B&B ... Brussels and Berlin

I had never been to Brussels before, and to be honest, it was uninspiring. Thankfully, they have some great cafes/bars (my favourite: Mappa Mundo on the corner of St Gery place), which were surprisingly busy for a Monday afternoon. Some people were having food and a bite to eat, others working with their laptops, and some just reading a book in solitude - all in all, a very good atmosphere. I spent most of my 12hrs in Brussels cafe-hopping before catching an overnight train to Berlin.

I had visited Berlin before so I was less interested in seeing the usual sights in town. Lucky that as I spent the best part of the afternoon in a hospital getting a second opinion on why my ear was aching (doctor I saw in London just before I left was unconvincing). Same response though: "no major issues, here's some penicillin", except in German.

That evening was a big event - France vs Italy in Euro 2008. I saw the same teams do battle in the World Cup Final 2yrs ago at the Olympic Stadium less than 10 miles away from where I was watching it this time round, a cool bar I stumbled upon near Senefelderplatz which had no name or flag. It was obvious it was French though - 500 fans outside watching on the big screen screaming "marchons, marchons" as La Marseillaise played out, oh and the only beer on tap was Kronenbourg 1664. Same result and just like 2yrs ago, I ended up at a quirky and very cool nightspot: 8mm (www.8mmbar.com), where I met Tim, a photographer from Islington, and Petra, a Romanian girl who is in love with India and its people following a 8mth visit there.

I headed out of town the following day to a place called Potsdam, the former residence of the Prussian kings. The place is well worth a visit. Beautiful gardens, fantastic architecture (influenced by the French, Dutch and even the Chinese) and a great place to play around with my new camera for the first time. That night, I settled down at a local campsite that had a huge TV projector screen (and a few happy Russians too)! to enjoy the football and a quiet drink.

I was now ready to move on. I took the 570km train journey from Berlin across the seemingly never ending green pasteurs of Poland to my next destination, Warsaw. Here I am, checked in at the Oki Doki Hostel.