Day 1, Tokyo

The much anticipated day arrived.  We boarded Qantas flight QF061 at 10.45am on our way to Tokyo, the first day of a 70 day adventure, courtesy of Neil's long service leave and the sale of a house in New Zealand.

The flight, the service and the aircraft were all unexpectedly excellent, not having flown Qantas for many years because of past reported safety and customer service issues with the airline.

After nine hours, two bottles of Sauvignon Blanc, two nice meals, 'Wild' and 'Easy Rider' watched through in-flight entertainment, we landed in Narita, only one hour behind Brisbane time.

The weather was, and continued to be, humid, and made our negotiation of the Tokyo metro system rather uncomfortable, not helped by the fact that we were wearing a lot of our clothes and wheeling suitcases.  Fortunately we had decided that cabin baggage was the way to go, and despite actually putting it through into the hold anyway, it made our trip easier than it would have been.

Two hours after exiting the airport we found Nishiarai and the Emblem Hostel and had just enough time (being 10pm) to buy prepackaged microwave meals from the nearby Aeon supermarket.

The room was tiny with bunks, but we've done that before and survived.  The price was right, and the hostel clean and friendly.

Day 2, Tokyo

This day, like many to come, was very full.  We wanted to tick the famous Shibuya Crossing off our bucket list.  We did this by taking the JR Yamanote train line, exiting at Hachiko. (By the time we left Tokyo we had the train system almost sorted).

The first thing we did upon exiting the station and found ourselves literally at the crossing was to go with the flow and cross.  It was remarkably easy, as Japanese people are so polite and experienced in crowd situations that no-one seems to get in anyone's way.

After a couple of times, filming on the way, we decided to do what our friend Christina advised, and that was to watch the proceedings from up in the Starbucks restaurant, which looks straight down onto the crossing.  From there you can also view the entertainment that happens when the lights change for pedestrians - dancers, filming and other activities.

From Shibuya we then went to Ginza, the upmarket shopping area of Tokyo.  There we went into a large mall in Ginza Place, which reminded me a bit of Harrods plus the David Jones food hall.  It has a culinary extravaganza, with all sorts of unusual and exotic foods, as well as a standup bar.  We enjoyed having a beer and nibbles in the middle of the complex, which also served to cool us down after the humidity outside.

Next stop was the Meiji temple - the only temple we had time to visit, and well worth it.  The emperor was certainly a forward thinking chap for his day, and had an admirable wine collection from all over the world.

Close to this, within walking distance, was the area called Harajuko. I must admit I did not know about this until Chelsea had to create a piece for her photography assignment based on the fashion of this district. It is fun and funky, reminiscent of the Camden Markets in London.

We finally made it back to our hostel as darkness fell, and had dinner at a local tapas bar, where I ate my first (of many) edamame beans.  We made only one train mistake that day, which was pretty good.

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Day 3, Tokyo

Today was FujiSan day.  We had only three full days in Tokyo so one had to be devoted to getting out of town, and this was it.  The weather unfortunately was drizzly, which didn't bode well for sightseeing, but we were on holidays in an exciting country so it wasn't really a problem.

We decided to take the train there and the bus back, just for variety.  My diary for the trip there reads: Nishiarai to Kita Senju ( Tobu Skytree line), Kita Senju to Nishi Nippori (Tokyo Metro Chiyoda line), Nishi Nippori to Basuta Shinjuku (JR Yamamote line), Basuta Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko via Otsuki (Fujikyoko line).

It all made sense at the time, but is confusing at first, especially as there are two separate metro companies operating.

 It took only two hours and the views of the countryside were well worth it.  So nice to see green fields and mountains after the grey of the city. The drizzle just added to the atmosphere.

The only slightly disappointing thing  was the fact that despite being right near the foot of Mount Fuji, we couldn't see it!  So instead we did what was to become a somewhat enjoyable pastime on this trip - we sought out the nearest pub.  Or restaurant in this case.

After walking around the village (about the size of similar mountain villages in Australasia), we hopped on a bus for the two and a half hour drive back into Tokyo.  We hit it at peak hour - when is it not? Still no problem though, being on holidays.  We did realise then, and later from a very high building, just how expansive Tokyo is, which makes the efficiency of the metros even more gobsmacking.

Day 4, Tokyo

Since Richie's birthday was going to happen whilst we were away we decided to shop for him and post it from Japan.  Therefore we made our way to the biggest Pokemon store in the world, at Sunshine City shopping centre in Ikekuburo (Skytree, Asakusa line, to Kita Senju, then the Green Circle line to Nishi Nippori and from there to Ikebukuro - easy)

This store is indeed large, and after deciding on a collection of gifts, we took advantage of the lift to the top, from where we got a great view of Tokyo in all directions. There were a number of family game type things and odd activities you could get involved in as well.

 What wasn't fun, however, was trying to send the parcel to Australia.  After finally finding the Post Shop, we battled the language barrier and the need to be precise when labelling exactly what is in the bag and how much exactly it cost, and then not writing the address on the front but giving it to the person to do.  This was the first of several frustrating times we had trying to post stuff in foreign countries!  All are different, and definitely not efficient.

Just as we were making our way to the metro to go back to Nishiarai, we spotted a cat cafe, so of course we had to go in.  What a life those cats have, even if they are clipped in all sorts of undignified ways to look like lions.  We paid for an hour there, drinking coffee, using the wifi and watching the staff play with the cats.

We ate again at our local cafe and I once again had edamame beans (I didn't eat the shells this time) and drank shochu flavoured with kiwi fruit.  Yummy.

