Next We Take ... Um, Berlin ...

23 August - This sleeping in thing has its disadvantages when you're woken up by someone breaking a keyboard on the upper loft - being resident bike mechanic and Chez Striptobin means I get the responsibility of trying to repair the dodgy tyres in the house but one has to pay one's way. Lost my local map somewhere on the travels so had to roll in to town to try to find the appropriate tour guide to find the same one - I could have tried to appropriate a new map but i've found myself having grown attached to the Sandemans one and nothing else would do. Had my first proper German meal in the afternoon - might have been a difficult task for the mortals but was left feeling somewhat unsatisfied by the volume. I thought Germans didn't know how to undereat. Did a bit of wandering, a bit of window shopping, a bit of actual shopping, some more eating, a little reading, a late kaffirnation ... Cultural benefits can wait - there's plenty of time and plenty of worthy distractions when all is said and done. After reconvening with my hosts we headed to a very interesting conceptual restaurant - Weinerei. Basically, a localised version of a wine tour - enter the restaurant and pay a euro for a glass, then try wines all night long with the option of having a three course meal. At the end of the night you pay what you think the night was worth. Granted, the wines were not out of the cellar's of the snooty bourgeoisie and the main course and dessert were rather average but the venue was incredible - really dark and intimate, candle lit, smoke and dog friendly (???). Joined by Ollie and Stef and a later arrival of a girl who may or may not be romantically connected with Ollie. For all his enthusiasms and extremely welcoming and friendly nature I don't always have a complete grasp of his meaning (if you catch my drift ... Because I don't always catch his). A fine night and not of the type that you're likely to see in sydney any time soon.