Prague

Right from the beginning, when Kate said "it feels like we're here on a business trip", it went that way.  The 3 days became a blur and the whole focus seemed to be on getting to Vienna.

This was a new experience for them as even back in Hamburg where they stayed only 3 nights they were able to immerse themselves into the city.  In Prague it felt very different.

It is probably one of the most beautiful cities they've been to but as they strolled around in the cold the urgency to get to Vienna was palpable.  They had no idea why, except that it might be the Music - it was like Vienna had sprung up into the consciousness and made its voice heard, calling them on.

Kate's feeling to enquire about Vienna apartments back in Berlin served them well.  She was able to go through the list and write to them again with new dates.  The cheapest offer was EUR 400 for 2 weeks.  They were happy with this one... or so they thought.  The reservation was made but Dave felt very restless that night about the apartment situation and so at 1am they went back down to the PC at reception.  The next best offer was from the same woman - another apartment in the same area for EUR 450.  Only this time Dave spotted that a PC with internet was listed.  They hadn't seen that first time around.  They quickly wrote to the woman and switched apartments.  Now they could rest as the right one had been uncovered.

Another night in the aparthotel Dave was sitting on the bed absently singing away to himself when the next minute he found himself humming some classical music - a rare occurence.  He turned to Kate and said "that's Strauss isn't is?  Wasn't he Austrian?" and they were sure it was The Blue Danube - titles of classical pieces not being their forte.  And it was.  An anthem of Vienna and Austria.

Welcome To Berlin - Citadines

When Dave & Kate arrived at Citadines in the Kurfürstendamm area to check in the manager happened to be behind the desk and saw they had booked through a last minute website.  She revealed to them her amazement that she had only just put the offer up that morning when 5 mins later their booking came through.

The offer was so good and all the staff so welcoming it was 4 nights later before they could leave.  Each morning they went down to the lobby to check the internet and each time they saw the offer still on they booked again.  The woman behind the desk was amused by this and they joked about how they were the guests who wouldn't leave.

When the offer ran out and the time came to go, it was the first time Dave & Kate had felt a tinge of sadness at leaving a hotel.  The staff were the friendliest so far, they had Kaisers supermarket across the road and could go down to the lobby to make themselves a free cup of tea or coffee whenever they felt like it.  All of this felt like a real treat.  The Buddha also appeared 3 times within the area.

Before they departed they had a few things they had to do.  First of all, there was no longer any room for Jesus at the Inn and so he had travelled with them from Amsterdam to Hamburg and was now shipped off from Berlin via DHL to Edinburgh where he would eventually be told he didn't look like himself.  Secondly, Dave & Kate felt the time had come to finally abandon their backpacks and buy some suitcases.  They had spotted some in a luggage shop near Zoo Station.

Spending money on new suitcases at this time when they were almost out of cash seemed totally illogical and yet they had to do it.  They may be going back to Edinburgh with the cases but at that time they knew they couldn't go any further forward with the old backpacks, which increasingly represented a weight on their backs.  Why carry a load on your shoulders when you can let the earth take the weight?

The Rasta turtle from World Cafe in Hamburg seemed to think so, showing up next door to Citadines...

And funnily enough, the perfect place to dump their shells was round the corner from Citadines.  Kate had spotted this big charity bin that the backpacks could fit inside.  They zipped them up into their black body bags and disposed of them there.

The Train To Now Here

Wednesday night came and went with no lottery win.  They really were screwed.  They had to get up the next day, check out and catch a train to Berlin at 12.45pm.  If they were lucky they might get a brief chance to look up the internet at the hotel before they left.  Only trouble was they only had enough money for maybe 1 or 2 nights at a cheap hotel in Berlin.

They checked out Thursday morning and left their luggage at the hotel, and with a bit of time to spare, took a walk to the area near the train station, and tried buying a scratch card.  They kept winning 2 Euros and buying another with it.  This went on and on until they had to go back to the hotel for their backpacks resigned to showing up in Berlin and looking for a place to stay there.

With about 15 mins to spare they hopped onto the PC there.  Kate discovered her debit card had been refunded the money that morning from the Paris hotel they'd cancelled a month ago and then within minutes of looking, their old friend Citadines came to the rescue with a 50% reduced rate.  There was no decision to be made.

So with 30 mins till their train departed they now suddenly had a place to stay and Berlin was back on.

As they boarded further help came when a German lady abandoned her knitting, jumped out of her seat to get off the train before it departed and help find the correct carriage for their seat numbers.

Europa Passage

Just round the corner from World Cafe was the shopping centre, Europa Passage.  On the floors were the names of various European cities.  This felt like the Paris Europe thing all over again.  Yet it was no joke.

Money was fast running out, time was ticking and they now had a train ticket to Berlin but with nowhere to stay there.  They played the lottery scratch cards and then put all hope on the Wednesday night lottery, knowing that on Thursday morning their train left for Berlin.

Was it a passage to Europe or a cruel joke?

With all this going on, they wandered around the markets, took a walk down the Reeperbahn and to the harbour area where the water at night really seemed significant and somehow necessary to be around again.

