Spreewald Parkhotel Van Der Valk Bersteland

... the lakes nearby. The kids had a fabulous time getting sandy and swimming and making sand-castles and playing a very mucky game that involved rolling in the sand then running into the water.

Eventually the incoming heavy rain stopped play and we went back to Axel's.

... speed and the need for rest stops, it took closer to eight hours to cross the whole of northern Germany. I was exhausted as much by the heat (28C), as by the driving.

Axel and Susanne live on the southern border of Berlin, in a quiet leafy neighbourhood. A lifetime dedicated to bringing up foster children, has left them well able to cope with children en masse, and we ...

... all the goodies to make a ham salad for tea. A bus
whistled past us just as we were approaching the bus stop at 4:50 and
the bus timetable revealed that the next bus wasn't due until 6:50pm.
Damn. The only bit of the timetable with a 2 hour gap. We tried waving
our thumbs into the traffic to no avail then spotted an Italian
restaurant over the road...so that's where we whiled away a couple of
pleasant hours until the next bus.

... via Dresden, Tan and I were here 6 years ago and quite a lot has changed...and been rebuilt. The Frauenkirche is now open for business, about 130 million euros pumped into it. I understand that the relatives of the bombadiers that flew over dresden had pooled some of the money to pay for the spire and parts of the alter. Nice jesture. The information on the Frauenkirche is attached (great translation - have a read it's a kak).

Und schon ist die kurze Osterurlaubszeit wieder zu Ende. Vorbei die Zeit in der sich ein kleiner Mensch morgens am Frühstückstisch zur Erheiterung aller Anwesenden imaginäre Eichhörnchen aus dem Schlafanzug zaubert. Zusammen mit der British Telecom hat sich auch easyjet.com auf einen hohen Rang der Unbeliebtheitsskala katapultiert. Um der Trombose vorzubeugen mussten heute alle Fluggäste ...

... absolutely in love with nature as he is an environmental engineer. After the walk, we had diner, vegetarian,. (I found out later that Frank is not a vegetarian) chatted over a couple of beers, and then hit the sack. In the morning we made the short trip to Liege, Brussels where we were to meet up with the other hitchhikers. We ended up riding the train because we were unable to catch a ride. ( not a good beginning) We meet up with Matthysde and Hatim who both ...

... completed building in November. It is a absolutely gorgeous house in a tiny town outside the college town of Bayreuth where they both are teachers. Claudia´s (his wife) and his parents were all there and we enjoyed chatting over desserts. That evening 30-40 people showed up for Claudia´s 30th B-day party. I enjoyed learning German and allowing the kids at the same time to hone up on their ...

... attractions.... one of the first places we passed was this island of museums on the East side by Mitte, and we were so overwhelmed with the choices of museums and special exhibits, we decided to maybe come back to that later and do something 'more German' in the mean time. That turned out to be numerous visits to currywurst stands (YUM) and ice cream stops! Excellent. As a side note, apparently currywurst is somethign of a traditional (if you can ...

... pay him, but he refuses and continues on his way. It was a amazingly nice jesture of kindness after such a sorted evening. Goes to show theres good and bad in everyone and never judge a people based on an individual. The next afternoon it was plus 44 as germany sweltered in record tempatures and a 3 week drought. Can you say OUCH!? nothing compliments a hang over like extreme heat. So thats losly the story in a nut shell. Brian

September 23 Tadam!! First HC camp ever for me here I come. The week before has been redondant, some cleaning some packing. Leen come on visit and left already with a box. I also booked my plane ticket which gives me a departure date for December 10th. Then my last 2 days before departure has been eclectic : some food preparation and then waiting for Frank to come pick me up on friday (23d). In the waiting of which was anyway a wonderful sunny day, I sat on our front balcony ...