Berlin at Night

Berlin…home of the world’s biggest disco ball. Well okay, it’s not actually a disco ball, it’s part of the gaudy TV tower that was the pride of the former East Berlin. It’s just one example of the charmless architecture that covers most of the city. Institutional looking concrete buildings have long since replaced the ornate, beauties that were lost in the war and nothing is spared from graffiti.
The spirit of Berlin, however; is another story! People drink everywhere and party every night. So of course when in Berlin…..
We thought “lets tag along on one of the famous organized pub crawls” Our plans for a pub crawl were aborted when we discovered that the fellow crawlers were, (no surprise) mostly men and they were all a little young. Yes, for some reason we expected people our age on a pub crawl, I don’t know what we were thinking!
We ended up at a great bar where the cover charge was outrageous! But we parted with the one euro entrance fee and partied it up. We met two really fun guys from Manchester and laughed, danced, and drank the night away with them, (imagine a round of drinks for 4 people only 6 euro!). We left the bar as the sun was coming up. Needless to say, navigating the train system in our condition was quite the challenge! Check out Adam’s dance of jubilation upon arriving at our home station, the video is sideways so everyone tilt your head! : http://s243.photobucket.com/albums/ff133/aussiewilkins/?action=view&current=CIMG1400.flv

Also, check out my frustration trying to buy our tickets (using some money might have made me more successful): http://s243.photobucket.com/albums/ff133/aussiewilkins/?action=view&current=CIMG1395-1.flv
The good news is, we made it back to our hotel in time for breakfast and had to do the walk of shame through the dining room to get to our room oooohhhhhh the SHAME!
Most of the day was spent snoozing and recovering.


I AM NEVER DRINKING AGAIN!!!

My Head hurts

Feel too sick to type. Fun night!

Guten Tag

Berlin, the city that never sleeps and lets you drink beer anywhere you like... on your bike, on the streets and even on the trains. How civilized!

Shaking off the jet-lag, we managed to visit the bulk of the must see places in Berlin. From "Check Point Charlie" to walking the remnants of the wall and visiting a nuclear bomb shelter, (3600 people crammed into a very small space!).

We have attempted at every opportunity to speak German, and while the locals seem to appreciate the effort, it seems that even when we get the pronunciation perfect, they look at us with puzzled expression. So we usually fall back on the universal language of a smile and random gestures.

Off to the famous "Berlin Pub Crawl" tonight to see if we can make some new friends. Lets see how that works out!

We're Off !

Ok folks, we have hit the road.

The reality of being away for such a long time has not really sunk in yet, but we are excited at the prospect of seeing so much of the world over the coming months.

The first piece of reality was locking ourselves out of the house, (intentionally) as we left for the airport. Bad luck if we had forgotten anything, (Michelle is house sitting for us and had already taken off with the keys).

Next stop Frankfurt at 10:00 am Saturday and then hop on a train to Berlin for the first night.

I guess we passed the first test of the trip…. actually showing up on time for the flight. (Those that know the Paris story will understand that for us, showing up is not necessarily easy. There was a reason Vanessa made the comments she did at our wedding. If you don’t know the Paris story, leave a comment on the Blog asking for more details).

Thanks again to everoyn for making the last 2 months such a blast.

Off to board the plane now.

Adam & Jen

What do you mean I can't bring 12 pairs of shoes??!!

Jen posting here.

When Adam and I have travelled in Europe before, we noticed how many stairs and cobblestones there were and how few elevators, ramps and generally "wheelie suitcase unfriendly" terrain there was. The solution this time.... backpacks.

70 litres may sound like a large volume, most people think of milk cartons (or maybe that's just me) but when we are talking packing space... for one year... not so big anymore right? I'm not a hardcore fashionista, but I do like my pretty things AND my shoes! Packing has been a bit of a challenge for me but I am proud to tell you that I think i've mastered it! Not only that, but there are some pretty cute pieces in that 70 litre pack. (Yes Adam, they are comfortable too). The most amazing thing in that bag is one dress that can actually be at least 8 different dresses in one- YES that is not a typo 8!!! It is as if practicality and fashion got it on and made one great kid! It is also wrinkle proof and made and designed in our beautiful Vancouver. Check it out in the picture and here is a link to the site in case you're interested! http://www.narcissist.com/
Who says backpacking is all birkenstocks and cargo pants?

Seven Days To Go

With only a week to go, we are spending a lot of our time saying goodbye to great friends and family. There is definitely an element of sadness mixed in with our excitement, but knowing that friends like Kelvin, Martin, Natalie, Shelly, Lisa, Rob, and Eva are all planning to meet up with us as we move around the globe, makes the goodbye a little easier. We are also looking forward to meeting up with Jen's family in Melbourne for their very first Australian Christmas!

Without a doubt the #1 question on everybody's lips is...... "where do you start"? This time next week, we will begin our journey in Germany. Berlin to be precise. We will stay there a week or so before we head to Prague and then Amsterdam. After that? Well who knows.... stay tuned for the details as we work them out for ouselves.

The Surprise Weekend....

For about 6 months now, our dear friends Natalie & Martin have been bursting at the seams with a secret they could not tell. They had been planning a very big surprise for us that was to take place over the August long weekend. Finally, bright and early Friday morning we found out what it was!

We were greeted at 6:30 by the two of them and we were led to a limo. Inside, we were given our itinerary for the weekend and a glass of champagne. Yes that's right, no orange juice, straight up champagne at 6:30 am. Where were the four of us off to? THE NAPA VALLEY!

What a weekend! The surprises kept unfolding from there. The highlights included a hot air balloon ride over the valley, private barrel tastings at Karl Lawrence, dining at some spectactular restaurants, but most of all laughing and spending time with great friends. Oh yes and wine, wine, wine, and more wine.

It is hard not to fall in love with the Napa valley, everything is very quaint and as non-commercialized as possible for such a frequented region. It was fascinating to visit a place that wouldn't exist if it weren't for the wine industry, life revolves entirely around the agriculture. One of our tour guides told us that most people lose 20-30 pounds during harvest and crush, simply because they are working around the clock and do not have time to eat! At one point we encountered a group of policemen standing on the road in front of a winery, a roadblock we presumed...... but no, they were merely directing the half blitzed drivers in and out of one particularly busy winery!

It was a weekend full of memories that we will have forever and the amazing thing... the four of us had nary a hangover to show for it!

More pictures of this weekend: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=7408&l=fe60b&id=700132588