post script one

1. I had thought that I would find occasions when I would be bored, possibly lonely, when the whole travelling thing wasn't as fulfulling as I had hoped. Not at all. I'm occupied, engaged, interested, busy. It's great.

2. I can see signs that I'm learning and refining things about myself. Whether it's showing more restraint in expressing a view (particularly to Americans) or being a little more organised or rearranging my priorities.

3. there will be no photo's on this blog. Too much hassle, too time consuming, couldn't be bothered. When the travelling is all over I will create an online album. If anyone is interested then it will be accessible.

munich

It's a great place and one definitely suited to the hedonistic. For sure I fit that bill but I quickly realised my limitations. There are only so many times a 33 year old can go out, get wrecked, get to bed at 7am and do it all again the next night. I tried. I managed two nights there but that was on the back of almost continuous high jinks since I began travelling. The operative rule has been - daylight is sober but the night will end in drunken joyfulness. Mostly held.

I had a fantastic train journey. German trains are amazing. Luxurious, withAC smoking compartments, fast and dotted with cool digital screens showing a whole range of facts. Time, speed, tempature, distance covered, precise racial make up of passengers aboard!! The journey was even more enjoyable as I had great company. A very pleasant girl called Victoria. It was very pleasant. I didn't shut up talking jibberish.

The days I spent in Munich were really memorable. I met so many people, good and bad. One chap from a town south of Munich was Johanes. A mere 21 year old but in his own way, a wise 21 year old. He may join my Mongolian adventure. It was a shame my last day in Munich involved me feeling very ill. All self inflicted and entirely justified. I could not hold any food in my stomach for two days. So, I'd have a typical Bavarian meal (Sausages, bread, etc ) and within minutes I'd happily puke it all up. Return to where I was previously without thinking anything different. All part of the course.

dachua

Visiting this harrowing place was a 'must do' on my Munich list. It's curious that I was timid when asking Germans for directions. It was a strange feeling even travelling there. I kept thinking of how many people travelled on cattle cars along the very same train line. It is a place of huge suffering and undeserved death. It was the first concentration camp, opened within weeks of the nazi assumption of power. It was the blueprint. It processed (their term) almost 200,000 people during its 'working' life. Of which some 43,000 people were murdered.

I'm reading Primo Levi at the moment so it makes it all the more poigiant. He survived Auztiwzc and recorded it with great humanity and dignity. It's very inspiring. I will pay respects there as it is on my agenda and I think I'll cry. But that's another story for another time. I won't describe my experience in any detail but I will tell of one incident. There were many school children there. One set, of about the age of 15 or so, were in the gas chamber when I was passing through. A young girl was taking photo's and I thought it a bit disrespectful. She was talking to one of the people whom she was photographing. I have no idea as to what they were saying but she exploded into laughter. In such a place!! I publicly admonished her. 'How can you laugh in a place like this when so many innocent people went to death at the hands of systematic murder!' I'm sure she didn't understand the words but she certainly got the gist.

cologne

Arrived in Cologne. It was hard not to notice the Catheral or DOM as they call them in this part of the world. It's huge. Nothing I have ever seen before matches it. I can only imagine the effect it would have had on people centuries ago. Once I get over the shock, I walked over to a bunch of gentlemen to ask about the direction to my hostel. They were standing at the foot of the Catheral steps. Within a couple of seconds I realised that I had in fact asked the local bums. Drinking the German equivalent of Super Tennants. It was dark !! But I was committed at that stage and carried on. One of them took hold of my guide book and ran up the steps. I thought that was the end of the book. But I needn't have worried as he was taking the book to a more illuminated area so he could see the name of the street.

In my adopted language of over-emphasised body language and ridiculous gesturing I managed to figure out what he was talking about. His significantly and many times broken nose being the only obstacle to my concentration. Found the hostel. Hit the beer. These Germans don't always float like butterflies but they try to be friendly. First, it was a proper knackers tavern but found a better place. Met one of my kindred spirits. Another sod working in banking. Markus from Dusseldorf. Interesting chats about interest rate policy, gross margins and teller queues. Just kidding. I got wrecked and went back to the hostel. Only after completing my usual detour to nowhere in an effort to save time and prove myself so clever in being able to understand the city layout in excellent time.

The next morning at breakfast I heard an Irish accent booming on one of the tables. Being a nosey swine, I eavesdropped. But I couldn't maintain my passive observation when he started referring to Dublin as the sh*thole of the earth. I'm sure many of you will agree but I don't. I took him to task (politely) and discovered him to be from Dundalk and answering to the name of 'Marshall'. Say what. Anyway being Irish I thought it polite to invite him for a beer after breakfast. A creeping thought entered my mind. This guy is bonkers. The penny finally dropped when one of those tourist trains passed where we were standing overlooking the Rhine. You know, cho cho, and electric train, no tracks. He was quite convinced that this train, whose route is along the river bank, had come from Italy and was destined for Denmark. No word of a lie!! He was harmless but I tried to say nicely to him that it would be best for him to head home. He's been in Cologne at the hostel for three weeks trying to find a job. Whether it was true that he had lost his bag is another matter but I bought him jeans. To which he responded 'Thanks a lot, sometimes I have worried that these ones smell of piss'. Nuff said, there go I but for the grace of good.

amsterdam

Amsterdam is a pretty cool place and not just for the reasons that many of you would suspect. I stayed one night in an arty kind of hotel. It was relatively cheap but the facilities were too. I was particularly perturbed to see a life sized photo of a naked lady holding a large penis directly outside my door. I felt it better not to study this photo ! The major event of the day was to see the Anne Frank musuem. It was an interesting sight but I was puzzled by the manner in which the other people attending queued to look at each exhibit. At one point, while being channelled through a narrow hallway, I waited for 20 minutes in line for the gobshites ahead of me to read the walk mounted naratives. I lost patience and barged through. Later, I indulged myself with bock bier (6.5%) and bitten ballen. These littles bites being a new found joy. Then off to the train station to pick up a train to Cologne.