India Retreat #2

Thursday 5th February

As early as a 7am yoga class might sound, my usual day starts with a 6am alarm, brushing my teeth and then taking to my yoga mat. I don't normally do yoga for an hour though. I was quite nervous about the asana (physical movement) classes as I don't do a lot of asana work, especially since I stopped teaching. I've never been very flexible - on the surface a lot of people would say I'm not very "good" at yoga - so I knew that two classes a day would push me further than I have before. I also already felt that that lack of flexibility was due to me just holding a lot of mental tension in my body. I was hoping this would be the opportunity I needed to let go of a lot of things.

Almost all of my classes were to take place in Yoga Room 2 on the fourth floor. My teacher Anjali introduced herself when I arrived and that was when I found out that I was the only person on the retreat so I would get 1-to-1 tuition. It's always a good idea to book things out of season, you get the best treatment! Our Hatha class started with some pawunmuktasana, wind releasing poses. These are joint mobility poses design to crack the bubbles out of toes, ankles, knees and hips. As we moved into sun salutations, my lack of stretchiness was really starting to show. Anjali was brilliant at manually moving my body deeper into poses. Even twists, which I generally feel I can go deep into, were pulled further than I would be able to hold without assistance.

The way I hold myself back physically was a real metaphor for how I mentally hold myself back. I'm not beating myself up about that, I think we all do and I know a lot of people physically and mentally hold themselves a lot more than I do!

Breakfast was at 9am. I don't think I was ever going to get on board with mung beans for breakfast, but the porridge was good (and very popular!). It was Emma's birthday today, so I wished her a happy birthday. I didn't have anything else planned until lunch, so I took to the roof for more reading. Prior to my departure, everyone kept telling me it would be cold but I was now regretting not bringing sunscreen! 

After lunch I had my first full body Ayurvedic massage. And when I say full body, I mean FULL body. Almost nothing untouched. I soon understood why she was baffled that, as we do in the West, I would suggest she left the room while I undressed. There was no point beyond the paper panties. It was also not exactly relaxing - not as aggressive as I imagined it could be, and it was another opportunity to feel the tension that I perpetually hold in my body. She did leave the room for me to dress, and as I left she gave me a hug and kissed my forehead.

At 4pm I had my first Ashtanga class. Ashtanga yoga is hard! It's bizarre - I have built up strength through weight training over the last 15 months, but so much of that strength felt inaccessible as I felt pushed towards exhaustion. I was seriously doubting if my body could keep up with this for a whole six days.

My first sightseeing trip was in the evening, witnessing the evening Ganga Aarti ceremony. Anjali asked me if I wanted to go by bike or if I would prefer to walk and I chose to walk. It was about 30 minutes down to the Sai Ghat where the evening ceremony takes place around sunset. We took our shoes off and took a seat on the steps on the second row. The ceremony was performed by three priests who repeated a choreographed routine to a number of religious songs, with increasing vigour in the music and increasingly larger oil lamps! I didn't want to take too many photos - apart from the fact that iPhone cameras are not really made for fire and darkness pictures, I was aware that people were there to worship. The family in front of me dialling in an elderly relative on a video chat felt a little less spiritual though! Part way through, one of the smaller oil lamps was passed through the crowd. I copied those who had taken the lamp before me, circling it in the air before passing it to Anjali on my right.

When the priests had finished with the biggest oil lamp (which had about 5 flames burning in it!) an altar was set up with a Shiva figurine, and oil lamp, flowers and a donation box. I still didn't have any rupees (there was also a QR code but I couldn't get it to work). The crowd on the steps filed snake-style down to the altar and I observed what people were doing. What I found interesting was that there were various things you could do, including swiping hands over the fire and "bathing" the head in the gather energy, touching fingers to the altar and then to forehead, lips, or heart. I'm not sure exactly what I did in the end, I just let my hands instinctively go where the energy felt good. My forehead was marked with my first tilak and I was passed a handful of sugar crystals. I felt blessed.

We made it back to the Institute just in time to hear everyone singing Happy Birthday to Emma. Her husband in Italy had arrange for her to receive flowers and a cake which was absolutely lovely. She shared the cake (I was very happy about that!) and talked about if she was finding it strange to be away from home for her birthday. It's perhaps different for me living alone, I always like to be away from home on my birthday, even if I'm still on my own.

I was very tired, and despite there being a very loud party outside I still fell asleep. Over the last few months I had regularly woken at 4am, and I found that I still seemed to wake up at this time, despite the different time zone.

Friday 6th February

My morning schedule was the same as yesterday with a 7am Hatha yoga session. I woke with a headache which stayed with me all day. Anjali chose Bhramari breath, the humming bee breath for my pranayama to try to alleviate the headache and I really enjoyed the class. Maybe it was just so much easier after Ashtanga! 

After breakfast, Suraj-ji was to take me to the "secret waterfall". This was the first time I walked uphill from the Institute. It was a very warm day, Suraj-ji talked about how it was unseasonably warm it was. It was only about 45 minutes but it felt like we were walking for hours! I remembered to put my Strava on about halfway up the hill, but at a guess it was about 3km each way with an elevation of 250m. I pushed myself hard but I had to take some breaks. I felt really unfit, again like I couldn't access the strength I had, but I think it was more a lack of energy after all the travelling. I'm not a sedentary person was definitely exerting my body far more than I usually would, especially in winter.

We passed a pool which looked very inviting. I had worn my swimsuit (which was contributing to me overheating) and I could have stopped for a dip. Maybe I should have taken that opportunity but I decided to continue to the top and stop on the way back down. The waterfall itself was very nice but not particularly spectacular. We stopped at the pool on the way down, but I'm not one for cold water dipping and I had cooled down since the hike up the hill so I was content just to put my feet in. Maybe I should have taken the opportunity for a full body dip 30 minutes earlier!

We got back for lunch, I spent my usual afternoon on the roof reading and then had my massage at 4pm. I mentioned to my masseur Puja that I had a headache so she gave me a little more of a head massage. My calves were feeling particularly tight, but I was gradually allowing myself to relax under her hands.

My evening class was Yin yoga and meditation. I don't know if Anjali saw me doing Hatha and Ashtanga and felt that Yin was what I really needed! Yin is often marketed as relaxing, but my body is so tight that holding a stretch for 3-5 minutes is not a relaxing experience. It is, however, necessary for me. Anjali had some great advice on positioning bolsters, blocks and blankets to give my body the support to invite it to relax into the deep stretches. 

The theme of release carried into the conversation over dinner. People talked about the various therapies they had either experienced or practiced. The group were fascinating to talk to, educated, knowledgeable and open to learning. The company of the group would make this retreat incredibly special.

