Nyhaven - a canal with lovely restaurants. The canal was frozen solid. Even the wide ocean channels were pure ice. Jed was determined to walk on the ice, and there was a lot of conjecure over the likelehood he would meet an icy doom. We were distracted from this dangerous course of action by the extreme cold that was settling with the darkness. We took refuge in the nearest bar - randomly a scottish bar called "McJOy's - the GastroPub". NOw I don't like the sound of any of the words in that title- except maybe "the". But the beers were good, and we discovered a lovely cider that tastes just like apeltiser.

Denmark is famous mostly for Carlsberg brewery and Lego, and having seen both those things on our first day (the cider being a carlsberg creation) we decided to head back to Sweet4you. It was freezing and a LONG way home. Halfway, Phbe and Jed escaped into a taxi. Moments later, a fog of doom decended on the city. It was as thick as pea soup and like walking through suspended snow. Tom, Lucy and I wanted to die. Delcious crepes along the way gave us fortitude. mmmm country ham crepe. unexpectedly good.


Day 2

We left the apartment excitedly the next morning, on our way to visit Tivoli Gardens. Located in the centre of town, Tivoli Gardens is the world's second oldest theme park, and apparently was the inspiration behind Disney Land. We figured if Walt disney was impressed, we could not go wrong.

HOwever, it appears Tivoli Gardens is a Liar and WHore and it was CLOSED! nowhere on the website did it say it would be closed. we were so excited, and our dreams of copenhagen funtime amusements was dashed. Deflated, we continued with our plans for the day and walked down the Stroget towards Amelienborg Castle.

On our way, church bells were ringing. We all spontaneously stopped, realising that it wasn't random church music ringing out accross the city, but "Belle (little town)" from beauty and the beast. It was amazing. We just stood there in awe, our amazement only growing when the bells launched into "gaston" as their second number. How could the bells do this? it was simply magical. We asked a lady in the church how they worked, and she told us the organist sits up in the tower and plays a piano that is connected to the bells. He plays different music every day. WHat a simply wonderful thing to happen!

We walked down Nyhavn to the wider canals, where we again became obsessed with the idea of walking on the ice. WOuld it be OK? COuld it be done? there was alot of conjecture, but not alot of action on the subject. We walked along some dangerously slippery gardens and emerged virtually unscathed in front of the palace.

Amalienborg Palace is the winter home of the royal family, and is centred around a giant plaza with four roads leading in from each compass point. As we walked into the space, we became aware of a large number of guards (similar to the british palace guards- even with the same hats - only wearing blue tunics rather than red) standing across from each other, as if in a dress-up staring contest. Police were directing pedestrian traffic. We asked the regular policeman what was happening, and discovred we were lucky enough to be witnessing the changing of the guard. We also asked him if it was safe to walk on the ice and he said probably yes. He went on to tell usthat it is never this cold in copenhagen and the canals rarely freeze over. I asked if Princess Mary might make an appearance. He said he doubted it as she was in hospital about to birht her tewins. How exciting.

Watching the Changing of the guard was an excellent experience. FIrst, the new guards came out, marching in line. THen they were joined by drummers and fife players (we later found out there are normally brass as well, but they were with the queen on offical duties). They did some itneresting yelling and gun manouvers then marched, with the band playing extremely cute fife tunes as they all marched around the plaza. Extreme cuteness happened when the guards stopped or turned. THey would all "shuffle" into correct position. Like we wouldn't notice the shuffling. THey would stop, then from the left of the squadron begin shuffling sideways to get the right spacing. It was very wonderful. THey then took the flag inside and te woule group marched out into the streets. We later found out they march a very long way- all over the city every day. It is extremely cute.

After this, we wandered out of the plaza to the nearby marble church. THis church is a circular, single domed building. INside, the dome is gorgeously decorated and we sat inside for a good 20 minutes just enjoying the internal splendour.

Next, we found danishes for lunch AND a chemist to buy painkillers (the catch-cry of this trip ahs been "do you have any painkillers" followed by an annoying trek to find them. I don't know why they don't just stock up). Then, off over the canals to CHristiania.

Christiania Free Town is a crazy, semi-autonomous hippie colony in the middle of the city. THere is no hard drugs, fighting, or even heavy beers in christiania. just lots of stoned people. TO be honest, it is a bit of a dump - but well worth seeing. There are alot of great craftsmen and artists residing in the area and almost every public building is covered in their artworks. We wandered around, stopped for a (light) beer, jed told the world's most boring story, then we got out before the sun went down.

