GERMANY!!

Germany (like France) is a country which we visited on a few different occasions during our trip. It first of all acted as a route from Switzerland to Norway, with a quick stay in a town called Bacharach, which was used as a launch for a Rhine River boat cruise. I looked for Burt, but he appeared not to have been around.

The next time we entered Germany was after our Baltic experience (and our Poland 'experience'), where Berlin was the key focus of our trip. And finally, we took a day trip to the Bavarian region, calling into some castles tucked away in the hills which were picture postcard perfect.

While we are all (probably painfully so) aware of Germany's somewhat checkered history in the 20th century, it is worth noting here that I believe the entire image, look and feel of Germany today has been completely shaped by these infamous events. Although this may seem obvious at first, it is a lifestyle and social orientation which seems to have been shaped most dramatically.

I found this to particularly be the case in Berlin, which was once the nerve centre and headquarters of Nazi Germany. It is no surprise that although Berlin was once the centre of this evil force, it was also the scene (in a tunnel underneath what is now a residential flat car park) of Hitler's eventual isolated act of suicide. Although this 'freed' Berlin somewhat, what was to follow was of course the splitting of Berlin into Allied and Russian segments, leading to the Berlin Wall.

Once the wall came down (only after years of separation and sometimes heavy handed border guard policies), the Berlin we now see began to bud and bloom. There is a real sense of social freedom in modern day Berlin I have never felt in any other city in the world. People seem completely free to live their lives the way they wish, and exercise this right with gusto!

Some examples of this included a great balance between a visible Police presence and a society not over-policed Residents are allowed to walk around with alcohol in public areas (as long as they're acting responsibly of course).

It was also obvious in the fact that there were no outwardly intoxicated and rowdy people roaming the streets (somewhat unlike Melbourne). But perhaps it was most evident by the single younger women travelling completely safely on the underground train network which runs 24 hrs in Berlin on weekends, and which is safe and clean.

Our campsite was another great example of the sense of freedom, specifically amongst the young people. As noted below, our campsite was converted to its current form only after being a public swimming pool. The pools, diving boards and blocks were still there, only some have been converted to beach volleyball courts. The large pool has a dance floor at one end and a basketball half court at the 'deep end'. These areas were the scenes of continuous activity during our stay, including a swing dancing extravaganza on one night.

It was quite fun to watch people dancing inside a disused swimming pool. I suppose though I never really thought that exact situation was something I needed to see, so the element of surprise may have played a part.

As well as being just a scene for interesting social interaction and observation, Germany also has a vast and diverse range of places to see and things to do. Mountainous regions in the south allowed us to take in some breathtaking castles (although battling tourists in this area was onerous after a while).

But it was the Rhine region which really captured my heart. The river has been and still is such an important part of Germany's lifestyle, and is at a very palpable level a massive and impressive waterway. The steep river banks are dotted with beautiful little villages (some from medieval times) and vineyards creeping upward at impossible angles. I would think this would be the place to go for people with one leg significantly shorter than the other. I might consider contacting the 'one leg shorter than the other society of Victoria' when I get home to line them up some much needed work.

We took a cruise from our amazing little town of accommodation (Bacharach) up to Koblenz, a cruise which took us 4 hours each way. It was lovely to sit up on top of the boat and take in all the activity of the river watching castles cruise past. The situation was aided by beer which was A-grade and so surprisingly cheap I had to take in several to truly come to terms with it. 8 hours, 7 beers and a small dose of sunburn later we were perched in a small restaurant in a medieval town square having a beautiful dinner and a local wine.

In all, we spent around 5 nights in Germany, and although this time frame left me wanting more, the impression our short stay left on me was significant.

The people…

The Germans reflect in reality much of what we assume about them back at home (well, what I assume about them anyway). They are quite fashionably awkward (their staple clothing includes shorts, long socks and sandals; ladies with a butch 'mullet' haircut and gents with short cropped hair and glasses) and their taste in 'music' is confined largely to what was large in the years 1983-1986 (give or take a year - I did hear 'Wang Chung' which broke into a new era, but on the whole you get the drift). Bruce Springsteen's earlier work is on high rotation.