I definitely needed a good cry, so I retreated to my room and listened to The Sky Above The Rain by Marillion. The original recording of this song never, ever fails to make me cry and this was no exception. I allowed the tears to stream down my face and felt the joy of the emotional release. Tomorrow was my birthday, and they were tears I did not want to carry with me.

India Retreat #1

Monday 2nd February

I'm always quite last minute when it comes to packing. I go away so often that I don't feel that I need to plan and pack and repack in the week leading to a holiday. I also figured that my packing for a yoga retreat would be fairly simple - I didn't need any evening wear, I just needed to throw all my yoga clothes in. I also wanted to travel relatively light to keep room in my case for shopping! Knowing that I was stopping overnight without my main case meant I packed an overnight bag to take as hand luggage.

I had half a plan to catch the 18:35 train to Manchester airport. I finished work at 5pm and I was still faffing a bit when my cleaner Jayne - who usually comes on a Tuesday morning - popped round to do a couple of bits to save her time in the morning, thinking that I would already have gone. She very kindly offered me a lift to the station, which at least gave me a proper deadline to be ready by!

I dialled into a Swarm live coaching call on the train. The Swarm is a year-long speaking mastermind that I joined as part of becoming a public speaker and thought leader in politics. While being in a public space made it difficult to participate, it was a really inspiring session with Brody Lee. When I arrived at Manchester airport, I kept the call running into my earphones while I stomped around the airport, trying to find the Ibis Budget hotel. Apple Maps and the signposts didn't exactly agree, but I eventually navigated through the car parks and around the back of the Holiday Inn.

The room was basic as expected with the cheap option, and it at least would make it easy to get to check in for my 6:30am flight. I could properly join into the call once I was in my room, and when it was done I had a chance to investigate food. The Ibis itself could only offer a frozen pizza for £13, but I could get 15% off at the Holiday Inn which had a proper Turkish restaurant. I had a few tapas style dishes, and couldn't resist a baklava dessert (which was huge!). I increasingly enjoy eating alone and the food was surprisingly good. Returning to my room, I set my alarm for 4am, planning to get up for a quick shower and leave at 4:30am.

Tuesday 3rd February

I slept soundly, but felt I awoke before my alarm until I checked my phone to see what the time was a noticed my alarm had been silently ringing for 20 minutes! I must have turned the ringer volume down, and I don't think I've ever considered that it would affect an alarm that I only use when I'm away from home. I initially cursed, and then felt grateful that I had at least woken up IN time, if not ON time. The shower was quicker than planned and I still managed to leave the room by 4:45am.

Check in and security at Manchester was so quick and easy that I needn't have worried. As I checked in my bag I asked very specifically, "does the bag go all the way through to Dehradun or do I need to collect it?" I was told that it would go all the way. (This will be important later). The security staff are always friendly and helpful even at this early hour, suggesting that I take off my sparkly jumper to save the potential of being searched. It was too early to eat and I didn't need to buy anything so I settled near some screens to read my book and relocated near the gate when it was announced.

My sister bought me Self Compassion by Kristen Neff back in the lockdown Christmas of 2020 and I had recently started to read it. This holiday seemed like a good opportunity to finish the book which delves into the science of self compassion, and references lots of books and theories that I had previously read or come across when I was intently studying the science of happiness. It was good to tune back into that science.

It had been a tough few weeks - a year of self analysis and change. The Chinese year of the Snake had impacted me hard as I shed old layers of who I thought I was, ideas that had been put into my head of being unworthy or unlovable. I had obsessed over relationships and the concept of relationships. 2025 was a year 9 in numerology, the end of a 9 year cycle that had started in 2017, the year after I had left my husband. Cycles were completing, lessons were being learnt. It had been a year of finally reconciling that leaving my husband doesn't make me a bad person. You can tell yourself that over and over, but this was the first time I was really starting to FEEL it. This obsession over love had also been acting as a distraction from getting on with the work I need to do, the work of changing the world. During our call with Brody Lee the night before, I really resonated when he said how people are scared of their own power. I feel that in myself and I see it in society. 

My first flight was to Munich with Lufthansa. The Lufthansa staff were so smart, so efficient, so German! I settled into my aisle seat for take off and I had the most viscerally energetic experience. As the ground fell away, literally at the moment the wheels lifted from the ground, so did my attachment to the things that hold m back. The self doubt. The lack of clarity, The fear of success. It was like the anchoring ropes being cut from a hot air balloon. The energy was indescribable. The plane hit turbulence. I cried and I sighed and it stabilised. I tuned back into the energy and we hit turbulence again.

I stopped because I didn't want the plane to fall out of the sky!

I saw a clear vision of my future and the path towards it. I sat and enjoyed the moment and then turned back to my book for the rest of the flight.

My first priority on arrival at Munich airport was breakfast and my first coffee of the day. I had set my watch to India time to start acclimatising, so I was sort-of pretending it was 2pm already - the early start meant this wasn't difficult! Avocado and eggs on toast was a good start and I mused about how much I loved being in Germany again, even though I was only in the airport. I also realised that I had lost much of my German language knowledge! Whenever I book a trip away, I spend some time on Duolingo to get a sense of the language. I know it will not make me fluent, but it's a great way to build up to a foreign visit. I even did Hindi prior to this retreat! German is my "default" language, the one I do when I don't have anything planned but it had still escaped my brain. Nothing more than "bitte" and "danke" seemed to exist there.

I had two hours between flights, so I wandered round the airport. I fancied more coffee and then fancied a second breakfast of yogurt and muesli. I'm not sure why, I was going to be fed on my next plane journey! Coffee and second breakfast consumed, I headed to the gate for the 11:40 to Mumbai.

I chose an aisle seat in the centre for this leg of the journey, I quite like being able to move in and out of my seat easily on a long journey, and the flight was quiet enough for the middle seat to be empty which meant there was plenty of room. I chatted briefly with a man the other side of the empty seat. The flight was blissfully uneventful. I had a gin and tonic and a glass of wine and enjoyed the airline food which I always do. Getting a meal on a plane is still a novelty to me, I always find the little tray of delights fun. I kept myself occupied with movies; Barbie, Blue Moon and Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii.

Local time at Mumbai when we landed was around midnight. Immigration was fairly simple and didn't seem to take too long. It felt weird not collecting my luggage but I walked through customs and followed the signs to Niranta Hotel. The hotel was inside the airport and was a worthwhile spend of £60 to rest my head and get a shower to start my first full day in India. I double and triple checked that my alarm was correctly set for 5:30am and the volume was up.

I didn't really settle to sleep - despite the long day it was still only around 8pm in the UK. I must have been asleep though, because at 2:30am my WhatsApp started ringing. I ignored it at first, then checked my phone. It showed as Lufthansa. Uh-oh. "You need to collect your luggage, we can't transfer it because this is your first stop in India".