All you can eat pizza was the go for dinner. Jed and Phebe had 8 pieces, I managed 9 but tom kicked butt with 10. I ate a lot of salad dressing (and slightly less salad). It was like pizza hut restaurant - except withou thte desert bar.

DAY 3

Our last day. We went to visit the little mermaid. SHe is very beautiful - and not as far out to sea as I imagined. In fact, due to the ice, we were able to walk right out and touch her. Tom and a massive stack attempting to do this- and great mirth ensued. We walked back through the icy star shaped fort down towards Christianborg castle to visit the crown jewels. ON our way, we yet again encountered the marching guards. They were so cute- And had the brass instruments with them as well this time. It was a lovely accompaniement for our walk. The castle was very nice - and a little bit mish mash - oh and also quite small. THe roayl family havn't lived there for years - but it has been used as a storage space for family heirlooms so is chock full of fabulous stuff. The jewels in the treasury were certainly a sight to behold - along with bottles and barrels of wine dating back to the 17th century.

Also on this day we went a little crazy in a gift shop - I came away with a leather hippo, but fared well comparet do the others - who left with creative face egg cups, amusing man shaped hooks using a certain portion of the male anatomy as the hanging section, similar hippo to mine and scotty dog salt and pepper shakers. All fabulous. the shop was called Zane and I recommend a visit to anyone who wishes to part with lots of cash.

OUr transport to Amsterdam was going to be quite different - even a little "oldschool"- enter the Night Train.

Crammed into our sleeper cars, we spent a rather fun night on the rails. Sleep was hard to come by, but just lying awake on a 3 tiered bunk on a high speed train was quite exciting in itself.

and our next port of call was also exciting. Hello Amsterdam.

"Ich bin ein Berliner" - 6 days in Berlin!

Berlin day 1.

At 4 am a van pulled up at 207 Cavendish Road, London. 5 red eyed souls dragged themselves out into the London blackness and carefully negotiated large suitcases into the van. One poor individual (myself) was packed into the dicky seat and was walled in by the afforementioned luggage. Click went the seatbelts (except for mine - but I was encased in 40kg of bag) and the adventure began.

I have been waiting for this part of my trip for so long. The final run home- yet the most exciting part of all- EUROTRIP 2010. Jed & Phebe, her brother Tom and his girlfriend Lucy and I were headed for 2 weeks of awesome partying, europe-style. Our trip is a tri-city affair - first Berlin, then Copenhagen then 3 days in Amsterdam (or Amsterdamage as it is known) before we wash up on the shores of old Blighty once more.

At this early, luggage bound stage I was not feeling the best. So filled with excitement (and caffiene) was I the night before that I had not managed one wink of sleep. I was also suffering from mega-indigestion sustained the previous evening when bolting down penne pasta with Amy and Cat. I only ate it so fast because it didn't taste very nice (flawed logic I know..). I was not the only one struggling. Jed was experinecing some kind of ailment and everyone had a case of the sniffles.

Our flight was sceduled for 6:50 but was delayed til 7:30. And if there's one thing worse than mega-indigestion, it's sitting around in an airport with mega-indigestion. It seems pretty lame but we have become extremely hardcore in our attitude towards discount airlines and "getting the best seat". Our strategy is to find a central point between all the boaring gates and watch the screen. The second our gate is allocated, we walk - nay we run blindly in that direction. Once in the holding pen, we quickle acertain where the boarding point is and obstinately stand in front of it. They call special boarding passengers and we wait. Then, the second the go-ahead is given, it is a free-for all. We run dangerously over the icy runway and overtake the special boarding passengers en route for the stairs. Our general strategy is to get the first row. The satisfaction of being the first off the plane is worth it.

We were first into the terminal in Berlin- And we couldn't wait to get inside- it was FREEZING! In the 3 weeks prior to our arrival, snow levels had been building and building. Just prior to our landing, there must have been a massive blizzard. We stepped out of the airport into what can only be described as a winter wonderland. So. Much. Snow.

somehow still, the Germans (perhaps through their rutless efficency) are able to keep trains running even during permafrost conditions (which is amazing because if leaves fall on the track in the UK, the trip is off kids). We caught the S-Bahn, then the U-bahn and ended up kinda sorta near where we were supposed to be- the "come 2 friends" guest house on Bullostrasse. apparently you can't say bullostrasse.. you have to pronounce it BOOUUlostrasse (as we discovered when miffed Germans did not understand requests for directions).

The walk from the train to the mystery BOUUUUlostrasse location was extremely unpleasant as although winter wonderlands are wonderful to look at, they are not suitable condiditions for dragging suitcases for. I was not wearing gloves at the time and my tears of coldness-terror froze on my cheeks. I have now found my kryptonite - temperatures sub negative seven.

