i know a guy who knows a guy...

well the past week has been an eventful one - hopefully i dont forget anything!

last monday we went out looking for cheap bikes to take around europe. we went to little johns bikes in hackesher markt (v. central location) and they didnt have any but their other store did. we trekked out to the 'burbs (and by trekked i mean took the 'tube') only to find the bikes were pretty bad so we came back into town. kelly and prue got bikes from up the road from us, so we thought that would be a good place to try. we walked up and asked at the first bike shop that we saw. the guy couldnt speak english but his friend was like 'no, he doesnt sell them, but i do. come with me!' we were wary, but he said he was taking us to a shop, so we followed him. he took us down the street and around the corner to a second hand washing machine store and pointed to two rusty old bikes. he grabbed one and practically pulled it apart to repair everything. meanwhile, his neighbour brought out a nice looking bike. we stood there for ages trying to make the guy understand that we didnt want his bike, but we wanted his neighbours instead. in the end we ended up shoving them the money and running. he was a really nice guy, but couldnt understand why we didnt want his old, rusty and broken bike. half our problem was solved. as we were walking home we came across another bike shop and asked the owner if he was selling second hand bikes. he replied: no, but my neighbour upstairs is. come back tomorrow at 9.30!

so we did. and it turned out to be a really nice 'holland style' bike. it also turned out that we got ripped off with my bike, because jess' was 30 euros cheaper and much nicer. ah well, you live and learn.

on tuesday we took out our bikes (named eike the bikie - mine - and rosie - jess.) with kelly and prue and rode over via the brandenberg gate to yet another museum in the west! it was called the story of berlin and it was so intense. it detailed, and i mean really detailed the history of berlin starting from around the 1200s. there was SO much information! and then, just when you thought there couldnt be any more, world war two came around. and then the cold war. it was so overwhelming! after that we needed something a lot less sombre so we headed over the the aquarium to hang out with the fish. that was cool - they had heaps of different varieties. jess had fun pointing out all the fish she has to kelly and prue.

on wednesday we went to the cute little cafe we discovered down the street. they do the best coffee in berlin by far. we then rode into town and got some saddlebags to put on our new bikes. we look all professional when we ride now. we went to the main train station to try and book our tickets to paris and then lady could hardly speak any english. we found out that we couldnt catch the train til tuesday AND it would take two days to get there! but at least it was booked. after that we walked down friedrichstraße and ended up at checkpoint charlie. as you do, when you go for a walk. there was no one around so i made jess pose for a picture, but she wasnt very happy because it was raining pretty heavily.

on friday we went op shop shopping around prenzlaur berg. we got a map from the one opposite our apartment and set off. we found some fantastic shops with heaps of original gdr stuff in them. it was awesome to see the area - there are so many little awesome shops and the people are so interesting to watch.

tent shopping was on the agenda for saturday. we went to a couple of stores and found an awesome one that doesnt look too difficult to put up, and is small enough to fit in our bags. we also picked up a couple of blow up mattresses but we got the cheap ones, so hopefully they will be ok. we took kelly and prue out for dinner to say thankyou for having us. we went to an awesome vegetarian restaurant in kreuzberg. the food was amazing! very rich and much enjoyed by all.

on sunday we slept in late before going to a flea market around the corner. it was sooooo cool! im so glad we got there late as we could have very easily spent all our money there. jess got a few t shirts and i found an awesome bike! it was a sad moment, but i traded eike in. i now have franz, who is a holland bike like jess' and is much easier to ride than eike.

on our last day in berlin we went to the sony centre to check out the architecture. it was pretty cool so we sat and had hot chocolates to keep out of the rain. we rode back through checkpoint charlie to get souvenirs (we love tourist shops now!) and via the brandenburg gate to the reichstag. we were going to go in but the dome was closed for cleaning and the line was so long. we rode home and just as we turned on to our street it started raining cats and dogs and we got saturated! it was like perth rain - it came down sideways! prue cooked us a delicious dinner and we went down to the scotch and soda (the pub downstairs) and had cocktails.

off to paris now... if we make it in one piece!