Unfinished Stories: Our Week in Berlin!

So, we finally left our tale about 2 months ago with our 3 day epic hitch from Brussels to Berlin, however our time in Berlin was easily worth the effort it took getting there.

Berlin is an amazing City, with so much recent history, so much going on, and it was the first decent weather we had had! Alex and I became proper culture vultures spending hours at the Checkpoint Charlie and Stasi Museums, visiting the German Parliament at the Reichstag, and even going to the theatre to see Berlins latest big thing The Blueman Group.(Thanks to our awesome hosts connections who supplied us with free tickets!

Thanks to the excellent weather, we spent lots of time in Berlin's Various parks, and exploring the various neighbourhoods, Alexanderplatz with its supreme sovietness, Potsdamer Platz ( home of the worlds first traffic light), Unter den linden (where we gawped at the new Audi R4, and dreamt of the super cars we knew we'd never get a lift in.) and the great shopping at Templehoff... visiting KaDaWe (the Berlin equivalent of Harrods) where my budget instincts led me to foolishly over indulge myself on the (free) sample chocolates. They were disgusting! We also stumbled across the North Korean embassy, which was a tourist attraction in itself!

Our accommodation for our stay in Berlin made our time there. We stayed with Matthias, Nora, Mira, and Dina, living in a University Student flat in what is easily the coolest district of Berlin; Kreuzburg (SO36!). We spent the majority of the week ingratiating ourselves into the German Uni lifestyle, enjoying cheap evenings down the local pub, making the most of having a well stocked kitchen, playing poker, and watching their extensive student DvD collection.

So good was the hospitality, that every evening after a busy day in the city doing the sites, it felt as though we had a proper home to return to. It was without a doubt this hospitality that made our time in Berlin, and in particular being able to see the city through the eyes of a local. My personal highlight of our stay in Berlin, was accompanying Matthias to his university for a seminar discussion in English, on the topic of fundraising! Obviously Alex and I had a lot to say on this matter!

It was with heavy and reluctant hearts that we finally left Berlin, and once again aimed for an early start... we finally got on the road at lunch time and were on our way to Halle!

Alive and In Budapest.

So some of you might have noticed that i haven't really got the hang of this blog thing yet, in fact i'm useless at it. However i am keeping a fairly good paper journal, and so this will get finished, hopefully before i get to Istanbul, right now things are going too well for me to stop and get up to date, but i am looking forward to finding a nice quiet Bulgarian town with an Internet cafe to put some serious work into letting you know where we have been for the last month!

Right now, i've managed to hitch a lift into a music festival! its crazyness.... still on schedule, and have no fear readers, i have still hitch-hiked the WHOLE way!

The Saga of Brussels to Berlin....

After three days serious R and R in Brussels Tom and I said our goodbyes to Pat (he set off walking out of Brussels headed for Paris!) and headed for the European Parliament hoping to get a ride. There was one slight problem, we were VERY unorganised and did end up leaving til gone 5pm. We got to the European Parliament to find a very busy three laned high way full of speeding cars, our hearts sank, there was no way we were getting a lift form there. Nevertheless we thought we'd give it a shot and within 30 seconds of holding our our signs to the speeding traffic someone drove his car up onto the kerb at high speed and told us to get in, QUICK. We did as we were told!

Turned out that the guy who stopped for us (both me and Tom have forgotten his name) was the minister for education and finance in the Flemish government! He wasn't going far but did drop us off at a service station just outside of Brussels on what we thought was the right road to Berlin..... We couldn't get a lift that night so resigned ourselves to sleeping there, but tit looked like a pretty good place to sleep, lots of grass, benched to cook on, almost the perfect place at face value. Under further inspection we discovered the entire place was in fact a Bog. We scoured the whole area until we found what must have been the driest couple of square meters of grass, our spirits lifted once again.