We checked in to our accomodation. We had a 3 bedroom apartment, with a shower/toilet, a toilet AND a shower room. ONe of the bedrooms was kinda a kitchen, but this could be overlooked due to the joy of central heating warming our hearts to our new surroundings. Our building was covered in lethal icicles, 1m long and positioned 5 storeys above pedestrian areas. Bicycles were frozen solid in their locations, coated in an icing of... well, ice.

It was decided we should power nap. I think each of us knew going in to this nap arrangement, that oversleeping was to be the unspoken outcome. Intending to wake up at 3 and explore, we woke up at 6 in the dark. Conveniently, just in time for dinner

One of Phebes ex-housemates had been a recent visitor to Berlin and given us some hot tips on delicious eating places. We decided try Oranium and Oranianburgstrasse in East Berlin. This was a good choice. The food was out of control. Cannot be described. No Words. But Awesome. And so filling that, although we napped the afternoon away, a good night's sleep was had by all


DAY 2
Because we are poor and also because we are cheap (and also because we are smart travelers who read online reviews) we spent the next day on the New Berlin Free Walking tour. The assembly point was outside starbucks at the Brandenburg Gate. We got there a little early to capitalise on photo opportunities and then hid inside from the cold, nursing coffees and iced chocolates in our already-semi-frostbitten hands. SHortly before 11 am several guides emerged and set up barriers outside in the snow. We were corraled into these spaces and separated into tour groups. While this was occuring, my toes froze completely and I wanted to die. Curse you, icy nemesis.

Our guide was called SImon and he was an Englishman studying in Berlin. He was great - very animated, encouraging questions and forcing us to do starjumps and run on the spot throughout the tour to prevent frostbite. We walked all over Berlin - From the Brandenburg gate to the memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, CHeckpoint Charlie, Gestapo Headquarters, The Spot where the nazi students burned all the books, People's Opera house, Museum Island... and more. It was great and we learned so much about the the city's turbulent past. Just imagine.. only 21 years ago the wall was still standing and we wouldn't be able to even tred the path we were now slipping over upon. ANd before then, in the grip of the Nazi reigeme, we would have been standing in the Evilist place on earth. The city today is so cool, progresive and cosmopolitan that it is almost impossible to believe.

Our tour concluded outside the Berlin Cathedral - a fantastically over-decorated building constructed in a hodgepodge of architectural styles due to the constant interference of one of the Fredericks. Here, our guide gave us an extremely through run down of the events leading up to the fall of the Berlin Wall. I had no idea it was a total mistake. Can you imagine? However, although the guide's story was interesting and also entralling, nothing could change the fact that my feet were simultaneously numb and throbbing with pain.

After the tour we attempted a quick escape into the Pergamon museum. ONly the line was extremely long and we had to wait out in the cold. By this time the mercury was at -13 and falling. HOwever, the wait was worth it - the Pergamon was amazing. THey don't display just a collection of small artefacts here - they took the whole bloody buildigns and put them inside. The Pergamon temple, Gates of Babylon and other similarly massive ancient wonders were all spectacularly reconstructed for us to see- and listen about by conveient audio tour (i am a massive audio tour fan).

We found our way home in the dark and cold - stopping off at a chemist to get painkillers, cold medication, cough syrup, nasal spray and antihistamines. The sickness has set in!

At this point my bag was getting very full - especially as we bought some other "medicine" as well, namely 4 bottles of rose (at 2 euros a bottle, how could you not). When we got back to the room, i was dismayed to find my camera had gone awry in all the mess. I searched everywhere but to no avail. I was very sad to report my poor Pannasonic Lumix as a gonner.

My mood was buoyed however by the promise of dinner at WHite Trash Fast Food - the coolest bar/restaurant in town. As we left the room, Jed reached into his pocket and to everyone's surprise, produced my little camera. I had got him to hold it and he had put it in there and forgotten about it. However, I resolved to get a new camera anyway.

Unfortunately for us, WHite Trash Fast Food was closed. Gerscholssen (or something like that). until the next night, so we wandered down to Alexanderplatz - the central square of Communist Berlin. There were crazy makeshift christmas bars set up everywhere - and a tobogganing hill, and a night club pumping out tacky club classics (think I'm blue dabadidabadi). We settled in a nice italian restaurant and smashed pizzas for tea. We returned home feeling sick but glad to have seen ALexanderplatz- including the totally random TV tower thing that inhabits the skies above the square.


