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.