I love Germany, except for the keyboards, where the z and the y trade places. So if at some point I mention Germanz, please, please don't think I'm trying to be trendy or something. Those of you who know me know I'd rather shoot myself than pluralize with a z. It's funny though, because even when I'm typing about the keyboard, I still screw it up nearly every time. Oi.

I can't seem to upload pictures on this computer, so I'm afraid you're just going to have to wait to see most of Berlin, as well as a bunch of Bruggian pictures that didn't make it online for some reason.

Berlin began, as per usual, with a comedy of errors. We arrived at the Hauptbahnhof, the main train station, and promptly determined that there is no word in the German language for enough. The place is huge. It's funny really, it's like a shopping mall sandwich. On the very top floor run the train tracks for the local trains and the S-Bahn, kind of like the LRT or the Skytrain. Then there are three levels of stores and ticket agencies and such, then at the very bottom are the big regional and international trains.

We decided to do the smart thing when we got to Berlin and find a map of the city before anything else, but unfortunately, the Hauptbahnhof doesn't have a tourist information stand as near as we could tell, so we set off for the Brandenburg gate instead. It's about a kilometre away, but we're getting mighty used to walking, so it wasn't really a big deal. Once there we had to buy a map, which was annoying, but turned out to be indispensable. We then (gasp!) phoned ahead to the hostel to make sure we'd have a place to sleep, then we trekked another, oh, four kilometres or so there. We checked in and went out for a walk to get the feel for our new neighbourhood.

Our hostel was located in the Zoo section of Berlin, so named for the large Zoo that sits not too far away. Back in the days of divided Berlin it was the central shopping district for the Western half, and as such was held up as a beacon of capitalism. The whole area is quite nice until you get to our part. Our hostel shared a building with, among other fine establishments, a kebap stand, a Burger King, a Chinese restaurant, the World of Sex, and the Erotic Museum. To anyone reading this from the Mars' Hill (all one of you), be comforted to know that the Green Turtle in San Francisco is not the only hostel with dodgy neighbours.

We got back before too terribly long, and because travel is always rather tiring we went to bed, thinking to sleep peacefully in our ten-bed dorm until morning. We were technically correct.

At about 4 in the morning a contingent of inebriated Scots burst in and endeavored to make as much noise as possible. At first I thought they were just drunk, and would quiet down eventually, but as it turned out they were very put out with a pair of Argentinians who also occupied the room for some perceived slight the morning before. One of them was even blowing a whistle. Finally one of them noticed that the Argentinians weren't even in the room, and so they turned their attentions to the bed of one of their comrades who had made the mistake of leaving to relieve himself. They filled it with junk, waited for his return, then finally turned in themselves. I have not felt less charitable towards anyone since Rachid.

Will had found a brochure for a walking tour of Berlin back at the hostel, and since it covered a good number of the sights we had wanted to see, and it only cost 10 € we decided to give it a go. We had also met a couple of Britons, Phil and Will, in our room the previous night and they decided to join us. The tour lasted a good four hours, and covered a lot of Berlin history. While the first part of it was mostly 'this is the outside of a good museum,' the second, which began at the famous Checkpoint Charlie, was a detailed description of the events leading up to and around the Berlin Wall, most of which is now gone. It was called an Insider Tour, and I highly recommend it to anyone planning to see Berlin. That day we also went to Potsdammer Platz to see Miami Vice, and that evening we went up into the glass dome of the Reichstag. All in all, busy, but enjoyable day.

I've missed something here. There was one day in there, somewhere, when all we did was walk around, and I can't remember which it was. It was largely uneventful. Largely. At one point we were sitting on a bench watching a traffic circle (come to Europe, have fun!) when this slightly intoxicated fellow walked by. There was an old Volvo nearby that he was admiring, and he asked us if it was ours. Naturally, we replied in the negative, and instead of wandering off like we'd hoped, he sat down and initiated a 45 minute conversation on Volvos (this one was old), Sweden (North full of Laplanders, South full of criminals, middle is the good bit), and Eastern Canada. Between the three of us we couldn't figure out which lake Toronto is on. I want to say Ontario, but I'm perfectly prepared for the possibility of being wrong. Then, with no real warning, he shook both our hands and wandered away. Very, very weird. I think this must have been the second day, then the following day was the tour.

