Got here

The 'other place' will just have to be back blips....just spent the last hour trying to upload this image (it's only 339kb but no go there and bloody ages here) I suspect the hotel throttles the traffic! Anyway, successful journey, left East Midlands in a torrential downpour expecting to land in the same, only colder but no....lovely day, just a bit on the misty side. Fab walk down to the Tiergarten and as far as The Winged Victory then back through the park via the Zoo.....not in, but along the canal bank which it abuts. Just time for a quick shower and change then we're out for a beer (or three) and a meal. Praying for good weather tomorrow, we're doing the long walk from AlexanderPlatz to Potsdamer Platz with multiple diversions...we may have to come up with a cunning plan if it's tipping it down....

Nearly there

Just about done.....the laptop's on charge and I don't THINK I've forgotten anything vital so I'm taking a comfort break before a bit of a snooze on the couch...it'll be a long night (taxi booked for 1.30am then coach to East Midlands airport for a 9.30 flight....ouch!) Fingers crossed that the hotel really does have wifi access, got caught out last year (different hotel) when their 'internet access' turned out to be a single, supremely beige, geriatric pc in the foyer. I've had real problems with Blogger this afternoon, the connection keeps timing out, so message for Paul and Irene....I'll drop you a text when I get there (including a mugshot so you know who to avoid till Thursday....see you then, and safe journey!)

Back from foreign parts

So I'm back from Berlin....as you can see from the picture on the left the weather wasn't the best, that's the Fernsehturm (TV tower) in Alexanderplatz disappearing into the mist....we didn't bother going to the top! A`whistlestop tour.....

• Alexanderplatz
• Unter den Linden
• Brandenburger Tor
• Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
• Potsdamer Platz
• Berlin Wall Documentation Centre
• Gemaeldegalerie
• Altes Museum
• Berliner Dom
• Hackescher Markt (video, not mine)
• Olympiastadion

....and for a bit of retail therapy Ka De We
I'm all walked out, half a stone heavier and sporting a German chest infection....never mind, soon be Christmas! I'll post some pictures of the trip (and severely hung-over students) when I get round to downloading the camera.

Berlin bound

Come Monday and you might catch me (along with aforementioned 50 quantity surveyors) on this live webcam on Kurfürstendamm in Berlin, our hotel is over to the left and the U-bahn station to the right. So now all I've got to do is pack, and there won't be much because we're flying steerage with a 15kg hold baggage allowance, the ball gown and fur coat are on ice!

Get Schmapping

Free interactive tourist guides to more than 200 destinations worldwide available here You can use them online or download the lot to use on your desktop (big download, broadband recommended).....you can even create your own with the downloaded version (maybe we could do one for Haltwhistle or Whitley Bay!) to embed on a blog or webpage. Newcastle already has (a limited) one. Try Amsterdam or Berlin to see a more fully-developed guide