Ah Berlin! Where beer is cheaper than water. Staying in a 19^th floor apartment on Leipziger Strasse for 2 weeks. Midway between the Brandenburg gate and Check point Charlie, near to the action. So prosperous and trendy, so much to see and do. Food options range from donner kebab street food to classy restaurants and a Lidl supermarket next door. Must say the transition from Salmon and single malt to Sausage, kraut and beer is a bit of a jolt, but we are managing nicely.

The apartment of Andreas and Ute is comfortable in every way. Impressed by the Popodusche Japanese style toilet. Heated seat and water, finishing off with a drying current of warm air. Checking availability in Melbourne.

For all of the luxury, shadows of the war are never far away. Neither hidden nor flaunted, just many grim reminders. Yesterday the remnants of the “Wall” and Check point Charlie, today the smoke and battle scarred pillars of the museums on Museum Island. Very mixed feelings two days ago watching children laugh and run between the Stelae of the holocaust museum. Each of the 2,711 concrete slabs or Stelae represents something like 2,000 murdered Jewish people.

According to Matti the guide, the great war, and consequently the second world war might have been avoided. Kaiser Wilhelm I was something of a war monger, but his son Frederick III turned out to be a pacifist. Alas, he was a heavy smoker and suffered throat cancer and could not speak toward the end of his short 99 day rule. The next Kaiser, Wilhelm II, has been described as bellicose. Wilhelm II apparently thought that as the British were part of his family, they would be on his side. Thoughtless & careless? The rest is history. But the point is that if Frederick III had not been such a heavy smoker, all of those world wars could have been avoided. Which does go to show that smoking can kill.

And after the war, there was the wall. One of the most famous pieces of “Wall” art is that of Birgit Klein who painted a trompe l’oeil of a Trabant car making an escape by crashing though the wall. Birgit comes back every couple of years to do a touch up job. Some say that the infamous Trabant would have serious trouble crashing through a paper bag. Nevertheless, 3.7 million of the 2 cylinder 2 stroke Trabants were produced in East Germany between 1957 and 1990. And, though many may scoff, these recycled plastic bodied vehicles have now achieved cult status. To get some idea, just enter Trabant racing on YouTube and be prepared to be underwhelmed.

A fun way of getting around Berlin is the Bigbike, previously called Bierbike. Looks something like an old tram car. Up to 16 passengers with a crew of 2, the captain does the steering and braking, The other crew member is kept busy at the beer tap. Declined invitation to join a happy group of blokey German revelers. Seldom a good idea to come in half way through a good party. Yet another option is to join a group of the cute little sports cars on the “Hot rod city tour”. They sound like little lawn mowers. And a giant mobile barbecue attracted some attention.