DAYS 28, 29. SO...THAT'S IT THEN

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14TH- SATURDAY OCTOBER 15TH

Friday morning we spent most of our time on Unter De Linden, Berlin's famous shopping avenue, watched over by the mighty Brandenburg gate. Under the gate is an open expanse where buskers perform, which killed more time.

Try getting your kids to stay this still for more than 5 minutes

We then bussed to Berlin Tegel to catch a Hapag Lloyd flight to Stuttgart. Hapag Lloyd is a budget carrier with planes painted like taxis. It was a nice flight, but I was starting to feel the mood. It was almost all over.

River Spree from Oberbaum Bridge

We had planned to crash at Marko's place- he was back in Stuttgart to finish his thesis with Daimler Chrysler. Actually, he stays in Esslingen, a 45 min drive from Stuttgart. But we hadn't yet decided how to get to Frankfurt the next morning. Marko met us at Stuttgart airport which was big of him considering he had no car. This made the decision easier- we rented a car from Stuttgart airport to drop at Frankfurt next day. It was about the same price as a train, which would have meant an impossibly early morning trip from Esslingen to Stuttgart, blah blah ...no chance. Car was the best idea. It also meant we could hang with Marko Friday evening and cruise around.

Europcar rented us a 1-series Bimmer. I jokingly asked for SatNav, and was surprised that it was included. So, no map-reading for Sharon, and I got to be reunited with BMW SatNav Lady for one last time. Perhaps more importantly, it meant my last morning in Germany would not be spent sitting miserably on a train, waiting passively for the end. I would be driving, flat out, moving...going somewhere. One of the best things to enjoy in this country.

The last castle, Esslingen

A quiet night in Esslingen with Marko followed. Esslingen is not even on the map, let alone in any tourist brochures, but we finished Germany as we started, in a gorgeous little 1000-year old town with a castle, and cute half-timbered houses. We squeezed into Marko's student dormitory, (he gave up his bed for us) one last night of selfless German generosity.

As inconvenient as it was, the thoughtful gift of a massive DTM (German TouringCar Championship) calendar was rolled and strapped up for the journey home. Bye-bye Marko, thanks for everything.

I wanted to milk every last minute of our journey. Even in the foggy conditions 160km/h was quite safe, at one point 200. The autobahn was almost empty. I think that's the first time I've ever gone that fast. But it felt, I don't know...right. We passed the Sinsheim museum, and the Hockenheimring, just to remind me what we were leaving.

Amazingly, SatNav Lady not only got us to Frankfurt Airport, she got us to the right terminal and we found Europcar! Thanks, SatNav Lady. We will miss you and your calm, soft demeanour.

I don't have much to say, lest I blubber on like a sooky idiot. I couldn't believe it was all over. The in- flight movies included War of the Worlds, Batman Begins and an excellent little film called Crash. They were all suitably dark and depressing. Unfortunately, Wallace and Gromit wasn't showing. That would have cheered me up. The flight wasn't so bad. I was too numbed to care if it was.

At least, if nothing more, a little (very little) piece of Germany is coming to us. Claudi and Jögy arrive downunder December 31st, for what will be a brief but fun time. We have 11 weeks to plan how we can make her trip as special as she made ours. But apart from that, I hope I get to see it all (and more) again someday.

Besides, I really think I need at least one more crack at the Nurburgring.