Day 3
On day 3 we joined another walking tour by the same company up to Oranienburg, to visit the site of Sachsenhausen COncentration Camp. It was absolutely freezing and we were in pain the entire time, but it was the most amazing experience and absolutely nothing on the pain and suffering endured in that place at the hands of the Nazi reigime. I don't really want to write too much about it - but we visited the whole camp and even the wreckage of the gas chamber. Just horrific. But I am so glad we went up there. I thought I would die of the cold dressed in 5 layers (it was -17) but the poor prisoners of the past had to work in these conditions in thin summer pyjamas and wooden clogs. It was.. an experience I will never forget.

If you want to read more about the camp here is the wiki link - Sachsenhausen

day 4

I was so excited. It was time to visit the East Side Gallery, the longest standing area of the wall left intact- famously embalzoned with some of the world's best known images of graffiti. We had a great morning (albeit a freezing one with the wind whipping off the river) posing with the various images in an amusing fashion, and appriecating the work of these artists, many of whom have re-painted their work 5 times over the past 20 years. I was also excited because it was new year's eve!

As a newyear's treat- we headed back to Oranium, our fabulous favourite restaurant, and sampled the brunch menu. Fried cheeze should be a brunch staple! After that, we strolled down teh Oranianburgstrasse to the famous hovel/artist commune/squat/creative space the Tacheles. We wandered throught he whimsical backyard, having a showball fight over the graffiti-d carcasses of old busses and chairs (intentionally placed by artists of course) then explored the ghetto-style staircases. The buidlign was origninally a department store until it was bombed and abandoned. THen artists and crazy people moved in, creating a commune of hippies, legitimate artists and crack heads. It's a very exciting place. We were loving it until, when passing up the stairs, we encountered a young female artist. She wsa coming down the stairs flicking at the people coming up. SHe flicked at me and i felt moisture on my face - I looked at Lucy and she said "omg it's blood". Unortunately it was too late to warn the others, who were in tow, and we were all sprayed with this Girl's blood. Apparenlty she had cut herself on purpose and I'm pretty sure it was some random artistic crap. Didn't change the fact we were covered in a random's blood. Phebe was especially upset as a droplet went in her mouth. THe chances of contracting an infection in this way are very low, but it was still a crap experience for her and a stress for everyone.

We drank some beers and smashed back a record amoutn of Jim Beam to lighten our spirits - it was newyear's eve afterall and we were off to the world's largest street party - NYE at the Brandenburg gate.

I would liek to add at this point that Berlin is a wonderfully cheap city - food, drinks- you can lead the high life at a budget price. Also cheap and plentiful are fireworks. They are EVERYWEHRE- in the convenience store, supermarket, toy shop. People let them off all the time. I kind of think they should be illegal. I know i'm a killjoy but.. i'm scared of the unexpected BANG caused by random children throwing fireworks at you.

But I was very excited by the preimise of fireworks on the gate, and we arrived at the obecenely early hour of 5pm. Not much was happening. some bad bands were playing and people generally did not seem so excited. Hours passed. we drank more and befriended random germans. Tom and lucy disappeared and had random adventures invloving their own fireworks, pizza with mayo and public urination. As the clock ticked past 11, Jed and Phebe went off to get some water, leaving me close to the stage with the random germans - one of whom was annoying me considerably. Time passed. By this time the area was totally crowded - I have never seen a thing like it (and i've been to lots of concerts and festivals). there was literally no way to move. I became sad at the prospect of seeing in the new year on my own and spend 20 minutes pushing through the crowd to get out and see if phebe and jed were at our "meeting spot". In the meantime, unbeknownst to me, phebe and jed were pushing their way back in to where I was. Eventually I also pushed back in and found them just in time for the count down.

At midnight, the classical singer Paul Potz sung "it's a wonderful world" and various other nice songs and there was a great fireworks display. THen, in what can only be described as THE GREATEST MOMENT EVER, David Hasselhoff took the stage. He was wearing a crazy gold coat, no shirt and mroe makeup than a messy tranny. and he was 40 m away from me. THen he sung, and continuted to sing after his song was finished and the presenters were attempting to remove him from the stage. The crowd loved it. Then came crap euro-pop music and we escaped compeltely.

It was a great way to ring in the new year, but I will say that the people there were remarkably unexcited. No one was cheering much around where we were, even for the Hoff. We were the only exxcited people around in the area closest to stage, it seems. Possibly everyone else in this area had been cut off from drinks by the crowds for so long that they had sobered up? The performers as well (except for Paul Platz and the HOff) were not really up to standard for the "largest street party in the world" with 1million attendees. It could have been - more awesome from an organisational standpoint i think.

