My quiet Saturday evening with all my friends in the outside party area of my hotel. Had to consume my two beers (all I could carry) very quickly as it was extremely humid!

The thunder and lightning storm struck about 11.30pm and cleared the air for a much cooler sleep.

Breakfast (included in the cash price for this hotel) was an interesting affair; a range of luncheon sausage like meats, cheese, bread and hard boiled eggs. At least there was coffee.

Hung out with Russ in the garden for most of the morning!

The water lily flowers were all starting to open as the sun rose and the day warmed up.

Russ has his lunch and felt like a nap so I grabbed a coke and headed back to my room, actually on spying the open doors of the ones being cleaned, I think I got the luxury suite! I have scoped out another hotel, I can move to, around the corner, like 10 meters, for the same price, as soon as I know how long we are staying in this area.

After a couple of hours computer work, I decided that I needed a walk….and my spirits lifted…

A familiar face! Don’t think I have ever been so happy to see a McDonald’s! Kind of like an old friend in a sea of strangers.

Wandered a bit further, knowing I would be coming back here!

So nothing leapt out at me so I u-turned back to McDonalds.

This had an English option, so was easier than talking to a human! Took me a while to navigate, but found the desired choices and a mcCoffee cappuccino for Russ and I.

Very happy with my purchases (and I must say the best coffee I’ve had in this area), Russ and I enjoyed the afternoon sunshine in the garden again. Coffee problem solved, things eventually work out.

Russ a little weary after a couple of reasonable outings so back through this fabulous foyer and back to his roommate “Boris” the Russian who speaks German!

With all shops shut on a Sunday- finding a beer for the evening may be a challenge! But have spied a pub on the other side of the road – while I never envisaged going to a pub in a foreign country, talking to no one, we will see how strong the lure is when I leave the hospital!

Goodbye central Berlin and our battles with public transport to get to Russell’s Hospital each day.

George and I ubered to my new cheap and not that cheerful hotel to leave the bags before spending the morning with Russ. I am now only a five minute walk away….

As in all hospitals in weekends it’s kinda lacking it’s usual business and as Russ is feeling better, with oxygen, we all took a walk outside and sat in the gardens.

George needed to stretch out and made the most of the warmer day….already 25 degrees.

Sue finally getting to eat, and george snapped the cute couples photograph! Russ is wearing his house shoes ( supplied by hospital as I keep forgetting to bring his jandals)

Russ’s lunch came – soup with a sausage! He said it was really nice.

We hung out until nearly 2pm, and as George was hungry and catching a bus to the airport at 2.30, we left Russ for a nap.

I was now able to check in to my room…and the promised ground floor room was 3rd floor, no air conditioning, no fridge (chucked out my cheese and ham) – no jug/cup/tea or coffee and no shower soap. Just a room with a bed! When I asked if there was somewhere I could make a coffee, the receptionist told me McDonalds (a mile away)…that’ll look good in my jammies at 7am! She did say I could have hot water, and then I had to “moo” at her so she knew I was asking about milk! George looked horrified and I was very politely told No – I could have hot water.

I walked George to the bus stop, (he is still at the airport three hours later as the plane is delayed) and returned to my 3rd floor empty room! By now the temperature was around 30 degrees, so I lay sweating like a ripening tomato in a glass hothouse for an hour.

Decided I better go in search of a snack for dinner and a drink, before coming back to Russ, we will go outside again soon, then I’ll race to my new sleeping place, and drink my two beers quickly (before they get too hot) and see what other interesting conversations I can strike up with the receptionist!

Decided to go straight to Riss this morning….but again best laid plans of mice and men!

Half way there – train transfer George and I leapt in the 2nd train for the final leg….an announcement in German and everyone got off the train! Hello, I looked around for an English speaking person to see what was going on, a multicultural society (hard choice) and after about five minutes asked the man next to me. Evidently there was police action at the next station and no one was allowed through.

Ok – so we went above ground and found the tedious 171 bus that headed to the hospital… very crowded as everyone had the same idea!

Instead of a 10 minute train ride, we had a very packed bus ride for an hour!

Coffee and snack time as the worms were biting and finally at the hospital with Russ by 10am (we had left at 8am and should have been there by 9)

Russ had had a busy morning with scans and blood tests and breakfast!

We stayed and talked to the doctor and more tests on Monday (these guys are good!)

Then about 2 we left to pack up ready for me to move close to Russ tomorrow and George heading to Greece.

We decided to find a local strip mall, toilet and op shop on the way home and had a very pleasant hour chilling in a local neighbourhood.

