Spanish is just like Italian (in the same way that chicken is just like beef)

I've left the green fields of Germany and arrived in a balmy, coastal metropolis. First impressions of Barcelona are that its easy to get around. Thats about all I've done, only just arrived at the hostel since leaving Frankfurt at 5am (!!!).

Germany was fantastic. Beer, sausages, good mates... what more could a girl want? And just in case anyone is interested in seeing the Heidelburg Castle (with the worlds biggest wine vat but more on that later), I'm sure Torsten would love to walk you up there. Again. Then he can take you to the chocolate museum :o)

Dusseseldorf was pretty nice. They have some amazing buildings, the area around the harbour is gorgeous. They are also known (according to my guide book) for having the worlds longest pub strip. There are a LOT of pubs in Dusseldorf, and thats saying something for a nation that has built a reputation around breweries. I even went up the TV tower, which overlooks the city - pretty scary because the windows lean out and apparently you can lie on them (hence lying on glass about 160m in the air)... which I didnt do because I have a healthy fear of falling 160m.

We visited the Cologne Cathedral which was stunning, and finally made it up the 560 odd steps to the top of the tower - on the way down there were kids about 3 years old literally climbing and crawling their way up the tower, dragging their parents behind them. No-wonder Germans are so bloody tough if thats what their kids can do...

Then we visited the Neanderthal museum and discovered that fathers are the same all around the world - they all know everything already and like to show off just all the things they know. Elly's, Torsten's and my own dear father all knew about the Neander river (we didnt) and that the original Neanderthal discovery was in West Germany (I didnt) and so on and so on. But it was a pretty nice little museum and although the actually caves and area where the fossils were found has been destroyed by limestone-mining, they have a park which commemorates the area. They've also bred cattle and horses to look 'authentically' stone aged but we couldnt find them despite numerous attempts. I think the photos were staged, they just put extra fur around the horses.


Then onto the Rhine Valley, one of the more beautiful parts of the world and a large reason that the Germanic tribes managed to avoid too many Romans living in their part of the world (the other reasons being the Black Forest and the tribes themselves who were famously vicious and skilled fighters..... and now they have kids that can climb bell towers faster than tourists.)

Koblenz was gorgeous and I got to see a medieval festival (Historenspiel) in the old fortress which was entertaining (better than the museum anyway) - and I had a glass of ye olde cherry beer (Kirsh? I think thats what it was called) which was pretty nice.

Then onto the Loreley cliffs, which has a legend similar to that of the greek Sirens. It was stunning as well, and full of grey nomads. On Friday, we caught a ferry unaware that it was half price seniors day so we had to battle old ladies with bricks in their handbags and old men with their sticks and knee socks.... but it was worth it.

Heidelburg was really nice - great for shopping and the castle is pretty cool. And they have a HUGE wine vat, that was used to collect taxes... so everyone put their wine in the same vat... white, red, sparkling... mmmm, nice. Then, to make sure they could collect taxes the next year, they would have to drink it all and the townspeople would come and help. At least you'd get some benefit out of paying taxes.

Long blog - sorry i havent been writing but its been hard without a computer. Bill Gates hasn't worked THAT one out yet. Good for nothing.

Frankfurt, Elly and Sex on the Beach

Now I bet people are reading my blog!!

To start with a more somber topic, I visited the site of the Gestapo yesterday - there is a big open air gallery/museum which describes what the area was like from the 1910s onwards. There are some pretty confronting photos of political prisoners being shot and public hangings that the Nazi party put on to disuade any opposition. They were big on arresting anyone who disparaged the regime on the charges of 'personal safety' and undermining military strength. Germany's greatest piano player was executed for making comments at a dinner party after his mothers childhood friend informed the Ministry of Music (who did nothing) and then the Gestapo (who did a lot). There were also items about the failed assignation attempts, the proposed coups and a section about the Berlin wall.
Elly said something last night that I'd read in the guidebook - the wall still exists in German heads. There is still a gap between East and West Germany - housing is more expensive, the standard of living is apparently higher and there is more economic investment in West Germany. Its cheaper to live in Berlin than Frankfurt.

For people who dont know, Elly was my best mate in S'pore who I havent seen since 2003. So finally met at the train station yesterday and we went and had cocktails. On the menu, Sex on the Beach had 'secret of the barman' underneath rather than ingredients... so when we were paying, the waiter came to pick up a SOTB, looked at it and asked what it was. The bartender said its a SOTB, to which the waiter replied 'it doesnt look like one' and the bartender basically said the menu means he can make whatever he wants and call it Sex on the Beach. (of course, this was all in German so Elly was laughing and i had no idea why).

Anyway, there isnt much to do in Frankfurt apart from shop, so thats my plan. We´re heading to Düsseldorf tommorrow (which was rated the most livable city in Germany and 5th in Europe) to meet up with Torsten, my other good mate from 2003. YAY!!!

All Alone in Big, Bad Berlin

As JFK once famously said "Ich bein ein Berliner" (which actually means I am a jelly donut, known as a Berliner... what he should have said was Ich bein Berliner... but hey, its the sentiment that counts...)

I managed to score a lift to Berlin (thank you Mark, the best tour leader EVER) and am joining the Topdeck mob for a pub crawl later tonight. Until then, I have been entertaining myself on Museum island, which is an island in East Berlin full of elephants (I wish... Well, that would be pretty damn cool).
I saw the Pergamon which, for those history buffs out there, is home to the Pergamon altar and the Ishtar gate, two pretty huge finds in archeology. They have both been reconstructed in the museum to give some idea of how imposing they must have been originally and they are pretty damn impressive. Especially the Ishtar gate, which was built by King Nebachanezza in Babylon.
I wandered around the Ancient History museum and the Egyptian museum as well, which is home to THE statue of Neferiti that pretty much everyone would have seen on a poster/book/postcard/hairy mans arm... and for something thats had no restoration work, it looks amazingly new.

This afternoon is reserved for the task of tackling the bits of Berlin that caused so much pain and anguish around the world. I visited the Eastside Gallery yesterday, which is a section of the Berlin Wall that was painted just before it was torn down in 1988 (i think it was 88, feel free to correct me) and we drove past Checkpoint Charlie, which was one of the more notorious checkpoints between East and West Berlin - Im heading back for a closer inspection today. There is also a brand new memorial to the holocoust victims in Berlin. Its a whole garden of gray, tomb-like slabs in varying heights and sizes, designed to confuse and overwhelm people and perhaps gain a perspective of something that seems so impossible. I cant write too much because I havent been there quite yet but it will be different after visiting Austwizch on Sunday.