We rose early the next day hoping to catch a trucker leaving for Berlin. After about 30 minutes trying a truck driven by one the the most memorable characters so far. He was a 60 year old American from Florida who'd been working in Germany for 35 years. He explained to us that although our planned route was the straightest, no one would be going to Berlin and in fact we should come south with him!!! Of course we got in and and the next 4 and a half hours were very interesting. There are far too many stories to tell right now (especially as it is about 38 degrees and I'm close to passing out). He dropped us off at yet another service station (we're really starting to feel at home at them now) and promised us that we would be waiting for more than 30 minutes for a lift. We were there for 4 and a half hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

These four and a half hours spent would have been like any other four and a half ours if it weren't for the POLIZEI (German Police) turning up, declaring that i and only i "looked the type" and searched me. They were sure i had drugs, i was happy to disappoint them. All ended with smiles and shaken hands and soon after they drove off our third ride turned up.

His name was Johansen and he was going about 350 Ks, in the wrong direction i might add, but promised he's drop us in the A9 (the main Autobahn to Berlin), we'd had enough of that particular service staion and got in happy to be moving. The ride was certainly eventful, Johansen liked to drive, drive fast and his Mercedes E220 was capable of over 220kph (roughly 140mph! twice the legal speed limit of our fair Isle). Coming across a traffic jam soon after departing Johansen took a detour through some spectacualr scenery and also almost made us nearly soil ourselves with some death defying overtaking. Nearing our destination Johansen proclaimed that he thought he could hear his exhaust blowing i concurred with him, it definitely sounded like there was a small hole in his exhaust. Dropping us off at the service station, he jumped out to check his exhaust, we all peered under his car, there was nothing, no exhaust present. And finally to top it all off his rear bumper was also hanging on by a thread. We helped him secure his bumper and waved him off, it was well gone midnight by this time and both me and Tom were tired. We bedded down in our tent behind the petrol station hoping no one would come and ask us to move on...... no one did.

We woke very early the next day to glorious sunshine and quickly position ourselves at the exit, thumbs out. We didn't have to wait long for a lift with a kind lady called Dorothy. She was on her way up to the very northern point of Germany for a work Seminar, she was a holistic Orthodontist!!! She claimed that she could diagnose an illness simply by inspecting the patients teeth! She drove us to a service station about 70Ks outside of Berlin where once again we didn't have to wait long for a lift, this time the guy who picked us up spoke no English, conversation was short.

So we finally made it to Berlin at about 4pm, one hour off three days after leaving, quite a mission. I apologise for any spelling mistakes and general poor English but it is so damn hot i can't really think straight.

argh!

So we've been away for something like 27 days and only managed to write about 5 days worth of blog! nightmare.....

Al and I hitched seperatly from Amsterdam back to Brussels, Claire, Thom and I hitched a straight lift with Rik, the managing director of the Belgian Anti Piracy Federation ( the equivalant of FACT) once again an incredibly interesting lift, and he took us all the way into the heart of brussells from Amsterdam, pointing out the NATO HQ and the European parliament.

Unfortunatly, our luck in getting such an easy lift to Brussels, did not hold as the hostel we were to stay at was full! Furthermore i was unable to get in contact with the people we had hoped to stay with, and so keeping our budget in mind we decided we'd rather spend our limited cash on some good beer in the excellent "A la Mort Subite" (Sudden Death) belgian bar, sampling some of the highly alcoholic Belgian culture!

Having spent our money wisely we proceeded to spend the night sleeping (hiding) behind a hedge outside the Grand Palace directly in the city centre. Not the most comfortable of nights, but certainly true to our budget and spirit of adventure! - We certainly went some of the way to earning our sponsorship!

From there we were woken early by a light rain and were able to get free train transport to Werchter, where we spent an amazing 4 days at the music festival there. (This trip began life as this 4 day break in Belgium, somehow it spawned into hitching to Istanbul.)

The four day music festival is largely an excellent haze in my memory now, but good times were had! From there we were able to get the train back to Brussels and were put up by an amazing host, Vicky! ( we spent 2 days recovering, and getting clean, watching her incredibly girly collectiong of DvD's, with the occasional venture wandering the streets of Brussels.

