Right, Ive been too busy having fun with Simon and Ric so I apologise for the lack of updates. Ill have to cover the last ten days or so briefly.

Sunday 19/09/10
Berlin

After our unsuccessful saturday night in Berlin we got up on Sunday morning and visited a museum about the wall that I had been to before. It has a retained piece of the wall including the original 'no mans land' in the middle but you can only look at it by climbing up a tower on the opposite side of the road and when I went their previously the tower was closed as it was icy. There is also some really interesting stuff there about the wall and we spent a while looking round, I find it amazing to think that the city was so recently divided in such a barbaric way. We then went to a flee market up the road which was quite interesting and saw another retained piece of the wall which is now a sort of graffitti park.

In the afternoon we found a sports bar that was showing the man u - liverpool game had a few beers and some food. After originally agreeing to have a quiet one we met up with some people in the hostel bar and ended up staying up until about 5 in the morning in the nightclub next door (the only one we hadnt tried the night before)!

Monday 20/9/10
Berlin - Prague
Checked out and jumped on the train to Prague. We all fell asleep but I woke up in time to see some beautiful river scenery between Dresden and Prague. Arrived in Prague and checked into our very central hostel in mid afternoon. Went out for a very nice (and cheap) meal in the restaurant downstairs then for some beers in the evening which turned into even more for Ric and Si.

Tuesday 21/9/10
Prague
I managed to get separated from the other two who went out early to see the sites, gave me some poor directions about where they were and then failed to meet me at the agreed time later on as they had found another place that was nicer! Their story is slightly different bu this is my blog. The whole situation was not helped by my phone running out of battery. We all saw the castle and the river etc but just not together! Although it has a very seedy side Prague is stunningly beautiful and is throbbing with people and life!

We'd had some bad reports about Vienna being a bit dull so were reconsidering our options but we eventually decided to stick to the plan and check it out for ourselves. I booked the hostel around midnight while the others stayed out late. Again. ;-)

Wednesday 22/9/10
Prague-Vienna
Got the train over to Vienna with Ric and Si feeling very worse for wear. Our hostel was a way out of the city but was right next to Rapid Viennas ground. I did some washing and we made ourselves some dinner then we headed out locally to see what was about. We ended up in a bar next to the stadium which turned out to be some sort of supporters pub and sat and watched as Rapid made their way to an inaspicious televised 3-1 defeat. During the game we met a very scary Rapid Vienna hooligan who was very keen to tell us how they had triumphened outside the grounds of stadia had all the way across europe. At one point very politely offerred us a 20 on 20 scrap in the forest. We declined siting my bad back but were keen not to upset him seeing as were foreigners in his bar and his boys were losing!

Then we got chatting to the two girls sat next to us who were finding our predicamant quite amusing. It turns out that they were both going out with the Rapid players who our friend the hooligan had earlier been castigating for a lack of fight! One of the WAGS was clearly not too happy with her fella and gave Simon her number and arranged to meet us at Oktoberfest which she was visiting with 15 other WAGS on the Sunday!

We then went back to the dorm to find that the worlds smelliest man had taken up residence in the bunk next to us. The smell was unbelievably bad, like dried vomi. Si and Ric found a bed in another room but there wasnt room for me, other guests took to putting toothpaste up their nose, I just used the pillow as a sort of gas mask and managed to make it through the night.

Thursday 23/9/10
Vienna
We took the S Bahn into the city centre and spent the day wandering around the city which we all thought was beautiful and we were pleased that we decided to do it. Its full of stunning neo classical buildings and is absolutley pristine. We also found a nice market square and picked up some drinks and a bite to eat. The weather was lovely whilst we were there, like a nice english summers day.

We decided that a night in was long overdue and we played cards with some aussies in the dorm before turning in, pleased that the smelly man had left.

