There's the clue in all its' black, red and yellow glory.It really is a wonderful place - we visited Berlin and then Gottingen, a pristine university town in Lower Saxony. And to be honest, my lazy stereotypes were torpedoed on arrival. The people are friendly and polite, and speak better English than some of my countryfolk! When the bloke recycling plastic bottles out of the bins at Berlin train station knows your language, its kind of embarrassing.
The German summer is so much more satisfying than our own. Or we just brought the sunshine with us, I don't know. Photos wont be posted here, but the hot sunshine caused my usual suntan dilemma: Mexican suntan on the face and forearms and white marble everywhere else!
Lose the pale face but keep the abs!
The greatest thing, by a mile though is the food. Germany does three things wonderfully: bread, cheese and meat. All of these combine in the most divine buffet breakfasts which are cheap and available everywhere. Even the German version of Greggs serves up fine rolls, sandwiches and cakes with a melt in the mouth quality which is unsurpassed. We returned home heavy laden with chocs and massive bags of Haribo for Xander. The latter lack the plasticky chemical taste of the stuff over here, even I couldn't get enough of them!
Can't wait to get back over there sometime soon. Will be taking my phrasebook instead of relying on my year of classroom German next time. You can only get so far with the likes of "Where is the nearest bus stop" and "Do you have our rooms ready?".
..tschüß!!
A.