I mean it's obvious really. I should have at least stopped by the carousel to see if it came out. What followed was me running around Mumbai Airport, trying to find where a Lufthansa rep could meet me, the rep having to persuade security to let me back through customs, me then taking my bag through customs, then to the transfer desk only to find that the computers had gone down. I would have to wake up earlier to check my luggage in tomorrow morning...

Wednesday 4th February

I say tomorrow morning, it already felt like tomorrow morning. Back in my hotel room, I was now too awake and too annoyed to go straight back to sleep. I re-arranged my bags a little - having my case meant I could pack more in it and travel lighter in my overnight bag. I changed my alarm to 5am but I didn't get much more than a snooze before I had to be up again. I was very grateful of the shower and change of clothes though, the hotel was definitely a good idea.

When I eventually found departures, I hoped that, given that my luggage already had a tag to Dehradun, I could just drop it off. Nope. I had to join the long, snaking Air India queue. I had two hours until my flight so I wasn't too worried. Just tired and indignant at the extra faff. Security wasn't too time consuming either. Despite knowing I would get breakfast on the plane, I still fancied a Starbucks and muffin (which was bizarrely heated up!) I hadn't been able to get my phone charged in the hotel - I was assured that a European charger would be fine, but neither that nor the USBs seemed to work - so I sat and charged my phone, while I finished the coffee and muffin. The coffee must have been super strong because it hit me really hard! The flight was delayed but I didn't feel in any rush. I waited until not-quite-the-last-minute to head to the gate.

As we walked out to the plane I noted it seemed foggy, but I then realised the brown haze was more smog than fog. It was a 2.5 hour flight and I had paid an extra £3 to guarantee myself a window seat this time. After breakfast I snoozed, waking in time to see us approach the Himalayas. The shadow of the plane was on the ground and we landed to meet it. My flying time was finally over.

I had arranged for Hare Rama Institute to collect me from the airport and found my driver easily. He took my case and I followed him to a car park outside of the airport, about 10 minutes walk away. I don't think he spoke much or very confident English, so I sat in the front of the car, absorbing my first real visuals of India and Rishikesh.

Indian traffic is fascinating. It seems like utter chaos at first - everyone sneaking past anyone at any time, on blind bends, four vehicles wider on a single carriageway road, cars, trucks, buses, tuk-tuks, scooters, motorbikes, pedestrians, cows, dogs. But as I got used to it, you realised that there was just one rule; courtesy. Not driving so fast? Move to the side so you can be overtaken. Coming past? Beep your horn as a warning. It's not chaos, it's hundreds of people moving like a swarm. Instinctively, fluidly, courteously.

We drove through Rishikesh (oddly, I never actually got to visit the town itself), past monkeys, and along roads that looked down to the Ganges. I resisted the urge to take out my mobile for photos and just absorbed the sights, sounds and smells. We got to Tapovan, the town where the Institute is based and it was here I saw some REAL Indian traffic! Up the steep, narrow streets, it appears that it isn't unusual for a digger to stop in the middle of the road and just start digging. My driver had to turn around and take an alternative route but he couldn't get right to the Institute. We stopped at a nearby school and a motorbike was sent to take me the rest of the way. My luggage would follow by foot. Having never been on a motorbike before I was nervous, but Suraj-ji - one of the managers of Hare Rama Institute - assured me he would drive slowly. He was true to his word and within a few minutes we arrived.

I paid the balance of my stay in US dollars and was shown to my room on the second floor. There was filtered water available by the stairwell - I would have to remember to not even brush my teeth with the tap water! I was shown how to heat the water for 10 minutes before taking a shower and left to unpack and decompress. The room was large but the bed was really hard! Once I made myself at home, I lied on the bed for a while listening to the sounds of drums and workmen outside. 

Eventually I felt ready to leave the room and headed up to the rooftop terrace. There I met Emma from Argentina, one of the teacher training students who had arrived about a week earlier. We chatted briefly and I let her continue her studies while I read my book. At 1pm it was lunch time where I met more of the trainee teachers. Some would be staying for a month, some for longer. They came from all over the world - UK, Italy, Austria, Germany, USA and even India! Mealtimes would prove to be incredibly sociable occasions. The food itself was vegan - rice, a veggie stew, a soup / daal, salad and bread. 

I had nothing scheduled apart from my meals on this first day so I braved stepping out into Tapovan with a plan to head downhill to the river. I actually felt incredibly safe and comfortable in the town. It's obviously full of yoga tourists (I'm sure I heard someone call it "yoga Blackpool") and I found it easy to tune into the flow of life and traffic. I looked around at the shops, although I didn't have any rupees to spend yet. I didn't have much of a shopping list but I did want to buy a Lakshmi figurine, the goddess of wealth and abundance. Books, clothes and spices were also on the list. I saw a Lakshmi I really liked but I decided it would be foolish to purchase the first one I saw!

I kept heading downhill until I reached the "beach". That's what it says on Apple Maps, Sachcha Dham Beach. It's actually more like a building site and quarry. I was accosted by a lady who desperately wanted to sell me an offering to the holy river. Despite me insisting no and saying I had no rupees, she forced me into it. And then tried to charge me 100 rupees. I would have gladly paid them (it's about £1), but I didn't have them! 

(Note: You can't import rupees unless you are an Indian resident, you have to buy them there. I knew there was something I should have done during all that time in airports...)

Finally left in peace, I sat and contemplated the river for about an hour. The air was warm, but I was pretty sure the water would not be. I debated whether I would have the opportunity or courage to submerge myself in the river at some point during my retreat. I watched the many white-water rafters speed by and saw a patch on the other side of the river where it seemed many people did bathe.

Walking downhill to the river means walking back uphill to the Institute. I was starting to feel tired from my travelling and lack of sleep. As I came towards the top of the main shopping area, a clothes shop with some light trousers caught my eye. The salesman was good and they took credit cards - it was one of those typical situations where everything is so cheap you end up spending more than you expected! Trousers, two tops, a skirt and a gorgeous silk dress were exchanged for around £60 (and he threw in a scarf of course). 

It really was quite a slog uphill but I found my way back fairly easily. Back in my room I tried on all my new clothes and fell asleep in the dress. I woke up freezing cold about an hour later - once the sun went in the temperature dropped dramatically. Dinner was at 7pm and much the same as lunch. Back in my room I made some notes for this diary, posted my photos on Facebook and set my alarm for 6:30am. I would receive my next-day schedule each evening, and my first day proper would start with Hatha yoga at 7am...

