Amsterdam, Hamburg, Berlin

14 July: London - Amsterdam

Amsterdam seemed the ideal place to start this trip, and that's how it turned out. I'd been there a few times before and had some pretty messy weekends there, so I didn't feel the need to go crazy this time. I've had more trips than I care to remember, when I started with a big effort on the first day/night and that set the tone for the rest of the trip. My mind and body can't maintain that level for 3 months, not any more, so I'm looking at a slow start for this one.

One thing that always gets me about Amsterdam is what a sweet place it would be to live. The pace of, and attitude towards, life is relaxed. It's got that "anything goes" outlook, a bit Thailand but without old, fat white men shagging kids. They've just introduced a smoking ban in cafes and bars, including coffee shops. So now, while the rest of the world's authorities check your cigarettes for weed, in Amsterdam they check for tobacco but have no beef with the weed. Beautiful.

16 July: Amsterdam - Hamburg

Hamburg kept the relaxed vibe going for a couple more days. I was staying at Reeperbahn, which is home to what they say is the biggest red light district in Europe. It was pretty lively but I didn't fancy forking out half my travel budget to go and stare at implants. Hamburg was quite pretty, just what you'd expect of an old German city and the kind of place your Mum would like.

When I was working in London recently, I worked near London Bridge so would often see those open top buses ferrying brave and desperate tourists around through driving rain and howling gales. There they'd sit on the open top deck, gritting their teeth as they lined up the next photo in the face of a Force Five. And I'd laugh and mock, safe in the certainty that you'd never get me on one of those. But in Hamburg, I became that guy. It wasn't raining but that's no excuse. To be fair, it was a useful way to get my bearings to be able to have a walk around later. I had a look at the usual stuff but there was one unusual museum in the form of a U Boat. I wasn't sure whether to feel underwhelmed or not - I'd never been on a sub before and the engineering involved to put one of those things together was impressive, but it was made by the Russians in 1976. so was too old to be technologically amazing and too young to have a particularly interesting story.

I saw a great tramp in Hamburg too, sleeping on a bench. He was edgy - a dude who'd made his choice and was sticking by it. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of him. I'd like to have a running "Tramp of the Week" feature, ending with awarding the best one from the whole trip the title "Ace of Tramps". I'm not sure what the tramp scene's like in eastern Europe - watch this space.

Another thing I'll be keeping an eye out for is amusing street signs. This one seemed to give some pretty sensible instructrions. Not sure what the last thing is though?!

18 July: Hamburg - Berlin

I have to say, Berlin's one of the best cities I've been to and I'd happily come again. The first thing that got me about it was the scale of everything. Berlin's spread over an area of 892 square km, and makes use of the space. On street after street you encounter imposing, impressive buildings that leave you in no doubt about Berlin's cultural and historical richness. Berlin's as much a statement as it is a city. Music, art, trade, war - evidence of all the strands which, when woven together, somehow make a city more significant, is all over the place. I'm not really one for churches, and don't see myself going inside many in the next couple of months, but when I look at some in their own right - cosmetically, instead of what they represent - I have to admire them. They're all over Berlin.

I went up the Fernsehturm ("TV Tower") which gives an unrivalled aerial view of the city. From here you could see how abruptly East meets West, and the contrast between the two. It seems incredible that two such differing places can have existed, right next to each other, not even 20 years ago. I get the feeling I'll have a similar sensation in a few countries I visit. The East is grim. Soviet style tower blocks lined up like dominoes, devoid of any colour or expression. Living here during the partition of Berlin must have been intolerable. Dozens of people died trying to break from East to West. One day, I needed to get the U-Bahn (tube/metro) from where I was staying in the East, towards the West side of the city. There was something up with the trains and none were coming, so I took another route on the S-Bahn. No chance of that choice a few years ago.

I nearly became Open Top Bus tourist again, but took it down a peg or two and did a boat trip instead. They gave us some headphones to listen to the blurb about each place we passed, but the English commentary had been done by a dalek, or perhaps Stephen Hawking, so I stuck some music on instead, put my feet up and floated around Berlin. I recommend it. About the only other thing I'd dwell on specifically is Brandenburg Gate. With my limited sense of history I thought it was built as part of the wall, but it's been there a touch longer than that. When you read about it, it reinforces the sensation you get about how long Berlin's been around.

I liked the German word for barbequeing:

And, related to the "amusing signs" I will also keep an eye out for signs that are the same of friends' names. Mina, this one's for you buddy.

You could probably spend a year here and still not fully appreciate what Berlin is, what it's been and what it's given in between. But it's further east I'm really looking, so with a sense of excitement, that's where I'm heading next.