Berlin fun

It's been a good couple of weeks on the whole.

The time in Berlin was really good. It's an odd one because I don't feel like I did an awful lot, but at the same time I don't feel shortchanged. The journey over there was fine, had one of the easiest drives to the airport, and the airport itself was very quiet. I made it to the hotel without any problems, although I did have to instruct a large group of fellow travellers how to validate their train tickets because they were very confused.

The first day was spent mainly just taking a long walk with my brother. The most notable thing was finding some of the construction work where they are linking the U5 and U55 subway lines. They've got lots of information about it, and a little mockup of the tunnel borer that you can go inside and view various videos and things.

There is a man in there and my brother made the mistake of asking him if the project would be completed on time. The man got rather upset and said of course it would be, whyever not? Then my brother mentioned the airport fiasco, and that was it. We were treated to semi lecture/rant about how that was a completely different project, and that Germany has the best engineers on the planet. All in German of course, but even I got the gist of it through sheer force of personality!

On Saturday it was the Eisbrecher gig, which was the whole point of me going. However before that, I met up with my brother again and his girlfriend to go and see the Latin American Ballroom Dancing World Championship. Not really my thing at all but it was indoors and free, at least for the preliminary rounds. It was in the Max Schmeling Hall, which I'd never been to before, but found OK. Before it got going, I went to get a drink, and somehow one of the employees of the place got me to help a large slightly mentally handicapped woman down to the VIP area, which was awkward since she didn't speak any English, and the judges had no idea who I was.

After all that, the dancing was actually pretty good. I was sort of expecting Strictly shite, but it these were professionals and it was actually pretty interesting and fun to watch. We left after the first heats and went to get some food, finding a nice Thai place in Prenzlauer Berg, where I had some crispy tofu with peanut sauce.
That evening it was off to the Eisbrecher gig. It was in a place called Huxley's Neue Welt, which isn't huge. They had a support band called A Life Divided, who also appear to be German but sing in English. They were actually pretty good. Eisbrecher themselves were fantastic, doing a really good selection of songs. Their stage presence was excellent. I remembered the last time I went to a gig and took earplugs, which was definitely a good thing.

Sunday was spent wandering around the city again and doing a bit of shopping for people at home, before meeting up with my brother again for a look at the Christmas markets before he went to a classical piano concert. The markets are pretty good, so many foods to try and things like that. The exception is the horrific animatronic singing reindeer at Alexanderplatz.

The last day wasn't too bad. I had already decided that I wasn't paying €7.50 for the hotel breakfast, so each morning I'd head round the corner to a bakery and get a couple of croissants or something for €1.50.
That morning I put my suitcase in a locker at Alexanderplatz and got breakfast from the Christmas market. This consisted of a truly huge piece of ham in a bowl of sauerkraut, and then something called a Quarkballchen, sort of like a doughnut but nicer.

The flight back was OK, and enlivened by a truly incredible sunset from the plane, which sadly my phone camera didn't capture in the slightest.

This week has been all right otherwise. Always a bit depressing going back to work though. Not much else to say really. I watched Die Hard for the first time, after Rob found it in his car - I'd borrowed it from Steve months ago. I really enjoyed it.

This morning I went down to my sister's new house and helped her move some stuff. I vaguely knew where the house was but I was really surprised at how nice it was inside. They did well with that one I think.
Then this afternoon I watched The Pirate Planet episode of Doctor Who. I haven't seen much of the classic series, but Steve recommended this one because it was written by Douglas Adams. I really enjoyed it, and it was fun to see his influence on it. I've also been watching the fourth season of South Park, which I've never seen before. I really like South Park, some of the writing is very clever.

I went to the gym on Thursday after a rest day on Wednesday. I managed to eat relatively sensibly in Berlin, and all the walking I did should have balanced out any food mishaps. The gym was OK on Thursday and I did more on the treadmill this time, although I'm still too scared to actually run on the damn thing. I went to weigh myself after the workout though, and the scales came up with 'Error' so I got off and went home. Apparently I should have got on again and they'd have been OK.

Yesterday was a slightly fat day in work, annoyingly. Because I've been eating relatively well, I can definitely feel it if I eat too much at lunch. I feel bloated and lethargic all afternoon, which is not good.