It was with heavy hearts that we finally left our extremely comfy nest in Brussels, said goodbye to our travel companions and got back on the road properly, heading to Berlin!

LEAVING AMSTERDAM

The day finally came to leave Amsterdam, thankfully the rain decided to stay away this particular day (one of only a few occasions). However the weather was the last of our worries, after meeting in Amsterdam there was a five strong group (Alex, Tom, Thom, Pat and Claire) of us all heading in the same direction to a little village in Belgium for a festival they hold there every year - Rock Werchter. This had been our initial driving force behind deciding to travel through Europe this summer, three days of rock 'n' Roll in the sun (the sun didn't cooperate!)

We eventually made it to a suitable hitching location late in the afternoon, far from ideal, but luckily within 5 minutes of arriving a car pulled up willing to take myself and Pat down the motorway to a service station just outside of Breda. Squeezing in to the back of a Fiat Punto we said our goodbyes and made vague arrangements to meet in Brussels later that night!!! Needless to say we didn't see each other again until the first day of the festival. Getting dropped off in the pouring rain at a non-descript service station, outside a Dutch city did not fill me with confidence about our task but i was surprised to be offered a lift before we'd even had chance to ask.

So there we jumped in to the second car of the day, a much larger and more comfortable Volvo estate!!!!! The couple in front were kind enough to give us a lift to Antwerp where we made our way into the centre and somehow found ourselves in a pub with lots of china sheep everywhere and two enormously friendly bar staff. We sat, took stock of the situation and enjoyed some fine tasting beer recommended to us by our new friends. Very quickly it got dark and we realised we needed to find somewhere to sleep. With vague directions from the landlord and his mate we set off to find the tram which would take us to our destination, a campsite outside of the city centre. Arriving late we pitched the tent and got down to some serious rest after what was a surprisingly tiring day.

Waking early with the sun was quite a shock to us (after almost a week of wind and rain in Amsterdam), but knowing we had to be at Werchter as early as possible, we quickly tidied our stuff away and made our escape. With free transport promised by the event organisers we were prepared to take full advantage, hopping on the short train ride from Antwerp, followed by an even shorter bus ride, we found ourselves at the entrance to camp site B1. Our elation over arriving was dampened somewhat when we realised we had to find, Tom, Thom and Claire in a sea of about 10 000 tents, we prepared for a long day!!!!!

Miraculously i spotted the Union Jack Tom had hoisted into a tree and there camping below were, Tom, Thom and Claire waiting dutifully for our arrival.

Remembering Day Two.

So we ended our first day with a belly full of out-of-date Cajun Chicken, and our heads and hearts full of despair at having spent 5 futile hours trying to get a lift out of Gatwick Airport. We awoke at 5am without nearly enough sleep to try a different approach in a bid to get somewhere, anywhere, that was away from the airport!

This involved using more of the skills acquired whilst fundraising to persuade an incredibly kind bus driver of a certain national coach company to give us a lift into London central bus station. Now in many ways this was breaking a cardinal rule of Hitchhiking, which is: avoid at all costs going into population centres to get lifts, because you have to work your way out again. By this stage we didn't care, we just needed a lift! And so we found ourselves at 8:30 on a Sunday morning begging a French bus driver for a lift all the way from London, direct to Amsterdam, we saw it as our golden opportunity, but unfortunately after a rough nights sleep at Gatwick, my silver tongue felt more like lead, and we were stonewalled.

--Desperate Times, Desperate Measures --

Desperation set in after 4 hours waiting at the bus station as we could see no obvious way out, until we came across a bus going to Dover... surely our only option! In many ways this was our last hope, but after 15 hours of going nowhere, and with very little sleep, i felt it important not to show just how desperate we felt! Despite our best efforts, the bus driver was understandably worried about his job and so sent us to talk to his boss. Once again i had to go and give our pitch and suck up the desperation, so that i could try and persuade a complete stranger to give us something for free, that others have to pay for. As hard as I tried, the boss sitting in his office was having none of it, and told us that he had got into trouble in the past for a similar situation, but we should try and talk to the general manager.