Friday 24/9/10
Vienna-Munich
Picked up the train and trecked over to our campsite on the Outskirts of Munich. Weather was still fine. Headed into the city to find Oktoberfest, assuming it was in the city centre. After a while we realised it wasnt in the centre and that we had to get a taxi there. As the taxi was pulling up through the masses of drunken bavarians making their way away from Oktoberfest the heavans opened. This had the effect of not only soaking us through but re filling all the beer tents with people before we could get there. Therefore we couldnt get inside once we did eventually arrive. We had one overpriced Stein from a sort of covered area before heading back home wet and disappointed! When we got back to the campsite there was a mini Oktoberfest going on in the bar there. Feeling very wet and very sober we couldnt really get into the swing of things. Just to round off a crap day my crown came off my tooth whilst eating some pork. We went back to our so called four man tent which barely fitted three and sulked as the rain poured.

Saturday 25/9/10
Munich
Got up to find the camping field had turned into a swamp and that there was no hot water in the showers. Undettered we made our way back to Oktoberfest and met up with some of simons mates who had turned up as well. Again, we couldnt get into the tents as it was saturday and even though it was 10 in the morning they were all full. We went to a local bar and got into the swing of things, ridiculously drunk by 3pm. Met lots of revellers from different parts of the world and took the number of a roman called Fabio who insisted on giving me a tour of his city when I arrived.

I had been having some more phone problems after running out of credit so, at this point, I decided to find an internet cafe and sort the thing out. Got lost. Eventually re found the bar about 5 but they had gone. Eventually I made it back to the campsite by 10, alone and without any credit on my phone, or any battery. Consequently I had no way of getting back in touch with the others and had decided to cut my losses. Slept alone in the tent - we were all meant to stay in the hotel with simons friends. Found out bmth had won again we cheered me up a little.

Sunday 26/9/10
Munich
at 7am I was surpried to see Simon coming back into the tent. Turns out he was only just getting home and had lost all the others, his hoodie, his coat, any recollection of where the hotel was, about 4 hours memory and around 200 euros. This made me feel slightly better about my mis-adventures.

I left simon to sleep and had a wander around the locality. There was not much to see so i went into the city to sort out my bloody phone and get a new train ticket as my first one had run out. Turns out there was a problem with the phone companys system and I wasnt just a drunken idiot. Eventually managed to speak to mum who topped up my 'easy to top up, international' phone card by driving to sainsburys in christchurch and then phoning through a top up card. Came back to the campsite around 4 to find Simon still asleep and Ric still nowhere to be seen.

Agreed to meet up with a girl we had met in Berlin in the evening and as we were heading in we found Ric wandering back. He hadnt been able to get in touch with us but had met up with a girl we had met in Prague who lived in Munich and had looked round the city with her after leaving Si friends' hotel. Ric came with us and we went for a meal and then, finally, we manged to get into an Oktoberfest tent around 9.30 in the evening. I was a little dissapointed with Oktoberfest, I didnt think it was all its cracked up to be - just a load of people drinking in a tent and dancing on benches. The biggest trouble is that you have to stay where you are or you wont get back in, therefore it is impossible to sample the different beers which I thought was the point of a beer festival!

We briefly met up with the WAGs from Vienna but no significant progress was made!

Monday 27/9/10
Munich - Zurich
Checked out of the wretched campsite at 11 and made our way over to Zurich. We didnt get there until 5 ish and were all feeling pretty knackered so we dint do much in the evening.

Tuesday 28/9/10
Zurich
Had a look around the city. Its a really pretty, scenic and clean place full of wealth, beautiful women and beautiful cars. Its also extremely expensive. It has quite a unique feel to it built up around the crystal clear waters of the lake and the river that spills out of it from the foothills of the alps.

In the evening we found a bar showing the Champions league, settled in for the evening and followed another cherries victory on WiFi! This made up slightly for the 5 pound beers.

Wednesday 29/9/10
Zurich - Bern - Interlaken
The boys left early to catch their flight back home and left me alone again. I checked out and made my way over to the train station. I had to change at Bern, the capital, so I decided to have a look round. I was actually quite impressed but it did feel more provincial than capital as I had heard. You get some spectacular views of the distant alps from the parliaament building which I enjoyed. After an hour or so I headed back to the station and picked up the train to Interlacken.

This trip took in some amazing mountain and lake scenery as we made our way to Interlaken, and resort in the alps. I checked in, admired the scenery and started writing this blog.

I plan to stay here for 3-4 days then make my way to Geneva, Lyon, Avignon and Nice before heading to Italy so I will update when I next can.

Nick