...unlike the next evenings star player! Having been left to my own devices in Hamburg, I thought I'd use the time to indulge my inner child and head to the model railway Wonderland. And let me tell you, it's lucky I never had a beloved trainset as a child, as this was... Something else. Screw gothic cathedrals, and nazi bunkers, and sweeping harbour views, this was a three-storey warehouse of THE BEST THING EVER. It runs the gamut from the wild west to the orien...

And now it's Friday, and I haven't slept for more than three hours at a time since Monday. But who needs sleep, eh? Before another night galavanting with the Sisters of Sin, I have to change back to the hostel from Monday. How dare people book in advance! b******s. Back in the cosy room, after playing a grand game of fetch with the most adorable beagle to ever pop into existence (Her name is Lily, and I know the picture has made you say "Aah" at least once. Y...

Ok, it's about time I wrap up Hamburg, before starting the multi-chapter book that will be Berlin. It's Thursday morning, and I've had 5 hours sleep in two days, so I'm starting to feel a bit worse for wear. Still, the damage isn't grievous (yet), so I pull on my stompin' boots and head out a-walking for the day. I find a giant warehouse by the harbour, cheerfully emblazoned with the German for 'Miniature Train Wonderland'. Naturally, the four-year old in me ...

Where was i? Ah yes, Peter's misfortunate eye-opener... Me; "Why didn't you get the hell out of there?" Peter; "I thought they were just making out, and then they'd sleep. And then they weren't. And twenty minutes in, it's too awkward to leave. So I just closed my eyes and tried to block it out. For two hours. Three times." Me; "Wowsers. With the amount of whiskey they'd drunk, I'm both impressed and a little jealous. Still mightily glad I'm not you though." ...

My trip to Hamburg begins like any good murder-mystery should, with my empty train pulling into a city shrouded in night and fog. I sorely regret not letting Rose talk me into buying that trench coat, and also the sad redundancy of the trusty steam-train. (Is it too much to ask for 80 years of technological regression to fulfill my sense of whimsy? I don't think so.) I settle for sneaking off into the night, drinking a sneaky coffee, munching a sneaky pret...