During this time the rainbow appeared for them again.  Going down the stairs in the hotel, one day Dave spotted a painting on the wall with a rainbow on it.  Then sitting at the computer at reception trying to find a place to stay in Berlin, the song 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' was playing on the radio in the background.  This song  would follow them around, appearing at auspicious occasions.

Winter Wonderland

Arriving in Hamburg on Monday 22nd Nov 2010, Dave & Kate certainly didn't expect the Winter Wonderland scenes they were confronted by.  The Christmas markets were all up and running and after checking into their hotel near the train station, they went out for some food and passed a busker singing Bob Marley's "Roots Rock Reggae" song.

They weren't going to have much trouble getting meals here.  How did two people who don't even bother with Christmas end up in a Winter Wonderland, eating sausages for tea, drinking gluhwein and watching the Weihnachtsmann gliding above them on wires?  Only Jah knows.

They didn't mind staying in hotels but the only issue was food.  It meant being out most of the day and having to eat out and in places like Paris that became difficult to do cheaply.  Now they were in Germany at Christmas time there was plenty of reasonably priced food available.

Coffee was also more suited to them here.  In Paris they found mostly pompous over-priced table service cafes - not their scene.  In Germany they could get their own and just sit without all the fuss to keep out of the cold for an hour or so.  Their particular cafe of choice was called World Cafe and in it was a Rasta turtle painted on the walls.

Hamburg or Berlin?

During the period in Amsterdam it wasn't totally clear whether the next stop would be Hamburg or Berlin.

Coming into Amsterdam Dave & Kate had been feeling Hamburg was next and this seemed confirmed by the freight train they passed as they arrived at Amsterdam Central with 'Hamburg' painted on the side.  They seemed to know they had to go there at some point for whatever reason.

Just as with Amsterdam they hadn't overly fond memories of Hamburg and their impression of it was a gritty, northern port town not too dissimilar to Glasgow.  It was also approaching December and getting colder.

They had also been in touch with Mark and Brian around this time with the possibility of meeting up somewhere in Germany.  Berlin seemed the most likely place.

Berlin was growing and seemed to represent the Heart.  If the land of Europe was a physical body (maybe it is?) then Berlin was the Heart.  They knew they were on their way but didn't expect it to be so soon.

It looked likely a meeting with solo Mark was on the cards but it wasn't to be for now and a decision had to be made and so Hamburg it was.  For 3 nights.  A train ticket for Berlin after that was also bought.

After the laziness and comfort of Amsterdam, they were ready for going back onto the battlefield...

Hash Adam & Jesus (complete with poseable arms and gliding action)

Midway through their time in Amsterdam, they received a package from Edinburgh with winter clothes which they were very chuffed with.  It had been getting considerably colder all the time and they still only had summer clothes and jackets.

On their way back from buying train tickets for Hamburg (their next destination), they collected the package from the agency, and then in a gift shop nearby Anne Frank's house, they found a friend in Jesus.  He ended up leaving with them and so that day they arrived for a coffee and smoke at La Terturia with their winter clothes and Jesus alongside them.

There was a young guy just leaving at the table next to them but he spent a few moments staring at them before he got up and left.

The next day they returned there - this time without Jesus and clothes - but the young guy was there.  He soon introduced himself as Hash Adam, a young Dutch/English outlaw, his weapon of choice being a camera.  He was a freelance photographer apparently.  He didn't appear to recognise them from the day before although they recognised him.  Instead after asking to borrow the Bob lighter, he got straight down to the benefits of hash, which he was smoking, and spent the first 20 mins telling Dave & Kate in great detail all about hash and how to make it. 

He offered them a toke of his joint and was determined to find out if they enjoyed it as much as he did.  They were neither this way or that about it.  It was nice, but so was the weed they were smoking.  They continued chatting, mainly about the system, and when Dave & Kate explained their situation and what they were doing, and how much money they had left.  He looked on in wonder.  Then a long pause....

His face suddenly creased up and he burst out laughing with the phrase "have you guys ever thought about getting jobs?!"  They all cracked up at this but as he left it looked like a guy who had contemplated some of what was spoken.

Meanwhile, Jesus remained with them.  He was supposed to depart and head to Edinburgh from Amsterdam but the bastard wouldn't leave and ended up following them on to Hamburg.

Water Blockages Begin...

The next day the shower stopped as Dave was under it.  No hot water due to the boiler blowing a fuse.  This brought about a week of encounters with Antonio, Susanna's friend, and The Electrician (who spoke no English).  By the end of the week they had it fully operational again but this was only the beginning of water troubles.

A few days after the boiler was fixed the toilet stopped flushing.  When Susanna heard of all their troubles - stolen laptop, broken boiler and now toilet not flushing - she could only laugh and say "it must be your turn for a run of bad karma".  Maybe.

At their next destination in Paris, they would be moved hotel rooms due to water-related issues, find themselves in another hotel where the plug for the bath was jammed bringing about an amusing encounter with the hotel staff member on duty (he had to lock the doors of the hotel as he was so busy at reception to attend to their room where he appeared and then reappeared with a knife to sort the plug) and finally in Amsterdam had a luxury bathroom with two sinks, one which was leaking water and unusable.

It also didn't go unnoticed that Barcelona, Paris, Amsterdam and Hamburg (the first 4 destinations on their journey) were all cities where water was prominent to the landscape.