Day 5, Frankfurt

I dreamt of cats last night!

 This was our last morning in Japan, unfortunately, as it was supposed to be only a stopover on the way to Germany.  We were pleasantly surprised by the place and hope to return one day for a better look.

Meanwhile it's on the train from Nishiarai through Oshiage to Daimon, and from there on the Hamamatsucho Monorail to Haneda airport.  This is a bit closer to our hostel than Narita was, so we were there in plenty of time, ready for our eleven hour flight to Frankfurt.

Lufthansa was efficient, as expected, but the staff were not as attentive as the Qantas flight crew.  In fact the captain did not introduce himself until half an hour before we landed! I did get to watch 'The Others', Ín Bruges', and 'The Ones Downstairs', which passed the time quite well. It was also interesting to observe the countries we were flying over - namely China, Russia, Finland and Estonia.

Once we had landed at Frankfurt we were prepared for the usual painfully slow journey through immigration, but to our amazement it was the quickest experience we have ever had.  In fact it was quite bizarre, as there seemed to be no-one around except a couple of guys at customs having a bit of a joke.  We were virtually waved through and could have been anybody carrying anything! We didn't complain though.

We then picked up the shuttle at Terminal 2 to drop us at our hotel for the night, which was friendly and funky, part of a chain of hotels called Meininger.  We crashed into bed at 9.30 pm  (4.30 am Tokyo time).

Day 6, Berlin

After an awesome breakfast at the Meininger we caught the train into the city and did the usual open top bus tour before going to the Hauptbahnhof to catch the train to Berlin.  Unbeknownst to us, because we had booked first class tickets (I had forgotten) we could have had free food and alcohol in the DBahn lounge before leaving.  Unfortunately we had already eaten and bought a drink, but still managed to squeeze in another Sauvignon Blanc or two.

That morning also I had made Facebook contact with my friend Diana from New Zealand, after seeing that she was also in Frankfurt.  Small world!  We couldn't meet up because we were leaving, but instead made arrangements to meet in London, as not only would we be in the same city again, but actually in the same suburb!

The train to Berlin, despite having first class, was disappointing in that we travelled for 8 hours with no food, drink or air con.  We shared a stuffy carriage with a science-type fellow who we chatted to for the last hour or so, which made the time go a little quicker.

Our hotel, Amano Grand Central, was across the road from the station, and we took advantage of the last hour of the night club bar before going to bed in our nice cool room.

Day 7, Berlin

We took the train to Oranienburg to visit Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, which I last visited in 1991. The surrounding area is almost as depressed looking as it was 25 years ago, but the camp itself has been modernised to make it more tourist-friendly.  The main part is still as is, but there is the addition of an arty looking entrance way, the availability of personal audioguide contraptions (which seem to be everywhere now), and a lot of the areas are glassed off.  When I went last we did our own tour with a map and could walk through the bunk rooms and still smell the stale remnants of straw and God knows what else. The actual living tour guides there (none 25 years ago) were very enthusiastic about describing all the gory details of the camp, which I found a little disrespectful.

Outside the gates, however, there is one new addition that I believe is a good idea and that is the memorial garden to the countries involved in and affected by Nazi Germany.  Each country has its own theme with a hidden speaker describing it.

The walk to and from the train was really long, as they still do not have a regular bus service.  It was then that Neil first noticed his feet swelling up.  This was to become a slightly worrying thing for the rest of our trip, and has now three months later, been diagnosed and treated as surface vein thrombosis - a far better diagnosis than the deep vein thrombosis we thought it might be.

We made it back to our hotel in one piece, thankfully, and indulged in burgers and beer at the Peter Pane restaurant.

Day 8, Berlin

After deciding that 30 Euros was too much for breakfast, we reverted to our usual practice of going to Maccas - very handy at the train station across the road.

We then did the other usual practice of a city bus tour, this time Berolina City Circle Sightseeing.  This was a two hour one, and when complete we skyped with Chelsea and Grammy, which was pretty cool for me, not being a regular (if at all) Skyper.

After that we took a train to Alexanderplatz in search of clothes I think (I didn't pack quite enough summer stuff and threw out my favourite shorts as the crutch split in Tokyo).  We had forgotten it was Sunday and no shops open in Europe, so went to a food and art construction type market which was interesting.  Lots of Eastern European and African clientele in that area.

For tea we went to the train station once again and had a pretty good Asian meal.

 For entertainment back in the room we watched a guy on the construction site next door trying to smooth off some cement with a machine that kept breaking down!  After a few phone calls and frustrated looking movements he finally called it a day as darkness fell (as you do). The next morning it looked ok so that was a big relief for us:)

Day 9, Berlin

We started the day by doing a practice run on the train to the bus station where we had to catch the Flixbus to Brussels the next day.  All went smoothly.

After that we went to Kufurstendamstrasse and bought some clothes, amazingly cheap for where it was. I think the store is like our Best and Less.

As we walked along we came across the Kaiser Wilhelm church that was bombed during World War Two.  I have seen the facade before but never bothered to go in.  It is amazing what there is still preserved inside.  The new church built right next to it is also amazing because of its modernity.  So glad I made the effort this time.

We had lunch at our first of three Hard Rock Cafes, and the food was awesome.  Ribs and salmon steak each time, and each time it did not disappoint.

We got back to the motel fairly early and heard that Chelsea had found a job in a photography business, which was wonderful news.

The only negative thing about the day was that Neil lost yet another leather jacket (number 3 I think). We believe he left it at the train station that morning, so it's probably an early Xmas present for a homeless person, of which there are many in Berlin. Oh well, hope they make good use of it.