Germany City Tour #3 - Cologne

Wednesday 18^th October

Getting to Munich Hauptbahnhof was pretty simple, although finding our way through the roadworks into the station and to the correct platform was a little more challenging! Our train had changed platforms but we boarded without too much hassle and settled into our seats (first class again, naturally!) I spent the journey writing up our Munich adventures. The train was delayed arriving into Cologne Messe-Deutz station – not the main station, but one on the east side of the city. Another confusing station, we eventually found the right platform to take us to our hotel.

We generally found the transport in Cologne a bit head-scratching – it was difficult to know what was a train, what was a bus, what was S-Bahn and what was U-Bahn. Everything seemed to run off the same platforms, which was great when you were changing trains, but sometimes a bit scary knowing whether you were definitely on the right train! We checked into our room at the Trip Inn Conti around 3pm. The room was a little bigger (and we had separate beds which was a nice change) but the bathroom was teeny! As in, I don’t know how anyone taller than me could sit on the loo without their knees bashing the wall in front of them!

Mia fancied a big, fat, dirty burger, and TripAdvisor guided us to Lord Of The Grillz, a medieval themed restaurant. Apple Maps guidance was less impressive, taking us through back streets and (I think) a university building. It was one of those walks where you’re thinking, “this is fine in daylight, but there must be a better way when it’s dark.”

We were pleased to arrive and opened the imposing door into the candlelit restaurant. When I asked the waiter who greeted us if he could speak English, his reply was, “well, I suppose we could take in the invaders.” We were led to the dungeon – his acting was unnervingly convincing, and the dungeon was dimly lit and a bit chilly but well furnished with chairs and benches covered in animal pelts. We had only just arrived after opening so it was quiet, but we were joined by a large party with a birthday boy who was seated on the grandest chair, crowned and proffered a sword.

We were served drinks in earthenware (even a tiny shot glass which I really wanted to steal or buy!). There was no English menu but I could decipher most of the ingredients on the list of burgers on offer. I plumped for one with bacon, egg and cheese along with the beef patty. It was absolutely delicious – as well as being a lot of fun the food was excellent. I also treated myself to a molten chocolate dessert. We weren’t up for a late night, so after despite the early hour we returned back to the hotel after dinner to rest.

Thursday 19^th October

While we had been resting the night before, I looked up the Fragrance Museum which I very much fancied seeing - where else to learn about Eau de Cologne than Cologne! You could only visit on guided tours, and as a number of tours showed as sold out, I thought we’d better get that booked in. Our tour was set for midday, so the plan for the morning was to make the best of the good weather and investigate Cologne on foot. We were again staying only a mile from the centre, so decided transport wasn’t necessary. We wound our way past Roman walls, a golden, winged car on top of the StadtMuseum (a “temporary” artwork from 1991) and finally arrived at the imposing Cathedral. It’s one of those buildings which can be seen from just about anywhere in the city. We walked around the back towards the Rhine which I found surprisingly wide and rapidly flowing. It was nice to walk along the river in the sunshine, it was much warmer than the weather had been in Munich. We turned west away from the river through Heumarkt and the magnificent statue of King Friedrich Wilhelm III, King of Prussia from 1770-1840.

Then to Farina House, the home of the DuftMuseum in time for our midday tour. We had a spritz of the fragrance as we were ushered to the starting point – it is fresh and citrussy, not musky as many would expect.  Our guide was a very enthusiastic Italian lady who described with great joy the life of Johann Maria Farina. Farina was an Italian who had an incredibly sensitive nose and moved to Cologne as a young man. At a time where people took few baths and generally coated themselves in perfume, he developed a unique scent, the original Eau de Cologne. He named it after the city as a thank you in return for them granting him citizenship. It was interesting to hear that, while the scent has remained the same since Farina created it, the recipe changes as the qualities of the ingredients change. The Farina family still oversees the production and formulation of the perfume (they are waiting to see if the next generation has the nose talent for it!).

The tour was about an hour and we got a mini bottle of the perfume included – given that the tour cost €8 and the bottle sells for €8, you actually get the tour for free! I treated myself to a bigger bottle as I have been needing new perfume for a while and I really liked it.

It was time for a rest and food – proper lunch rather than just cake today! We had sausage and beer in Peter’s Brauhaus, it was nice to go somewhere for a relatively small portion! We knew the weather was going to be wet tomorrow and I wanted to climb up the cathedral spire so we headed back to the cathedral – just as it started raining. We had been debating whether to go inside today or tomorrow, and the rain made our minds up. Cologne Cathedral is far more masculine than Munich’s dedication to Mary, darker and more imposing.

Climbing 533 steps was not on Mia’s list of “things to do”, so she went to a bar while I ventured up. There’s no denying that it was a long way up the spiral stairs of the south tower, made more difficult by people using the same narrow staircase to go up and down! About 300 steps in you get a rest to observe St Peter’s Bell, then the steps continue in a zig-zag. I’ll be honest, I was getting a bit shaky. Partly from the exertion, partly because I was getting a sense of just how high up I was getting. I was really hoping that the viewing platform was well and truly fenced in! The final stretch is a narrower, one way spiral, then you are out on the viewing platform, 97 metres above the ground.

Despite the cloud and rain, it was a spectacular view. I also always enjoy seeing bits of the building close up, so seeing across to the north tower was really cool. I circled the top twice (I was making all that effort worthwhile!) before descending. And that’s when you realise that it’s no easier taking the inside route of a spiral staircase when passing others when you are going down!

Mia had found a seat at a bar which had steadfastly not served her for 30 minutes, so I arrived just when she was ready to give up and leave. I was determined to get some good cake, so we went to Café Printen Schmitz. I had a delicious roulade with lots of praline – basically a large, cake version of a Ferrero Rocher – and a mulled wine. Mia wanted a hot chocolate with rum, but despite us both asking for the rum three times, she sadly didn’t get any.

After a rest at the hotel, we decided we were hungry at 8pm. While this was probably the least good hotel, the location was right in the centre of Cologne’s Belgian Quarter, a bohemian, arty area and a hive of nightlife. I picked out tapas from TripAdvisor – as much as I was enjoying the German food, it’s a little monotonous and heavy, and the variety of the world cuisine we had enjoyed was providing a good contrast.

Tapeo & Co also served fabulous cocktails alongside their food. I impressed myself by passing as German when asking for a table – they were very apologetic when I asked for an English menu! We weren’t quite the last customers to leave, but there was only one staff member left when we finished our third cocktails. Mia wanted another drink so we stopped at Herr Pinnock, just across from our hotel. Yup, this was a pretty cool area, I would definitely recommend staying around this part of Cologne if you wanted a taste of the nightlife.

Friday 20^th October

It was wet! We’ve been fairly lucky with the weather so far – it’s been changeable, but apart from a bit of rain in Berlin it’s mostly been dry. We knew today was going to be a bit of a washout though, so we sought a museum or two to keep us occupied. There are a lot of art galleries in Cologne but art isn’t really Mia’s thing and there’s nothing worse than viewing art with someone who isn’t really into it (definitely a place I could revisit on my own).