It was then back on the train and arriving at our area for the last time…,

Exiting the underground in our boho, hip, tagged German multicultural station for the last time.

We dropped our op shop purchases home and headed to a garden bar we had been eyeing up for the last few days.

The bus stop beer stop!

And Sue looking very relaxed with a dreadful tasting beer in hand! Please excuse the very unladylike pose 😦

We could have eaten here, but beers were dear and we had one last chance to visit our local Chinese shop

So here we are again! The best Chinese we have had!

And in our hood, apart from all the graffiti, that we are now oblivious to, this artwork on the building across the road….denoting the Berlin multicultural society that we are living in!

Tomorrow George leaves us for his boys trip and I move to my new abode only a five minute walk from Russ…no plans and plans cancelled but that’s what you get for wandering!

Today the shirts, summer dresses and colour appeared on the streets of Berlin.

George and I set of for the morning excursion, sadly a little later which allowed our selected tourist attraction to be very crowded on arrival

The three heads of government at the fall of the wall – Bush, Kohl and Gorbatschow…

Checkpoint Charlie, one of the infamous entrance gates to West Berlin, when the wall was up, under the British, American and French rule.

€3.00 to take a photo with your own phone! We avoided the trap and zoomed in in the gatehouse from a respectable distance.

In the middle of the street this sign and a very unimpressive little wooden building remains for the world to visit.

This photo taken from a wall shows what it was really like to pass from East to west.

A small piece of the wall still standing outside a souvenir shop where we bought a T’shirt for Russ!

Being continuously caught in walking tours we raced past some interesting art, George getting flustered setting a blistering pace to keep ahead…

We were close to the other big attractions on the ‘must see’ Berlin itinerary.

The Jewish memorial, from across the road, we had had our up close and personal with this sad story in Warsaw and felt a walk by was all we could manage today.

The Brandenburg Gate, 18th Century monument that marked the route from Berlin to Brandenburg.

The Reichstag building, which housed the German government up until the end of WWII.

Hot, bothered,thirsty and Hungry, it was time to go underground and train it to Russell, who had also had a busy morning with walking tests, physio and lying in his peaceful hospital bed!

He is doing Ok but with more tests scheduled tomorrow (Friday our time) he will be residing there for a few more days.

So, again, while this Northern European trip had all the elements of a once in a lifetime adventure, things have changed! We will not be river cruising on Saturday, and this trip is now cancelled! With a refund, of how much we don’t know, due back as I gave them 48 hours (just)….so the cruise ballot is off (not that I had any takers at such short notice).

I have booked into a very cute hotel for 4 nights from Saturday (breakfast included and cash only payment) The beauty of it is…only 5-10 minutes walk to Russ (with a couple of cafes on the way).

This may be extended as needed we have until the end of the month before we are due to leave Germany!

Russ is getting the best medical attention in the world, and is definitely looking brighter! George is off to Greece on Saturday and I move into the suburbs of Berlin!!

This morning saw the internet down, and after having to do a load of washing by hand in the shower late last night (as washing machine not providing any water and washing with air!), it was time to get out and about. After checking Russ had slept well and been waited on hand and foot at 8am we were out the door, bright and early….destination East Side Art Gallery, the remains of the Berlin Wall.

1.3 kilometres of wall remains from 1989, and has been painted with murals by artists from all over the world.

Images of the wall from both sides, one side with art, the other with graffiti art.

George and JFK…we all know George is not that short!

Some of the images snapped as tours started to roll in..

Bright and colourful

Powerful and…

Touching! Some amazing art in the centre of the city.

And the wall came down…and the people were one.

No wall is complete without an iron door, now laden with lovers locks.

From here, George and I decided to walk to catch a bus to Russ, laden with a list of supplies he wanted, and in search of a coffee and snack before spending the day at the hospital.

A bridge to cross

A view from the other side, still and slightly overcast…promising a much warmer day ahead.

George still hunting for those elusive shoes, a selection hanging from the rafters of the covered bridge!

It was all eyes on the roads as bikes and two wheeled machines, roared past us, at us and barely around us..quite stressful!

Finally a couple of kilometres out of the city, shopping done for Russ, we found the perfect resting place to breakfast. I might add all done by 9.30am!

Building murals, and graffiti yet again a feature of our journey, we duly caught the bus and arrived at the hospital around 11am, just in time to move Russ from his private en-suite room to a shared room, which is still private as no roommate has appeared all day.

We chatted for a couple of hours, Russ ate his carrot soup (that’s what you get for telling them you want vegetarian meals) and the team of specialists are working hard at getting Russ back on his feet… More tests tomorrow and decision day as to whether we can get on our river cruise on Saturday!

