Fran & Alan's wedding

Had a terrific weekend in the Lake District to celebrate Fran & Alan's wedding. Drove up on Friday to a hotel on the shores of Windermere (between Bowness and Ambleside). Our room was one the the nicest I've ever stayed in - very luxurious with stunning views.

Friday night there was a hot buffet and we spent the evening in the hotel's various bars with K's workmates.

Saturday dawned foggy and we were all concerned as the afternoon featured a boat trip on the lake but the fog soon cleared and it turned into a beautiful, crisp spring day.

The wedding ceremony was staged in the hotel's galleried hall, with the bride and groom on a landing halfway up an oak-panelled staircase. After the ceremony, it was onto a pleasure boat for pink champagne and trip along the lake before returning to the hotel for the wedding breakfast. Everything went so well and I think the happy couple had a fantastic day - I know we did!

Happy Birthday!

K and I spent the afternoon at Amelia's 9th birthday party. There was some extremely high calibre bowling going on there. This was followed by chicken nuggets and chips - truly the meal of champions. Happy Birthday Amelia!

Berlin - day 4

Final day in Berlin, K and I spent a rainy morning walking along the Spree. Took the express train back to the flughafen. Plane left on time and arrived 20 minutes early. We're in the car now and looking forward to an evening of Comic Relief and a chinky.

Berlin - day 3

Does this picture say 'Germany' or what? That, my friends, is a half litre of weissbier and a half metre of bratwurst.
Today, I have been to a massive model rail layout, the Sony Center, the former site of Gestapo HQ, the Holocaust Memorial, a Stasi exhibition and the enormous Pergamon museum.
I'm really packing it in but my feet don't half ache!

Berlin - day 2

Today I've been to the Olympic Stadium (brill!), Plotzensee Prison (eerie), Berlin Wall Memorial (fascinating), Brandenburg Gate (busy), Reichstag (closed) and Checkpoint Charlie (corny). Also ate pretzel and herring. Who's been a busy boy?

Berlin - arrival

Flight was 20 minutes early. We met some of Keren's colleagues at the airport and we all travelled into the city together. Train was clean and on time (we are in Germany after all!). Hotel is OK with a terrific outlook over Ku'damm. Keren went off for dinner with Visit Britain and I started the sight-seeing. Went to Hauptbahnhof, Tacheles (tried Currywurst), Empty Library, Nikolaiviertel and Hackeschen Hofe before meeting Keren for a beer and heading back to the hotel.

Berlin - EMA

The first sausage of the week, certainly not the last!

Berlin - Day 1

On our way to see Berlin. Starting off with a full EB at EMA.