The Chocolate Museum was on our list for later, and I saw two museums that were just 10 minute walk away from our hotel. It turned out they were in the same building, so we bought a combi-ticket for the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum and Museum Schnütgen. The foyer is dominated by a 7.5m high rice granary from Sulawesi which was reconstructed by Indonesian craftsmen.

The Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum is a huge collection of ethnological objects from around the world. As their website says;

“The exhibition is divided into two sections. The thematic complex ‘Grasping the World’ presents the European perspective on other cultures – as reflected in travelogues, art and museums. The complex ‘Shaping the World’ showcases different ways of life around the world.”

It very much has in mind how that European perspective can often devalue the objects and the people who made them. It purposely provokes conversation about how these objects, many of which are sacred, came to European soil, and how we often view the creators as being unaware of the aesthetic qualities (as if only a European eye could have such appreciation). In this context you can feel that the objects – reflecting life, warfare, religion and death – are treated with respect. The I MISS YOU exhibition focuses on objects looted from Benin by British soldiers in 1897. Many of these objects are in the process of being returned to Nigeria, meaning the exhibition will continue to change over the coming years.

We only allowed ourselves 45 minutes around the attached Museum Schnütgen, a collection of medieval Christian sculpture, stained glass and other artworks in the church of St Cecilia. The first part was in an adjoining building, and it felt odd to see so much of it outside of the context of a church. Even once you entered the church, it still felt more like a collection of statues rather than anything worshipful. There was also a weird audio work being played around the building, where seemingly random words in German kept being said over a series of loudspeakers. I think this also detracted from any potential atmosphere that the artworks might create. I don’t think we really felt the need to spend long here, even if we didn’t have one final thing to tick off our tourist list!

Our very last thing to do was the Schokoladen Museum on the banks of the Rhine. We wanted to do the museum before the café but we were hungry. There was a van outside the museum selling sausage and chips – finally I got a currywurst! I wolfed it down in the drizzle, then we went in.

We were given a Lindt truffle (the red ones!) as we went in. The first part of the museum talked of where chocolate comes from, with a lot of focus on the difficulties that cocoa production faces with regard to fair trade, sustainability and climate change. Then the science bit – how chocolate is made! There’s a mini factory where the rectangular “Naps” are made. You can eat one fresh off the production line, and also eat a wafer coated in melted chocolate from their chocolate fountain. The museum continues with a look at how chocolate is moulded, then a history of the culture of chocolate.

I would have loved to have spent a little longer but I was starting to struggle with being on my feet. 6 hours of solid museum walking and standing, at the end of 10 days of touristing had caught up with me. It seemed entirely fitting that we should finish our trip with cake from the café. I had the Blackforest gateau (does it count as a fruit portion?) and Mia the mousse cake. We both had boozy hot chocolate. It was very, very delicious and a great place to reflect on our holiday.

I did my biggest souvenir shop in the Lindt shop (which is probably ridiculous, I’m sure I could get all this at home) and we trudged back to the hotel. Thinking that we knew the way, we took a couple of wrong turns. I offered a stop for a drink, but Mia was at the point where, if she stopped, she might not get started again. Back at the hotel and neither of us felt the need to go out for a final meal. We rested and packed, ready to depart for our respective homes the next morning.

Germany City Tour #2 - Munich

Sunday 15^th October

Today was travel day. Our departure from Hauptbahnhof was at 10:04, and as there didn’t seem to be a particularly obvious way to the station from our hotel, we gave ourselves plenty of time. Honestly, there seemed to be 10 different routes, all of them involving at least one change. Is a bus easier with suitcases instead of stairs down to the U-Bahn? In the event we took U8 to Gesundbrunnen and an express train to the central station. We had time to shop for some snacks and boarded our first class carriage on platform 2.

The first class upgrade only cost an extra £10 and it also gave us transport at either end of our journeys, so it was well worth it for convenience as much as cost. We had power, WiFi and a table for two, so I spent the journey writing up the diary for our Berlin adventures. We had to change trains at Erfurt – it was a bit confusing because the first train we were on actually went on to Munich but arrived later. We arrived at 14:40, managed to navigate through the roadworks (which became quite a feature of Munich) to the tram stop and took the tram to Sendlinger Tor. More roadworks here which made navigating to our hotel a bit tricky. My phone also seemed to struggle to locate me accurately which didn’t help!

Safely checked into Centro Hotel Mondial, we took a bit of time to settle in and unpack a little. The room was smaller and seemed very dated – it felt like we were back in the DDR museum! It did have a balcony Mia could smoke on though. We headed out around 5pm and went to Auer Dalt, a seasonal fair on Mariahilfplatz which only happens three times a year. As I said about the Festival of Lights, we often luck out on booking our holidays to coincide with events and we were quite excited about this. As it turned out, it wasn’t that impressive. We were also aware of putting our holiday spends on credit cards and not having a lot of cash, and most of the stalls were cash only. So instead of eating at the fair, we took a walk north where Apple Maps said there was a bunch of restaurants. Wirsthaus in der Au is where we ended up, one of many traditional Bavarian taverns in Munich, famous for its dumplings. We ordered big platters of duck and pork with big potato and flour dumplings and pickled red cabbage. Absolutely huge, absolutely delicious. Mia was beaten but I polished the lot off!

It was dark but still early when we left. We headed across the Isar and wandered to Marienplatz in the old town. Always nice to see places at night as well as by day, and I knew we’d be back here later in our visit! We took a few snaps - it was Sunday night and the town seemed fairly quiet but we found a bar for a final drink for the evening before heading back to the hotel.

Monday 16^th October

Our plan for today was to go to Dachau, the site of one of the biggest concentration camps of the Nazi regime, and then on to Nymphenburg Palace. Getting to Dachau was relatively easy by train and then a very busy bus. The day was clear and bright but cold. We expected to spend a couple of hours here but didn’t expect to stay as long as we did. Even though we’d read a lot about the advance of the Nazis into German culture and politics, every new site that we visited provided more context, more detail and more insight.

The majority of people who came through Dachau were assessed for their ability to work, then often sent to other camps for either work or extermination. While Dachau had a gas chamber, it was never used for mass extermination. It is estimated that over 188,000 people went through Dachau, and they have on record 41,500 deaths, either through murder or mistreatment.

Although I had been here previously, we absorbed almost every word in the exhibition that was displayed in the former processing building. It almost seemed disrespectful to not read every individual story that was laid before us. We couldn’t quite believe that we had been there three hours and hadn’t seen the rest of the site. We spent another hour walking though the grounds, seeing the reconstructed bunk rooms, the memorials and churches and finally the crematorium, before returning to the entrance and the bus back to the station.