If not, we can gift to a lucky couple for a mere €50 euros each…..let me know if you are in Berlin and want to go into the ballot if we can’t make it!

We left Russ for a couple of hours and went for a walk, then back to the hospital for the afternoon. Thanks to everyone who has supported us over the last couple of days…Russ is doing good and very positive we will carry on!

Life throws us curveballs – and Russ has had a difficult few days with his breathing – enough is enough, with the help of our Airbnb host we found the name of the hospital to go to.

Only a short Uber ride away. No long wait and with the ease of our Maltese ID and emergency medical cards, we were in the Triage within 30 minutes. The doctor was really great, but not a lung specialist, however he got all the necessary tests done; xrays, bloods etc and gave Russ a hit of oxygen and relaxants so that he could entertain everyone with his tractor snores while snoozing.

While all this was happening George and I took a walk –

Along the river, and graffitied streets of the local area, which our taxi driver had told us was very popular with tourists and students.

Evidence of the good times are these beer bottle tops embedded in the tar on the cobbled streets.

Into the town area, and graffiti and…

More graffiti and…

More graffiti, it sort of grows on you and becomes quite a part of the urbanscape.

We stumbled on a Turkish street market, which was fun, full of food aromas, George had to sample some of the local cuisine.

Fabric and sewing accessories were certainly the popular stalls, the Berliners must still sew a lot.

Dogs (waiting patiently) and their owners (and bikes) all out in the crowds.

And not to be forgotten there was more street art…

And truck art…

Even the vehicles are decorated with local talent.

We returned to the hospital after the designed 90 minutes allocated to find out Russ was being transferred to a specialist hospital to be assessed by a pulmonologist….which, to look at the positives, we can have a new set of eyes on the situation…

I travelled with Russ in the ambulance(only one passenger allowed)…miles away from where we are staying…George headed home to collect some supplies for Russ and navigate the train system to Russ’s new abode for the next couple of nights. (drunks and homeless people keeping him entertained)

Never get a bloke to do a women’s job! George duly appeared with all the supplies – undies/socks/t-shirt – but the dirty ones that need washing! Oops.

Russ has just seen a specialist – and she has a plan – in the meantime Russ has his en-suite room with a view and George and I are baching in the slums.

Last night in Warsaw, hot sunny Sunday evening and we followed the crowds heading to the riverfront….

It was buzzing with bars, food stalls, bikes and people relaxing and soaking up the sun.

We enjoyed our last beer in Warsaw at a sandbar on the riverfront – no one we know in this snap but enjoying the evening.

This morning was an early start, and our last cheap taxi ride ($10.00 NZ) to the airport at 6.30am!

Plane on time, but at the other end our checked baggage had gone “missing” and it was over an hour before it appeared (I think it came on the next flight) our new Airbnb host was very patient and Russ a bit weary today, but we finally made it….we are right in the middle of the city, and apartment quite cute, but I will reserve my opinion of the area for now.

Russ was pleased to lie flat, and George and I went off in search of supplies from Lidl….

Back to do a bit of work catch up and then George and I left our resting Russ, again, heading for the mall in search of elusive shoes…for George. It is really chilly here and Birkenstock sandals were swapped out with Russ’s sketchers for the walk.

First chilly impressions, lots of bikes, battling with traffic and locked up everywhere.

A grey old river day, and very noisy trains.

Construction abounds – super large cranes, and big glass buildings going up… lots and lots of graffiti and homeless and quite grubby.

The mall however, for my shopaholic friends, was five stories high, about two blocks and every level had several parts… too weary to look too hard and only looking for shoes for George’s feet – not many size 47’s even here in Germany.

Tomorrow will be a new day and hopefully summer is following us, Russ feels better and we can go exploring!

With very little open on a Sunday in Warsaw, the Bonnici-Carter trio decided to have a Sunday funday at the Zoo…

This opened at 9am and we were there before 10am…via Uber.

A large zoological park on the other side of the river.

You could be forgiven thinking we were, once again, in the wooded wilderness of Warsaw! George does think that no one sells lawnmowers in this city and sees a business opportunity for an enterprising Warsawian!

The zoo is quite impressive with large open air(mostly) natural habitat areas…and flat walking, which suited the team today.

My favourite picture of the day, a leopard en pointe, oblivious to human activity.

These big boys were out enjoying the sunshine, Bison, Rhino, Elephants and the Giraffes.

The watered areas all had a very green tinge, and at the polar bear enclosure (another green pool) he was no where to be seen, we did wonder if he was white or green (as our last Auckland one turned over time).