Unfortunately we had already run into the general manager who had skillfully passed us off with a phone number which only led to a labyrinth of numeric options, and never ever actually gave you the option "speak to a human". This appeared to be it. Nobody would help us. We were well and truly stuck. Instow to London. Not good.

And so with a huge grin on my face I left the bosses office and wandered over to the bus driver to tell him.... " um... yeah, the guys in the office, erm.... they reckon its ok.... they ....erm... they said its pretty much up to you." Well, the bus driver didn't look too impressed, or indeed completely believing and replied..."well i best go check with the office", (which obviously led to panic on my part.) but just as he walked off, he said, "so I'll turn my back and you get on the bus".

Now due to my heavily fatigued state, i didn't immediately pick up on this.... i thought he was inferring that i look like the type of person who would just stow-away. Now i might be the kind of person who will tell a little white lie for a good cause, but I'm far too much of a wimp to stow away on this (scary looking) guys bus! and so to a look of blank incomprehension he repeated comically slowly.... "So. I'll. turn. my. back, and. you. get. on. the. bus." wink wink nudge nudge.

Eventually, thanks to a small white lie on my part and a very good natured bus driver (who has since donated to the cause... thank you!) we made it to Dover!

-- The Final Stage --

On arrival at Dover, we just wanted to keep the momentum up, and keep going, and so i have to confess we suffered a moment of weakness, and rather than try and hitch a lift across the channel, we were offered a special deal by the ferry operators, which was just too good to refuse..... Thom kindly paid two pounds for our ferry fare across. (however this did come with a free bottle of wine, which we planned to sell to recover our costs...... but it went somewhere....Thom kindly agreed to pay for my fare and so i am still travelling with principles intact!)

Once on the ferry, we finally felt much better, as we had achieved what had seemed like such a difficult ambition, getting across the country, and finally across the channel without spending any money on transport! Once on board, we knew we had to work hard though, as everything we had read warned how hard it is to hitch from Calais, and so I ended up traipsing through the truckers cafeteria asking for lifts, which was pretty flipping humiliating, as each table would see you coming and prepare their rejection. Not a position i want to be in again, and it was defiantly one of those moments which was made easier by the knowledge that what i was going through was for charity! Fortunately just as i was about to give up being totally and completely and humiliatingly rejected over and over again, an absolute hero came to our rescue.

Many an awesome story can be told about our journey with Paul, but they will have to be told in person! Suffice to Say Paul was driving a truck loaded with guitars, drums, lights, amps and equipment belonging to the Killers(!) who had just performed at Glastonbury and he was driving to Helsinki with their gear for the next gig!

Our fortunes improved immediately on meeting Paul, who pointed us in the direction of a free shower on the ferry, and just as i was returning, thinking things couldn't be much better, (especially considering our state 8 hours ago at Gatwick!) i found Thom receiving a free massage, from a stunning girl, who turned out to be the daughter of a Costa Rican ambassador's to the UN. Lucky git.

Paul dropped us off at a service station outside Ghent, and Thom and I treated ourselves to a proper meal at the service station. An hour later and we were back on the move with an incredibly kind Belgian couple who not only drove us to Antwerp, but then set us up with a lift with their friend, Erik (a marketing manager for an awesome dutch television station!) all the way to Amsterdam! We finally arrived to meet Alex and Patrick in Amsterdam, at midnight, 43 hours after leaving Instow!

Sporadic Updates!

Ok, as you can see, its not been as easy as hoped and expected to keep the blog updated! This is particularly because I like to tell the whole story, however, as many people have pointed out, the way things are going at the moment, I'll end up spending half my time away in Internet Cafes writing the blog, rather than living the dream! So updates might get slightly shorter, but will hopefully be far more frequent from now on!