It was gone 3pm and we were pretty hungry so we grabbed a McDonalds as we waited for the delayed train back towards Munich. Apple Maps was proving invaluable for public transport (whatever did we do before smartphones?!) and after a bit of investigation I found that we could walk through the Nymphenburg Palace Park free of charge. We could also access it from a station at the back of the park, which made far more sense than getting trains and buses to the front, then walking back on ourselves!

Once in the park I followed the SatNav on paths towards Große Kaskade, a huge waterfall in the middle of the park. There was a surprisingly friendly heron along with gaggles of geese enjoying the autumn sunshine. We could see the palace at the end of the Schloßgartenkanal (actually not the end, the canal splits around the palace and continues towards Munich). It took us nearly 30 minutes (albeit at a gentle pace) to reach the palace, trying to snap a photo of what I think was a couple of jays!

Nymphenburg Palace seemed big enough from behind, but from the front it seemed to curve around forever! I’m not sure where the palace ended and where “normal buildings” began! We had started the day with half a mind to go inside, but our lengthy Dachau visit had meant it was closed by the time we got there and we didn’t feel like we’d hugely missed out. Walking away from the palace along the canal we found a tram line that could take us straight back to our hotel. I decided that a bath was in order to soak my aching body and feet (still not fully recovered from my charity canal walk a couple of weeks ago!)

I had been recommended a restaurant very close to the hotel by my friend Simon and the original plan was to go here for dinner. There was a queue outside and it was cash only so we decided to give it a miss for now and instead ended up in a Vietnamese restaurant. I’m not sure I’ve ever eaten Vietnamese cuisine before, but Mia had been on holiday there this year and, as much as there were plenty of Bavarian specialities I wanted to try, this was nearby, something different, and also did nice sounding cocktails. They produced their own ginger drink which I had mixed with gin – it had lots of ginger chunks in the bottom and was delicious! The restaurant was busy on a Monday night, it was a cool place to eat and we enjoyed the meal, then to bed after our long and emotional day.

Tuesday 17^th October

Today was our proper Munich sightseeing day. Our brief visit to the Old Town on Sunday night made it clear that transport wasn’t required, so I set Apple Maps to display ‘Landmarks’ and we zig-zagged our way through the city towards Marienplatz. Walking through Sendlinger Tor, the southern gate of Munich and taking pictures of pretty buildings and the numerous fountains along the way (Germans like their water fountains!), we came across Viktualienmarkt. This was far more interesting that Auer Dalt, and I envied the locals for whom this was their local food market.

Our aim was to get to Marienplatz in time for the 11am performance of the Glockenspiel in the town hall. The 32 life size figures re-enact stories from the 16^th century alongside 43 bells (which, I’ll be honest, sounded like they were in desperate need of tuning!)

Munich’s Cathedral was far more peaceful. Very much dedicated to Mary, the patron saint of Bavaria, there was a feminine quality to the bright, clean cathedral. I don’t consider myself a Christian but I love cathedrals and churches and I even felt compelled to light a candle.

Our walk took us past the Opera House and National Theatre, to Odeonsplatz where we visited the Theatine Church of St Cajetan. Bright yellow from the outside, but cool and white and very intricately carved on the inside, this is now a Dominican church. We walked through the grounds of Residenz – again, we had considered going in but decided to save our pennies and just view from outside – towards the Englische Garten.

This is a massive park that runs all the way to the outskirts of Munich. As we approached, we saw surfers using the artificial waves that flow into the park’s waterways to practice their skills. The man that we clocked disembarking at Munich train station with a surfboard now made sense! Only proficient surfers are allowed to surf these waves and I can imagine they could be quite dangerous.

We were peckish so stopped partway up the park at Konig 43 for apple strudel and coffee / Prosecco. Back into the park to Chinesischer Turm which gave us a good view of the city. Then back through the park and through the town, to take in more sights and buy some souvenirs. We stopped at the famous Hofbrauhaus, the most famous of the Bavarian beer halls. There had been some debate as to whether we should go there, but as my friend Mark had said, if you’re tourists, go to the tourist places. The reviews of rudeness from the waiting staff were unfounded – I suspect going at a relatively quiet time of 4pm meant we were less likely to be dismissed as just tourists. I enjoyed a beer and a massive pretzel.

Another church as we headed back to the hotel, the Holy Ghost which was closed for Mass when we had walked past it previously. I was quite intrigued by a rather camp painting of Jesus, and a candle with nails stabbed through hearts. Using my phone for photos and navigation in the cold had taken its toll on my battery so the return to the hotel was as much to recharge my phone as ourselves!

We made sure we’d grabbed some cash to go to Andy’s Krablergarten tonight. The queue we saw yesterday indicated that it might just be worth waiting for. There was less of a wait tonight and we were indeed serves the most massive schnitzel and fries! It felt like being in a Man Vs Food episode and I was actually beaten this time!

We fancied staying out for another drink and ended up in an Italian fish restaurant right opposite our hotel. They were very genial hosts and rather generous with their gin and vodka! We enjoyed talking to them about how to order the bill in various European languages and the joys of cashing up at the end of the night. It was probably the latest (and drunkest) night of the holiday so far – good thing we get to rest on the train tomorrow…

Germany City Tour #1 - Berlin

 Wednesday 11^th October

It doesn’t matter what time you travel, you will luxuriate when you have time and feel tiredness when you’re travelling. Flight time for me was 18:15, train to Manchester at 2:30pm which meant I had the morning to pack, tidy and take Missy the cat to her holiday home. Packing was never going to be easy – ten days in autumn when the forecast looked set to change from unseasonably warm to potential freezing temperatures. Layers, layers, layers. I’m not one to start packing two weeks in advance, so having the morning to work out what to take seemed very civilised.

I had looked at paying for the airport lounge but decided it wasn’t worth £32. Surely, I wouldn’t spend £30 on dinner at the airport? Well, you can guess how much dinner cost me. And I could have had unlimited wine! Note to self; if you’re planning on a proper meal at the airport, just go for the airport lounge.

The Ryanair flight ran to time and was uneventful (I think they have removed padding from their seats to lighten their aircraft). Passport control remains a miserable reminder of how a minority of the UK has decided to make everyone’s lives more difficult. German efficiency didn’t seem all that impressive either when, after 30 minutes in passport control, it was still showing another 30 minutes before our bags would arrive. In the even it didn’t take quite this long, and I could finally escape the airport and meet Mia the other side of customs.