ANyway, getting home was no easy feat, first consisting of a run down the gauntlet of ice, broken glass, drunk people and maliciously hurled fireworks into potzdamer platz. THen a mysterious maze through the back streets looking for a U-bahn station that wasn't so overcrowded it had been closed. On arrival at home, Our feet were soaked through, we were freezing but we had had an epic new years - even if it wasn't quite as "well run" as we had expected.



Day 5

THe first part of day 5 was all about sleeping in and relaxing, then it was about discovering the cullinary glory tom and lucy had found the night before. Namely pizza from this kebab shop smothered in mayo. o hellz yea.

We decided to head to White Trash Fast Food in the evening, but then realised that the odds of us getting a table without a booking were slim to none. I e-booked us for the next night, but we thought we'd check out the saturday night scene regardless. After a long-ish journey along the red U-bahn line to Roza Luxumborg Platz, our suspicions of restaurant-al fullness were unfortunately confirmed. We decided to try somewhere else and were almost at the trainstation when I made a suggestion that we try the Moroccan plae we had jsut walked past. I claim the suggestion here because it was one of the best suggestions of the trip so far.

The place was called Marrachesh and seemed pretty standard from the outside, but inside it had a fabulous morrocan ambiance and comfy cosy corners to chow down in. We ordered a lot of food- and it was all OUTSTANDING. So so mega delicous! I love morrocan food - meaty balls and yoghurty dips and hummusy items and meat on sticks. Just the best. After dinner we ordered a shisha pipe, and although all non-smokers, we enjoyed the middle eastern water-pipe treat. It's a nice way to end a meal. By the end we were all sleepy and ready for bed, but spend the ride home raving about our meals and our good fortune to have been rejected from White Trash Fast Food for a second time.

DAY 6 - the last day

TIme for Sophie Charlottenburg Palace. It was really very splendid. A free audio tour made it even more awesome. At this point, alot of snow had been melting and the streets were littered with new-year's refuse - especially fireworks, so our external photos didn't turn out the best - but it is so nice to imagine what this place would be like in summer. Built by Queen Sophie CHarlotte - wife of Friedrich II, at the end of the 17th century, this lovely palace is filled with deluxe and fabulous items and decorations. It is sad to see some rooms somehow lacking in their former luxuriousness as they were destroyed in allied bombing raids during WWII. It's so tragic that both sides lost important cultural and historial sights through the bombing. Shame the Nazi's were mega-evil beyond belief.

The best section of the palace was the one containing all the dinner services, jewels, snuff boxes and fabuolous ornaments belongign to the royal family. Just such amazingly crafted items. So luxurious. I want them - it's not fair!

After the palace, we headed home to soothe tired feet and get ready for our dinner reservations at White Trash Fast FOod (aah i get a sense of deja vu about this one). Before our 7 o'clock seating, we went to the Topography of Terror museum at Berlin's most evil address - once home to the headquarters of the SS & Gestapo. The museum traces the evolution of the SS & Gestapo (& Nazis in general) over the 1930's-40's. It starts fairly dry, but by the end you ar confronted with horrors you never new possible. I didn't know that they murdered 3-6 million physically, mentally or psyciatrically disabled people. They just went in to the asylums and liquidated them. They did it in every country they conqured. I didn't realise that they displaced all Polish people from some areas of the country and settled ethinc germans on stolen land. I didn't realise the extent of their hatred for russians and .. yeah the list goes on and on. I felt sick. I already knew most of this stuff but.. seein it all iin one place. It was disgusting, moving and profound experience.

On the train to White Trash Fast Food we somehow regained our appetites and managed to down our ridiculous burgers & fries & onion rings & beers with few troubles. WHite Trash Fast FOod is a mega funky kitch chinese 1930's COuntry music off-the-wall kind of place. It's the sort of place that would publish a zine -which is almost exactly what it's menu is disguised as. It's just the coolest place - with some seriously mental decor - barbie doll legs protruding from lamp shades, a plastic rat "standing" on the bottom of a disco ball. So worth the wait. Unfortunately for us, as it was a Sunday, the nightclub section was closed and we missed out on pilfering our very own white trash fast food cups. witha 1 euro deposit of course.

So. In conclusion. I love Berlin. BErlin is just the coolest city. It's a place that has been fractured and torn apart in so many ways, but the people have come together in a spirit of openness and rebuilt their city from the ground up. People there are nice. There is heaps of cool stuff happening - there is a cutting edge arts scene and people are not afraid to celebrate subculture. I can't wait to visit again - next time IN SUMMER!