Swiss army knives/watches/chocolate etc...

It was time to cash in on another generous offer of free lodgings, this time I was off to Switzerland to visit the lovely Amanda.

As it turns out, even the efficiency of the German trains couldn't’t help the fact that the journey from Copenhagen took an entire day and cost a shitload. Still it was totally worth it.

Incidentally I met quite possibly the nicest German guy in the world on the train. No honestly! It turned out that my ticket was wrong and I had to pay extra, having no cash I was pretty much fucked until the aforementioned ‘nicest German guy in the world’ offered to pay it for me. Now it was no measly sum, a full 30 Euros had to be coughed up. I was incredibly grateful. I arrived in Zurich where again ‘nicest German guy in the world’ proceeded to buy me a beer and a sandwich while I waited for my train change.

As I left there was handshakes aplenty and promises to spread the goodwill of the Germans, because around that part of the world, God knows they need it ;-)

After a first class journey between Zurich and Lausanne (no really it was first class, oh dear, wrong seat again Ben, tut tut tut) I arrived late at night and met up with Amanda and her friend Laura who makes a great Thai green curry by the way.

Amanda and I undertook many adventures in and around Lausanne, the first of which was a hilarious bike ride to Morges. Mainly hilarious for the fact that Amanda could hardly reach the pedals, and the ‘Amanda versus hedge’ incident which I’m sure the nation of Switzerland will be talking about for some time.

A short train ride to Montreux, town of the rich and famous was made especially interesting by the fact that it had an official Freddy Mercury celebration day, on discovering this I of course was immediately sold on the place.



In between times Amanda, Laura and I proceeded to drink cheap wine, eat well, and generally be merry.

Eventually I made it to Geneva to see the UN headquarters, but as usual due to being subject to veto by the powerful few it was closed to the weak and helpless masses that day so we just went to a Thai restaurant instead which was equally as satisfying.

With a large block of Swiss choolate under my arm it was off to London to search for a house/job/wife/life etc. Wish me luck!

Swiss photos here:

Amandas blog here:

Fuck the Nazis...

The four days I spent in Berlin blur together as the beer was very reasonably priced, and as you know I like reasonably priced beer, a lot. The sites were pretty awesome too.

With a couple of Scottish guys I went on a organized pub crawl, not the usual sort of thing that I would normally indulge in but it was only 10 Euros and it included a good amount of free drinks which I thought would be worth it, and it was. The night was a bit of a blur and we ended at a place called The Matrix which was pretty cool, I seem to remember women dancing in cages but that may have been me, dancing in cages.

The following night we decided that because the kitchen at the hostel was so good that perhaps we should use it, cue super market visit and cue buying of Spooks. No not the British television drama series, or the little known Hip-hop group, and no, it has absolutely nothing to do with Halloween. What are you talking about Ben? Everyone knows the Smiles that you bake in the oven right? Well in Germany they have Spooks which are a scary version of the Smiles. Either way we thought that they must be just about the most awesome things on the planet, they tasted quite good too.

Post spooks we hooked up with some Aussies; Beth, Denise, and Amanda. They were keen for a beverage or two or three which suited us fine. After a fair few empty bottles lay scattered around the living room I decided that it was time to sow the seeds of an idea I had been mulling over in my head for a few days. The idea was a particular pub I had heard about. At first it was a hard sell, the name of it was 'White Trash Fast Food' but eventually curiosity, and a few more excellent beverages, got the better of them, we were off.

After bargaining with the door staff and saying that there were ten of us when there was only six we managed to get in for half price. Gotta love those law abiding Germans, they're so law abiding the thought of anyone doing something dishonest doesn't even register.

The most notable thing about White Trash Fast Food was its clientele’s propensity for anti-fascism. The place itself is just one big full on anti-fascist party. Cue the bands.

Imagine standing in a room not knowing what is about to happen surrounded by people that do. Then imagine that these people are very still but very excited, like locked and loaded mouse traps close to a mouse; they were ready to go off.

Then it happened.

From the darkness of the stage a single guitar played a single G string over and over at break neck speed. The Guitar whirred and whined, its string sounding close to breaking point when as abrupt as it started, it stopped. Not missing a beat a single spotlight centered on a punk, green Mohawk, leather jacket and piercings galore, he was holding a guitar, The Guitar.

“Fuck the Nazis”

“Hey”

“Fuck the Nazis”

“Hey”

“Fuck the Nazis”

“Hey”

The crowd responded immediately and enthusiastically to the Guitarists statement, everyone knew the script, hell even I knew the script

As the G String was stretched to its limit again and again the chants increased in volume. These guys were aggressive, hot blooded, and they were zealous. So was I.


Cool imagery huh?