On the countdown

We are literally into our last day in Europe. I can't believe it's gone so fast.

We are now in Amsterdam, but our final day in Berlin consisted of a panicked rush to meet a walking tour group that we'd already booked and paid for. We caught it after multiple train changes and much swearing. This was a good thing as the tour was really good, taking in most of the key sites and giving a quick overview of Berlin's amazing history. When the tour was over, we went back over a few sites we didn't look at properly before, and now I can't remember what else we did.

On the final night of our stay in Berlin, we found our way to the Brandenburg Gate where a major concert thing was being set up. We assumed it was to do with the national holiday celebrating the re-merging of the two Germanys, but it turned out to be a Coke 'new band competition' type thing. All the same, it was good. Getting there was bizarre - we followed the hordes around a series of blockaded roads and finally found our way into the parklands where the event was being held, only to be looking back on where we'd started. We got stuck into some potent punch, watched a few bands and left before it got too chaotic - there were probably hundreds of thousands of people there. We had a classy dinner at an American grill where we got treated to free dips, marshmallows to melt over a hibachi-style cooker and a postcard that they sent on for us. Very nice.

After another 6 hour train ride (our last) we found our way to our Amsterdam hotel which turns out to be a complete bog hole, run by a grumpy tosser. Needless to say we've been spending as little time as possible there. We had dinner at a pizza joint and pretty much crashed out.

Yesterday we spent just walking. This city is sometimes called 'the Venice of the north', and it is fitting, although it's more busy in a more city-like way than Venice. We took a cruise along the canals which was made all the more enjoyable by a crotchety old captain with a cutting wit and heavy dose of sarcasm. We got into the beers pretty much straight after that, resulting in my post-dinner stumble in the middle of a main road. I have scabs on hands and knees as evidence.

Today we went through Anne Frank's house (thanks for the recommendation, Tracy) which was thorougly moving having just read the book and also having experienced plenty more Holocaust and war history in recent weeks. In the wind up of the European leg of our trip, we will now discover a few more beers and say farewell to Amsterdam in the most appropriate way.

Next report from Vietnam!