I’d downloaded an app to buy Berlin transport tickets and managed to get mine fairly quickly. It took Mia almost the entire trip to pay for hers – Apple Pay trumped PayPal on this occasion! I don’t think we took the quickest or easiest route to our hotel. It was late and I was completely disorientated, thinking the airport was to the west of Berlin rather than the South East. We eventually made it to what would be our local U-Bahn station, Osloerstraße, and to the Big Mama Hotel. Our room was nice enough – we had to share a bed but we had separate duvets which is much better for friends!

 

Thursday 12^th October

As it had been such a late night, we decided not to set an alarm for our first day. We woke after 9am, got down for breakfast just in time. We’d decided to buy the Berlin Welcome Card which gave us 72 hours of travel along with some discounts but didn’t realise that we needed to print it out. No problem, our hotel happily obliged by printing out what we needed. Armed with transport and a plan, we were out in Berlin at 11am.

The plan was to start at Checkpoint Charlie, and make our way to the Topography of Terror, then up to Potsdamer Platz. I have a huge admiration for how Berlin is so honest and open about its history. By Checkpoint Charlie there was an open air exhibition about the Berlin Wall. The precision of noting how people broke through, and using that information to improve the security of the wall was chilling – when walls are so often spoken of to keep people out, we often forget that they also keep people in.

The sobering thoughts were inescapable at the Topography of Terror. Living in an age – and with a government – of populism, of demonising minorities, of claiming that others are an “elite” made some of the content hard to digest. The Topography of Terror makes it clear how Hitler and the Nazis carried the people with them, how they sold the idea of a superior Aryan race. The reconciliation at the end of the exhibition talked of how you could not prosecute everyone who supported the Nazis as you would be prosecuting almost an entire population. Instead, Germany’s honesty and learning from the mistakes is the way they reconcile with the horrors that occurred at their elected government’s hands.

For some reason, teaching on the World Wars is something that was lacking from my school education. The Topography of Terror showed how brutal the Nazi invasion was, and how far reaching the empire did grow. The indiscriminate attacks on Polish people, forced from their homes to make room for the “superior” German race hit hard in the wake of the impending Israeli invasion into Gaza. A reminder that we need to be reminded to “Never Forget”.

Fresh air and a break were needed in order to process what we had seen. We headed to Potsdamer Platz and found ourselves ascending up the speedy elevator of Panoramapunkt. It’s always useful to get a viewpoint of a city to help with your bearings. I was particularly intrigued that there was a building that looked like a palace visible from the top, but that it didn’t appear on the guide we had been given (more on that to come!) There was a café at the top where we stopped for coffee and wine, cherry and apple cake.

Physically and mentally refreshed, we walked around the corner to the German Spy Museum. A highly interactive museum, it took us through the history of spying, techniques and equipment against the backdrop of the European wars and the consequential Cold War. Along the way were many individual stories of spies, how they came to espionage and how in various cases they were caught, turned to become double agents, or sometimes not discovered or revealed until after their death.

We had a go at morse code, debugging, lie detecting, disguise and dodging laser beams (I’m still annoyed that I failed in my Mission Impossible twice!). We spent nearly four hours there and it was great to learn in a more light-hearted way after the darker aspect of the morning.

It was dark when we emerged so we headed briefly back to Potsdamer Platz to see the Festival of Lights. We always seem to luck out on booking holidays when there are events happening, without planning to see them. The Festival of Lights sees Berlin’s landmarks lit up by various artists along with light installations in public areas. We didn’t hang around too long as it was after 8pm and we hadn’t properly eaten, so I consulted TripAdvisor for a good option nearby. We ended up with a very delicious platter in Das Rotes Kamel, a Lebanese restaurant near the Holocaust Memorial. After dinner we walked past the memorial and towards the Brandenburg Gate. The Festival of Lights had finished for the evening, which at least meant we could see the Brandenburg Gate in its ‘normal’ lighting before heading back to the hotel.

 

Friday 13^th October

There had been much banging of doors from fellow residents of the Big Mama Hotel all night so neither of us slept well, but we had set an alarm as we had a theatre date tonight and wanted to get out, sightsee, and get back to change for the evening. The plan was to start at Alexanderplatz and make our way west to Museum Island, taking in all the sights on the way. We snapped photos of the Fernsehenturm, the Rotes Rathaus, the fountain of Neptune and Marienkirche. We decided to take a look inside St Mary’s Church, very gothic with lots of skulls. I somewhat regretted opting for boots as the sound of my heels clipped on the floor in the silence!

From church to cathedral – it was easy to find the Berliner Dom as it dominated the skyline. The eastern flank along the river Spree was draped in scaffolding, but the front was very photogenic, as was the Lustgarten in front of it and the Altes Museum to its left. We were largely led by our pockets, deciding not to pay to look inside, but I was increasingly intrigued by the building on the other side of the road, to the right of the cathedral. This was the building I could see from Panoramapunkt that wasn’t in the guidebook!

It turns out this is the Berlin Palace, home to the Humboldt Forum. The history of this site and building is quite remarkable. The site was home to a Royal Palace as early as the 15^th Century, with various castles built and extended. It continued to be used as a seat of government when the monarchy was abolished in 1918 but was severely damaged in World War 2. As it lay in East Berlin, the East German authorities took the decision to destroy the palace and build a new Palace of the Republic in 1973.

This was a very modern building that was a cultural and social space, as well as housing the East German parliament. Following reunification and after many years of debate the People’s Palace was demolished (it was claimed for healthy and safety reasons due to a large quantity of asbestos being used in its construction) and a new Stadtschloß built. Designed by Italian Franco Stella and reopened in 2020, it partially echoes the baroque styling of the original palace, complete with dome, while also providing modern exhibition spaces under the name of the Humboldt Forum.

We visited the exhibitions on the story of the site in the context of Berlin and Germany’s history, and the Sculpture Hall which houses rescued pieces from the original palace. We then took a walk into the cellar where you can see the remainder of the original walls and layout from the palace. From the basement to the roof; we purchased a ticket to the rooftop terrace, knowing there was a café / restaurant there too. “You want to go up there now?” said the friendly ticket seller. We didn’t realise until we got to the roof how much the weather had turned! Ah well, coffee / tea and cake time (afternoon cake became a theme!).

It brightened up when we did go out onto the terrace, and it was good to see the beautiful dome close up. It also gave a better view of the dome of the cathedral and a view down to Lustgarten. When Mia and I are sightseeing, we always try to have a loose plan which allows for random occurrences, and I’m pretty sure we would never have planned to visit this building on paper. The Humboldt Forum certainly seems to be a controversial building for Berliners and architects alike, but I was really impressed with it and really enjoyed my visit.

We continued west off Museum Island, perusing various grand buildings including the State Opera House, the Humboldt University and Saint Hedwig’s Cathedral. We were trying to find the Gendarmenmarkt and, when we found it, we found a building site! We walked round the back, trying and failing to find a way into the French Cathedral, around the Konzerthaus, to the German Cathedral. “Can we go into the church?”. “No, you’re 80 years too late!” The German Cathedral is now a museum about German government which was probably pushing our interest in German political history a bit far!

