Berlin day 4: The road home...

... after what seems like weeks in Berlin, I need to head back to Amsterdam before I go to work on Monday.

My train is late afternoon, but Sunday being Sunday, we wake up really late and leisurely make our way to the station.

I am leaving from a different station than I arrived at. Berlin has a new main station that they have built(or extended - I'm not sure) for the World Cup... When we arrive, it is absolutely huge!!!!



I get one last treat of a Bretzel(or 3)......



.....and then before I know it, I'm back on a train heading for amsterdam... The train is horrible. It is hugely overbooked, so it is very crowded, I find a free space on an aisle and plunk myself down on the floor with my laptop and stick on a DVD:



Green Street Hooligans. It's very strange seeing Frodo as a football thug, but its a good action packed british film that has that Grit and attitude that is missing from most of the Hollywood output...

After this I blog until my battery runs out, and then settle down to a bit of Badmmotorfinger to get me home:



Good night....

Surprise trip to Berlin

I have 3 (boring)days of peace without Paprika; burning the candle at only one end. In a last minute decision, The Kiwi was using a few bank holidays(Hemelvaart) to have a long weekend in Berlin.... On Tuesday I decided that I had cleared my way through enough work, that I would join him by getting a train to Berlin late on the Wednesday, then returning on Sunday...

It's back to train travel, and I get the time to sit down with the laptop and update the blog, do some presentations for the coming conference season, and see what I can see to do in the Berlin Lonely Planet:



When the German ICE trains are quiet and running on time it's a great way to travel, my only complaint is the droning voice that tells you in three languages all the different stops that the train will make all the possible connections from each of those stops... it becomes a continuous drone in the background and I'm forced to stick on a little bit of Wolfmother to drown it out:



They're going to be supporting Pearl Jam during my summer adventures. I'm looking forward to seeing them live, they are black sabbath, Jethro Tull, led zep and the who rolled into one with a little bit of white stripes.... is there enough interesting added value? Who knows... I'll let you know when I've seen them live.

A quick text message to The Kiwi tells me he's not coming to Berlin. It was his idea in the first place, but when he arrives at the airport to be greeted by the dual distraction of a 2 hour delay, and a phone call beckoning him to the Gollem, the plans of exploring a new city get flushed:



I trundle along, and in no time(via a change in Hannover), I'm alighting in Berlin to be greeted by the smiley face of Paprika... Last weekend I showed her Amsterdam. This weekend she's showing me Berlin.

It's 11 O'Clock at night and it feels great to be traveling again... there's immediately a real vibe to the city... that kind of "stuck in the 80's" German thing... the fashion has it's own particular vibe and the the city is just wakening up and coming alive as I arrive.... it's very welcoming...for a socialite like myself anyway:



From here, we go straight to Paprika's flat........ I'm shattered and we decide that some food and bottle of red would be a good way to catch up(on 3 days), before I'm let loose on Berlin.

......said Florence....

I'm off to Florence, which is a refreshing change from the western European mediocrity of what I'm used to..... Nothing against Leeds, Brussels, Paris and Luxembourg, but I've kind of seen them before....



I've seen Florence once before:
Uffizi

This time rather than the tail end of the year, it's approaching spring... So hopefully I'll see a slightly different perspective on the city.

Florence airport is closed, so I have to fly to Bologna and then get the train down...

I arrive in the airport early in the hope of getting a Shiatsu, but lady luck has put m at the other end of the airport, and clock watching followed by a sprint seems to defeat the purpose of Shiatsu slightly..

I arrive in Bologna after an air trip reading this....



...while listening to...



I need to get a bus to Bologna station and then a train to Firenze, so there's lots of humphing around bags. Once I'm on the train, the views of Tuscany I had looked forward to were shrouded in mist, I'm completely chilled and unprepared for this trip - I have no idea how far Bologna is from Florence... no phrase book.... no map, just an iPod and a book. I blame the gym.....

I get out at Florence station and I manage to find my hotel, its on the dodgy side of the station. Only one block dodgy, but I still feel like less of a tourist. It's a nice hotel, and the first thing I do is head to the gym to chill out a bit..

30 minutes jog later, I'm swearing at the cheap weight machine..... The fitness rooms in hotels are just an encouragement to do something, there little advantage over a few press-ups in your room, but I head down anyway and do some of the free weights.... afterwards its into the pokey one man sauna.... then sleep like a baby...

....The conference turns out to be in a department of the University which is in a Villa at the top of a hill. It's really quite nice, and as the spring haze hangs on the lush green hills of tuscany it looks pretty marvelous....










I had assumed that Aula di Superiori Fisica translated as Hall of Advanced Physics, turns out its nothing so grand, its a little classroom with fold down wooden chairs and slanted desks, and reminds me of the scene with the nun in the Blues Brothers.

Day one passes without incident, and I get back to my hotel about 9.30pm, its then off out tot he supermarket for a picnic style dinner after I've been for a jog on the treadmill. Touristing round florence will have to wait, cos all I'm interested in is bed....

.....Day two off meetings is similar, except this time I risk getting the bus up the hill rather than a taxi, at a Euro for the 20 minute trip its pretty good value for money, and I feel more like I'm integrating as I bop away to the Beastie boys on my ipOd with all the other commuters(Although granted they are probably listening to something a little more cultured and refined than Hello Nasty):



At night I manage to sneak off early for a quick gym session before we meet up for dinner.

It's a touristy but quite quaint traditional Florentine fair:

antipasti


Wild Rabbit Pasta


Florentine Steak


Escalope


Mushroom Risotto


Tiramisu


....washed down with...

Chianti


Its a good filling meal and after the jog, and the slow eating of 7 meals, I feel vbery chilled, we head off for a walk through the centre:







After friday, I'm pretty knackered, so rather than another night walk round Firenze, I opt for a quick run, a sauna and then a relaxing night in bed with some DVD's and a book.....

That puts and end to the trip to Florence this time.. I didn't see much, but I'm now an old hat at booking into Hotels with Gyms and keeping fit while I stay... It makes for a much more relaxed me during the boring meetings, but maybe I see slightly less of cities..... Will I ever make it to outdoor jogging???? Hmmmm I'm not sure.