However, this sense of 'I really don't care what I'm wearing - it's comfortable and practical' is something I welcomed. Fashion snobbery and the endless 'try hard' pursuit of mirroring models and 'Ken Dolls' is something I have later learnt to be best served up by our Italian friends.

But scratching the slightly quirky and double-take inducing appearance, Germans are a cheerful, caring and just plain friendly bunch. They are the first people to talk to you in a campsite, and the most genuinely nice people in stores and running campsites.

Key activities on the trip...

• Taking a cruise on the Rhine River
• Spending time wandering around Berlin, including the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag and the Berlin Wall
• Taking a guided walking tour of Berlin
• Taking in Berlin's artistic area and nightclubs (including an ex-Communist warehouse converted to a massive nightclub)
• Camping in a facility which was most recently used for a public swimming pool
• Taking a walk around castles in the Bavaria region of Southern Germany (near the Austrian border)
• Hitting the Autobahns in the Blue Bolt
• Sampling cheap German beer

Highlights…

• Berlin's walking tour gave us some amazing insights into the history of Berlin (and Germany) as well as showing us the major attractions of significance. Of particular note was the 'real' story behind the fall of the Berlin Wall (apparently it was a mistake in a press conference delivered by an 'under the weather' and ill-informed press secretary for East Germany who, without reading a briefing document properly, mistook it to mean that the wall would come down 'immediately').
• Getting the Blue Bolt up to some previously unmeasured speeds on the Autobahns, which were such a breath of fresh air post-Poland
• Cruising the Rhine River
• Heading out on a pub crawl of Berlin with some Dutchmen, some Englishmen and a Serbian who was right into death metal. Mimicking Rammstein for most of the evening left me with little to no voice for 2 days afterwards, and freaked out trains full of people.
• Camping in a disused public swimming pool - very memorable
• Watching tourists scatter in the Bavarian region as rain swept in. I personally was busy with a schnitzel and beer at the time, but their sheer panic at the sight of water (yes, I'm talking about you my little Japanese tourist friends) had me chuckling out loud.
• Schintzels and Bratwursts; need I say more?

Lowlights…

• Seeing just how far music can be butchered by having by radio deliver dance remixes of virtually everything you can think of.
• Seeing Crocs and Socks. UN-ACC-EPTABLE.
• Leggings seem to have made a slightly warped, 80's comeback in Germany, and I'm right on the bandwagon of 'leggings are not themselves pants'.
• Nicola getting hooked once (or maybe twice) on my fishing lure, which I have not taken off in case the good luck I had snagging Stephen in Norway comes off when I remove it. I got a few nasty words and angry looks, but it's worth it. I think the rage will smooth over with time.
• The accumulation of 'Currywurst' (basically Bratwurst in curry sauce served with bread and a small, novelty plastic fork) in my 'system' led to some rather inventive ways to air out the tent. It's the nicest way I can put it.

In summary...

There was something really special about Germany which made it a very memorable place for me. Be it the amazing stories learnt on our walking tour about the real background of Germany's history, the gorgeous scenery, the cheap beer or the female mullet hair cuts, damn it if Germany didn't work its way into my heart.

Upon returning from Eastern Europe to Germany via Poland, Nicola and I looked at each other and said 'ahh, we're home again'. Although we had to stop and remind ourselves we were still thousands of miles away, it was good enough for me to feel as though this place has more in common with my sensibilities (excluding fashion and music) than I would openly admit.

I would liken it to…

The "BFG" (or Big Friendly Giant) of Roald Dahl fame. Goofy, a bit daggy to look at, but has a heart of gold and a childish sensibility of freedom which is to be admired. Germany also, like the BFG, no longer eats small children, which is nice and is considered the social norm now.