Some of the smaller species, Chimps, European Bison, Otters and Pink flamingos.

And some of the larger species, no other than husband and son!

A bit of kiwi taxidermy in Warsaw; the “Kakapo” and the “Kiwi” birds in the Elephant house. Where else would they be?

One of the main attractions were the gorillas – no where to be seen and the zoo was now filling up with the other half of Warsaw who had slept in. It was at this point Russ got caught behind a “pram jam” (rows of prams and young families on a narrow circular path…)

Another weather change happening (midday); the sun went out and the black clouds came over with a few big drops of rain. Zoo excursion over, it was out the gate to see the masses now queuing from one end of the street to the other… time to Uber back to our quiet neighbourhood.

Steak and hamburger lunches! It is a repacking afternoon, as we leave this city of Warsaw early tomorrow morning. Berlin here we come!

New town, Warsaw, last night found us in the busyness of a late afternoon; many cars, many people and an architectural mix of old and new!

Objective of the afternoon visit was to find the small part of the Jewish Ghetto wall that remains, from the Jewish uprising and the only bit left from the Germans razing as much as they could to the ground.

Old buildings sit side by side with the new glass towers, this is certainly a metropolitan city with all the bells and whistles.

Centre stage is the people’s palace which was built, only in 1955, by Stalin for the Polish people after the war…in the baroque style of the old town.

We found a cafe (in a side street) and had a drink and a snack before heading home.

This morning, George and Sue left Russ in peace again (at his request) and marched out for a morning walk….again heading up!

Monument of Charles de Gaulle and WWII fighter planes and tanks….nothing open till late morning but gates open and worth a sneak inside.

George’s shoes have holes….and rather than buy a new pair…

He walked the streets home in socks…being careful not to stand on any sharp or squishy bits.

The walkers Returned mid morning and collected Russ for a coffee break and a wander to the rooftop garden on the university library, with a lift up!

Standing in the circle of light on top of the dome…

The roof in panorama planted in grids.

The boys in the rooftop vineyard arches and…

A roof with a Birdseye view over the river.

Moving right along and taking the low road we walked the waterfront heading towards the riverside gardens of the Royal palace in Oldtown.

A family moment before park bench rest time.

Further down there was a larger park with fountains.

And a couple of sculptures. We were by now reallywarm and hungry so We headed up into old town in search of a cafe for lunch.

Russ holding the lamppost up, as he took the hill in stages.

Still searching for that elusive cafe (there were actually 100s of them, but all full with lunch eating tourists) we found the WEII museum

Thunder clouds started rolling in and a very real threat of rain was eminent…..the kiwis were a little slow to action here.

We had just decided to order a Bolt taxi, and he was 2 minutes away, when the heavens opened! A then very scary (and damp) 10 minute ride home – the driver almost aqua planing his Ford Focus (yes any car can become a boy racer model with the right operator) and overtaking and undertaking everything in sight. May I just say here, visibility was about five meters!

We made it….took a quick trip to the bakery for lunch and home to eat and rest! Only one of us is snoring away!

For some reason WordPress, or the operator malfunctioned and I could not deliver the second part of the morning

George in front of the palace.

A little further down the side of the lake was an amphitheater and the stage in the lake..very cute.

With a view from the outdoor seating back up to the palace.

We had definitely beaten the crowds, so far we had only spied a few runners and the odd mum and pushchair. It was now almost 10am and we spotted the first walking tour. Time to head off, we had practically been VIP guests for the last hour and a half, with the palace and park to ourselves.

Next, we went towards the waterfront, to make our way back home.

We found one of those islands in the middle of the river and walked through bush, above houseboats..

A beach volleyball complex and a rather large rowing club camp.

Boats (motor and rowing) moored in the canal as we crossed the bridge with lock gates and left our island behind.

We were now on the riverfront, with riverfront beaches, all very sparsely populated…it seems like we were ahead of any crowd action this morning.

However, there did seem to be a fair bit of construction activity further along the rivers edge, with many bars being set up in a mad frenzy on a Friday morning.

Coca-Cola sand bar, no where near a beach of course, but in readiness for something.

The converse bar on a riverboat in front of the stadium on the other side….where Bon Jovi is playing tonight. Maybe there will be a party before and after (and during) on the rivers edge.

Under a couple of bridges, getting very warm and footsore (15000 steps already under our belts) we were close to home….spotted Russ out for a walk, so we all devoured a very large Kebab and headed back for an afternoon rest.

Warsaw, with a population of about 2 millions seems very sparsely populated…maybe everyone has left for the summer.

p.s. just sorted the tech problem had to buy more media space to keep the story rolling.