Berlin July 09 - 1

OK - so it's taken ages to get this up - no excuse, stuff happens.

Berlin was our target, not only because Willy’s sister was entrenched there, but also because neither of us had been there. What better way to start than with a slap-up feed of lamb chops, a few liters of beer and a game of bowling in Madrid. I was scared of missing the early morning flight so, I didn’t bother sleeping and an excited and slightly dazed Tubbymurphy appeared on the Lufthansa flight. For those of you accustomed to the cheapo concept of flying, BEWARE, there is no real difference in price when you take into consideration the treatment you get on such airlines (KLM included). Berlin was reached and first stop was a ‘Schnell-Imbiss’ near the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (the bombed-out one) in Breitscheidplatz with the famous Berliner Currywurst, but more of that later. To the house for a siesta. The building is a listed architectural heritage site as it was built as part of the reconstruction of Berlin, by the Rooskies, after WWII, when between all of them they reduced this city to rubble. The first Berlin experience was the U-Bahn to get to an interesting restaurant called ‘White Trash Fast Food’ http://www.whitetrashfastfood.com/, it had originally been a Chinese restaurant and is now a cultural center with the original decoration, a band playing, a cinema club, a tattoo parlour, a disco and some waiters with great ATTITUDE. The beer was wonderfully large, the steaks were ‘Love me tender’ and the company (Maria and her chums) was stimulating. Home was achieved and I practiced my snoring.