Day three began by mailing the accursed rugs back home, which I later found out that my wonderful and gracious Mother decided to pay for. Thanks Mom, add that to the incalculable column of things I already owe you. Then, in an effort to get some advantage from them, I spent the rest of the day uploading photos, and writing, and then typing out the Morocco story, and I'm just now awaiting my first round of rejections for publication. Should the unthinkable happen and someone actually decides to pay for it, I'll let you know. Will and I spent the day apart for pretty much the first time since leaving home, and, as much as I love him as a dear friend and brother, boy was it ever nice. I have no doubt he feels the same way.

(much to my disgust, I'm listening to Avril Lavigne's 'Sk8r Boi' on the radio here. Oi.)

The next day we went back into the Mitte section of Berlin to see some of the things we'd wanted to go back to from the tour, including the Alexanderplatz TV tower, which was fairly boring and something of a waste of money, and what may have been the second largest department store in Europe. Ever since the glorious wonders of El Corte Ingles, we go into just about any department store we see, if only to ride up and down the escalators, and each one is referred to as that country's Corte Ingles. More walking, and not much else that day, except for the Topography of Terror exhibit at the ruins of the old Gestapo headquarters. That was really cool.

We had been told that all state museums are free the first Sunday of every month, so we chose that day to see the Pergamon museum. It wasn't free, which was vexing, but it was really cool, with all sorts of Greek, Babylonian and Islamic antiquities. I walked through the Ishtar Gate, and eventually there will be pictures.

We then went to the Hohenzollern church (the Hohenzollerns ruled Prussia, then Germany for a good bit of time, Kaiser Wilhem II was the last to sit on the throne, but he gave them a bad name. They're easily my favourite house of European royalty) which was interesting. We had to pay 5 € to get in, which Will objected strongly too, it being a church and all. I'm not entirely sure what I think on the matter, but it didn't feel right. It did have the family crypt though, and I got to see the sarcophagi of several famous, and not-so-famous Hohenzollerns, which was pretty cool.

We were originally planning to go to the German History Museum that day as well, but the Pergamon and the church took more time than we thought so we just went back to the hostel. Good thing too.

We got up the next day and went to the German History Museum. For some reason both Will and I thought this would be the work of an afternoon, so we weren't all that concerned about getting there on time. It was one of the best museums I've been to yet, incredibly detailed, and most of the information had English translations alongside. The audioguide was worthless though, consisting mostly of some guy reading what I was reading, and mine died partway through the Middle Ages anyway.

I got to spend a good bit of time in early Germany, and the Imperial period, which is my personal favourite. Then came WWI. This all took about four hours. I thought we had to be nearly done, but I forgot about that little conflagration called WWII and it's aftermath. The museum closed before I could finish, and I will go back someday. It was, again, excellent.

That was yesterday, and the only other thing we had time for was to try to reserve train tickets to Wittenberg. We went to the desk, which was a Eurail aide desk. We had heard rumours of these things, even tried to find them on occasion, because we managed to lose our Eurail timetable in Spain. We got sent four of the things, and only brought one. Which we lost. Anyone surprised?

We asked the guy at the desk for reservations, and he wondered why, since it was a regular train that we could just jump onto. But he did give us another timetable, which I still can't quite wrap my head around. After a month of inconvenience, he just reached into his desk and handed us one. Oi.

The trip here was mindnumbingly uneventful. If our passes weren't coming to the end of their validity we wouldn't even have used them. If we were the dishonest type, we could have rode for free today since nobody checked them. But here we are, in Wittenberg, and it's lovely.

Current Location: Wittenberg, Germany