HOW good is Berlin?

I had a fantastic weekend there. Lovely company (in the form of Lasse, Sascha and their friends), great entertainment (in the form of top stiouwdent parties) and a magnificent setting (in the form of Lasse's flat, the Friedrichshain district and Berlin in general). It was refreshing talking and spending time with younger people. Kind of reminds one of one's own younger days.

From Berlin I made my way back to Munich and spent a lovely last 24 hours with Michaela, Tim & the boys. Which almost became 48 hours - if Tim hadn't sped me to the airport in his car when the S-Bahn let me down (not before I stamped my ticket though, dammit).

I spent the night at Andy & Hannah's and enjoyed the company of them and their lovely baby boy - what a smiler! Oh well, he clearly takes after his parents. Then I drove to Guildford and spent some time sorting myself out at Chris & Kate's before heading into London to stay with Justin & Sam. Justin claims that he was on "Phone A Friend" duty and so couldn't go out, but Sam thought this was just a ruse. The jury is still out, given the absence of any calls, but we had a fab curry and wine in anyway.

And now EEK! I fly to South Africa tomorrow, to a new country and indeed a new continent for me. I hope it will be fun. I'm sure the next blog will tell more...