The Journey Begins

16^th October

The last 6 days has seen a lot of change for me. To begin with on Wednesday I had my last working day. I’m now officially unemployed / travelling, it’s a scary thought. My last few weeks in Italy were so full I’ve not had chance to write about all of the amazing things I did so expect some sort of catch up when I have more time. Leaving Italy brought about a sadness I never expected to feel. I know I’m leaving friends there and the area I was living in was so quiet because the tourists and the majority of the tourist staff had left it felt like the very beginning again, but without the anticipation of how the summer season would turn out. As much as people talk about meeting people whilst travelling they never speak of the equal high number of goodbyes you have to say. I think this is the hardest parts of travelling. Some people it doesn’t really have the same draw. That friend you met once or twice in the bar, saying goodbye is irrelevant. But when you have been working and living and socialising with people for weeks at a time in such close proximity, to have to say goodbye is hard. I don’t like that part. I think this is the sadness which I feel about leaving Italy. Italy has been my home for seven months and although I may complain about the lack of international cuisines, in the whole she’s been good to me and I will miss her.

I am now on my flight from Berlin to Brussels. The journey so far has seen me take a train from Venezia to Milano coupled with my first experience of staying in a hostel dorm as a solo traveller.  I then managed to utilise planes trains and automobiles but in a different order (coach, plane and train, but automobiles, plains and trains isn’t as catchy and probably one of the reasons the film isn’t called that)) to deliver me to Berlin where I met Jasmin! My first thoughts on arriving in Deutschland ‘Why is it so Cold?’  I did have a little problem once I arrived in Berlin centre though, I had, somehow, researched the directions to a totally different hotel. Walking around Berlin with 35kg’s  (ssshhhhhh don’t tell Ryanair) of baggage on my shoulders searching for Wifi to check my emails was not how I had originally intended to spend my first day in Berlin. Suffice to say, I am more prepared for my next accommodation search.

It’s been so good to be in a place which has so many food options. I’ve eaten so many different types of food there it took me 3 days before I ate something German. As expected I was much quicker to try the German beers. I have become a bit of a fan of using ’mi italiano’ though so now when have to say ‘Danke’ it’s usually after a few attempts at thank you in a variety of different languages. I think my foreignness in their country shines through.  In the next week(ish) I have 4 more languages to deal with, I think I’m gonna need some help.

Ok so time spent in Berlin was great. We saw the main sights, Brandenburg Gate, The Jewish Memorial Site, Check Point Charlie etc etc and obviously, The Wall. It’s amazing how you can be walking along the road with a man made structure to the left of you which at one time controlled the movement of so many people and effected the lives they led, symbolised a lack of freedom. Parts of the wall which remain as they once were can not help but make me grateful for the freedom I live with. What’s much more uplifting is the site of the East Side Gallery. Here the remains of the wall have been graffitti’d. I wish we could have spent a full day just looking at each piece. Each design has its own personal meaning; the walk could go on all day. We didn’t manage to do everything though, as caching up often got in the way. We’ve done lunch, evening meal, cocktails, cosy nights in with ‘The Girls,’ clubbing, bar hoping, drinking in the street, being refused entrance to a club, looked at art, mastered the Berlin inner city transport system and gotten our money’s worth out of the free wifi the hotel so graciously provide and still 4 days isn’t enough. Actually what’s worse than saying goodbye to new friends is saying hello to old ones, and having to say goodbye to them again. The repetitive nature of saying good bye should get easier, but for me at least, it never does.

That’s enough of being contemplative Berlin is such an amazing city, I have to return here again. It has a quality which isn’t tangible but it’s as though everyone is laid back and the city somehow manages to function but without any of the hecticness that can be felt within a city like say London. Maybe I’ve just been starved of city life for too long, but I think that Berlin is definitely one of my favourite cities in Europe.

Now that I’m moving around a little more I’m hoping to make updates more often, fingers crossed eh. I’ve got about 6 weeks travelling before I arrive in Australia and then probably a week to get to where I actually want to be in Australia. So here is my itinerary:

2 Nights Brussels

1 Night Antwerp

1 Night Rotterdam

4 Nights just North of Paris

2 Nights Geneva

13 Nights split between Israel and Jordan

10 Nights Egypt

2 Nights Istanbul

5 Nights between Georgia and Armenia

3 Nights Sri Lanka

8 Hours in Singapore

Finally arriving into Australia on the 30^th November when I’m going to have to make my way across the continent to the East Coast to make my date for New Years Eve in Sydney.  Then I have absolutely no idea what I’m going to do :-) I’ve spent so much time planning how to get there I’ve never really thought about what I’ll do once I’m there, still the age old saying it’s the journey not the destination.

Flights beginning to descend into Brussels now so I best switch my laptop off and prepare myself for my first of (hopefully) many positive couch surfing experiences. I have high hopes of Belgium as a whole; I’ve been told they make chips like we have in chippy’s in England. I can’t wait!