Random Traveller Hello and welcome to the long discourse on Rhiannon’s Adventures So Far, that I finally made myself sit down and write because of the impending DOOM that is called Manufacturer Default. My little baby is a lovely shiny white Macbook that I’ve decided to name Poodle. This is because its main function is to be pretty. However I will soon have to send it off to some unloving ruffians who will beat it and tell it not to keep randomly shutting down on me.

From Amsterdam we caught an overnight bus and I managed to sleep the whole way. I woke up at a about 9 o’clock in the morning and on finding the bus stopped thought to myself, “Hmm…wonder where we are? Might get some breakfast.” In answer to the first part, it was Berlin. I think I would have ended up in Dresden if I hadn’t woken just then.

We didn’t do the big walking tour in continuation of my refusal to do tours I’d already done, but I’d recommend it to anyone who isn’t travelling with me. James had to settle for “Behind the Iron Curtain”, a tour mostly focused on the Cold War period and the Berlin Wall. Also recommended, the guide is an ex-British spy who lived and worked in Berlin during that period. He regaled us with tales of how they would cross into East Berlin for diplomatic talks then disappear for a few days to steal Russian rockets and the instruction manuals of ballistic missiles.

The other tour we went on was The Pub Crawl. The first stop was a lovely, cosy, low lit place, completely coated in DDR memorabilia. The third stop was the club I mentioned in the summary. It is in the remaining sections of a gutted 4 story building. The building used to be a Squat for impoverished artists and much of their work still decorates the interior. You can stand in the bar on the 4th floor as gaze out across a sculpture littered sandlot to watch random artistic projections on a large whitewashed wall. Unfortunately we were there on a Wednesday, but I’m told that on the weekends the whole building in packed. If you watch Goodbye Lenin there’s one club in it that makes you sit up and think, “Holy crap! That’s a club? So cool!”. Well it’s pretty much like that.

Zee Germanz from Alicante had extended an invitation for us to stay in Würzburg if we visited Germany, although I know they didn’t think it would be this soon. We booked a bus for Friday, unfortunately I had forgotten to change the time zone on my phone, yet again. This was the third time. On the other two occasions I woke up early, but on this day we weren’t so lucky. Fortunately we managed a full refund and seeing as we were up early decided to visit all the Berlin monuments that hadn’t been in the Spy tour. One of my favourites is the monument to the Nazi book burnings. In a large square called the Bebelplatz in-between the Humboldt University and St. Hedwig's Cathedral, the cobbles give way to a small panel of glass. If you walk right up to it and peer down you see a large dark room under your feet. Its walls lined by rows and rows of empty shelves.

In the afternoon James finally realised his dream of seeing Pirates of the Caribbean 2. Postdam Platz was part of the Death Strip during the time of the Wall. Nowadays super modern buildings tower over your head. They exemplify such architectural extremes you really feel like you’re in a future with flying cars. The Sony Building, which contains the Version Original cinemas, looks like a cross between Mount Fuji and a spaceship.

By the time we eventually made it down to Würzburg James could only spare a few hours before starting his Australia bound journey. We knew both Chris and Dorothea were in Munich at the time so we decided to give the idea of visiting a miss and hop the next train to Frankfurt. However a man that turned out to be Doro’s father accosted James at the station. She’d trusted in James’ hair to make him stand out from the crowd and we were invited home for beer and sausage. With no arm-twisting involved I was convinced to stay for the week. They have a standing invitation to visit Australia, but don’t know when they’ll make it. These Europeans seem to think it’s so far away. “Pah!” I say.