Germany

Scary, scary Eiffel Tower piccy

Apple Wine - like bad Cider.

Been having a great time so far... London and Paris were great be we decided we like Germany best so far. Everything works, everyone speaks English and you can buy a beer absolutly anywhere. Max would've loved the tower of London, with very old armor, weapons and torture devices on display.

I've had to learn basic French and German at a very rapid pace. It was a bit difficult in France but you can often get by by smiling and pointing.

Germany has strict regulations regarding the quality of their beer – only yeast, hops, wheat and water are to be used – no preservatives etc, which makes it top quality stuff. They cant even import beer that doesn't meet the regulations. All the stereotypes about Germans are true, the men all tuck their t-shirts in and the trains run on time. I got in trouble when I bought a t-shirt yesterday for not bringing the coat-hanger up to the counter WITH the t-shirt. The people here are generally very friendly though.

We stayed at a place called Nue-Isenberg just before the tour, which is just outside of Frankfurt. A lot of towns around here were flattened in the war, so there are very few old buildings like there were in France and London. We drove for most of the day to Berlin, which is where we'll be for the next 2 nights. We're staying in East Berlin which so far looks a bit run down, with lots of colourfully painted apartments (people went mad colouring up the place when Communism died here 17 years ago and buildings no longer had to be grey). I'm looking forward to seeing the Berlin wall tomorrow, and Auschwitz the next day. We've had a lot of interesting European history lessons since we've been here which kind of seem like fairy tails involving kings and queens, but the story of Berlin I find most fascinating, I remember it! East Berlin is still coming to terms with it – there is a 20% unemployment rate here despite the country doing so well economically in general.

Went to an Italian pizza joint for tea tonight, I figured if they don't speak English we might get by with the little bit of Italian I know. The food and service were great, and the waiter did speak English. He offered us a grappa on the house when we'd finished. I said no but Greg took one and he's now asleep in bed at 8.45pm.

Until next time,

Amy

Photos- 1. Eiffel Tower from about a third of the way up 2. Stall at market in Frankfurt selling apple-wine.