We returned to the hotel for a rest and to change for our evening. We headed to a slightly touristy steakhouse on the river which was perfectly fine, even choosing one of the cheapest things on the menu! Next, showtime!

Mia had flagged the Friedrichstadt Palast theatre on TripAdvisor, and when I visited the website, I saw they had a new show on. Curated by Jean-Paul Gaultier, Falling In Love looked like a visual spectacular. It was literally just about to open – the premiere was on the 11^th. On a whim just days before we had departed England, we bought mid-price tickets, at the front of the high circle. We bought drinks to take in with us but were annoyingly told we couldn’t take them in with us. A very obliging bartender agreed to look after our drinks for the interval (which at least meant we swerved the interval queue!).

Friedrichstadt Palast is a beautiful, modern and HUGE theatre. The seating is very open and we had a terrific view. We were particularly amazed by how deep the stage was and just how much set there seemed to be! There was a vague story to hang the spectacle on; ‘Me’ is a deaf man (performed by a deaf dancer / actor) who is trying to find himself in the Diamond City where everyone is split into Blue, Red or Green. ‘Me’ meets ‘You’ the female character who has escaped the need to conform to one of the three tribes. They fall in love, there is a battle for Blue, Red and Green to capture ‘Me’, eventually they realise life is more wonderful if we all blend together. Very sweet, a little earnest, but nothing that’s going to make you think too deeply.

It was sung and spoken in a mix of English and German and seemed relatively easy to follow if you only spoke one of the languages (it did say it was accessible to non-German speakers). Some of the acts felt a bit shoe-horned into the story, and it had an element of “variety performance” at times. The Sanddorn Balance sequence – where a feather and 13 branches are perfectly balanced onto just one, final branch – left the whole audience holding their breath in case we created a breeze. This sort of fitted the story as ‘Me’ had held and lost the feather, and it clearly symbolised the fine balance of our personalities. The stage was transformed into a swimming pool for one section – again I could rationalise this as the Blue, Red and Green merged into inflatable costumes of Yellow, Magenta and Cyan. However, the troupe of gymnasts and trampolinists, while entertaining (and drawing the biggest cheer of the night), I am still scratching my head to work out!

The performances were superb throughout, and the huge company of dancers put on a great show. I especially loved the classic can-can style line – something I have seen on screen so many times, but never really seen live. It truly is one of the most classic and effective choreographic styles. Obviously, being curated by Gaultier, the costumes were always going to be incredible. There were some glorious nods to Gaultier’s work, from the sailor, to the chaps and dozens of conical bras. Sometimes you have to approach things in the right way – we knew this was going to be a largely shallow spectacle of a show, and very much enjoyed every second of it.

It was only just gone 10pm so it was time for a drink. In the middle of a very busy Berlin on a Friday night, this looked a little tricky. We were going to grab one in a nearby Irish bar but it was packed out. I had a quick Google for “Berlin hidden bars” and came up with a gem that was just a few minutes walk away. The article said:

“Classy and upscale, Bar Tausend is situated in the heart of the city, near the bustling Friedrichstrasse, but it’s very easy to miss. Tucked below railway tracks and behind an imposing steel door, taking the time to search for this place is well worth it. They serve classic cocktails with elevated style. There is also a cantina that specialises in German-Asian fusion cuisine by personnel from the acclaimed restaurant, Dae Mon. The interior is upscale with industrial décor and sleek art deco finishes. Bar Tausend also hosts live music and DJ sets on weekends. It provides a practically unparalleled level of nightlife sophistication, and guests only get in if they are able to look the part.”

We found the imposing steel door, but I felt a bit odd thinking about knocking. There was a girl outside on her phone. I reckoned she would be going back in, so we waited for her to finish her conversation, and sidled up when the door opened. We were lightly questioned. “Do you know this is Bar Tausend?”. “Yes, I’ve heard of it,” I replied as confidently as I could. The door man – not a big burly sort, but a middle aged, well dressed gentleman – eyed us up, decided we were suitably attired, and allowed us in. We were informed that there were no photos allowed and no phone reception.

We found a secret bar! I don’t think I’ve ever been in a secret bar before! We perched at the bar, ordered cocktails and took in our surroundings. Dark, slightly industrial but not in the cliched way that seems so fashionable at the moment, this was a classy spot. There was a DJ playing but the volume was just at the right level that we could chat. I’m always in awe at mixologists and happily watched the staff keeping up with the orders. I ordered a second cocktail which was stronger than the first! We had a fantastic time feeling like uber cool Berliners and left with an alcoholic buzz in our heads and a spring in our step.

Saturday 14^th October

Our final day in Berlin was sort of a ‘mopping up’ day. First up was the DDR Museum. I came here on my previous visit to Berlin and remember finding it absolutely fascinating. It shows what life was like for the citizens of East Germany post WW2. It’s actually strange how you can just start to feel how it wasn’t such a bad life. Everyone had a job and a purpose, food, housing, a sense of community, even holidays were often state subsidised. This contrasts with the exhibits showing how tightly controlled this was and just what freedoms were lacking for the East Germans. The government propaganda that was needed to persuade their people that this was all in their best interests was huge. The privileges – often Western perks of capitalism - afforded to the leaders showed the disparity of the lifestyles. I would consider myself a socialist, but I wouldn’t want to live like this and I can see why it failed in this case.

It was sunny but cooler and windier today. We walked from the DDR Museum along the banks of the Spree towards the Reichstag, stopping off for our afternoon cake (cheesecake and raspberry tart) on the way, this time accompanied by chai and mimosa. We viewed the Reichstag from outside, got berated for crossing a single lane, quiet road on a red pedestrian light, then continued south for daytime views of the Brandenburg Gate and Holocaust Memorial. It was a bit weird to see the disrespect of people running between the stelae and even standing on them. It’s also a strangely oppressive feeling when you are in the centre of the monument.

One place I really wanted to see was the East Side Gallery. 1.3km of the wall, one of the longest sections still in situ which was turned into an art gallery in 1990. It’s a bit difficult to view properly in some ways because they are large works of art and you are quite close to them (with crowds of tourists and other pedestrians passing!) We took a few photos - I had to get one of the image from Pink Floyd’s The Wall! I was intrigued that the paintings were all dated 1990 / 2009, and it was interesting to read that the entire wall had to be restored to prevent it from collapsing. This meant that all the artwork had to be repainted. A few of the sections are blank, representing the artists who either chose not to or couldn’t replicate their work.

It was getting dark and starting to rain so we found a Mexican restaurant in the area for dinner. