The Berlin Train station..5 levels..built to open for the 2006 World Cup

Germany from a train window between Munich and Berlin

Munich to Berlin..Inside the nicest train I have been on....Somehow I ended up in First Class

me doing what I do a lot of....waiting on the train

Munich Train Station

Wombat Hostel courtyard in Munich

Munich 2007

More Munich

Warm Winter

In many parts of Europe, including Russia, this has been the latest arriving winter since they began to keep records. In Yaroslavl for instance, they had less snow and warmer temperatures at the end of December and the beginning of January than we had at the end of October when I was still there. And most of the places I have traveled in Europe have been warm enough that even my little jacket was enough. What a lucky traveller I am.
A strange thing has started happening to me in the last several days. As i wonder the streets of wherever, I keep seeing people that remind me of someone I knew before I started my trip. This happens 8-10 times a day. Sometimes a stranger i see will remind me of someone i know at other times they remind me of how I think someone I know looked as a younger or older person. It is a strange feeling and very strong. Maybe as i approach my 6 month anniversary of leaving my mind is reminiscing because except for Lucas and Sonja, every face has been a new one. Who knows but it is interesting and fun.
Staying in Hostels has been more interesting than I imagined and nothing could be further outside of my former comfort Zone. I am forced to meet people because you are in the room with anywhere from 8-14 of them and the more you travel the more you hang out in the "Common Room" at the hostels. I think I have met more Australians than anyone else. It seems like it must be required to spend an extended time abroad as part of your maturation process in Australia. And since it is such a long plane ride (29-43 hours for the people I have met), I guess once you get here you should stay a while.
Besides being cheap (I usually spend between 10 and 20 dollars for a night) they seem essential to the mental health of backpackers. There is a sort of brotherhood with people on the road and the evening is a great time to sit in the common room and get the road news. You find out where people have been, what they loved, what they hated, cheap places to eat, good places to stay and funny stories from the road. They are fun. It took me a while to adjust to being a little older than most vagabonds age, gender, looks, nationally-----none of that seems to matter.
What an adventure.
I am truly blessed.

Wurzburg, Germany... I had a couple of days and wanted to visit a small town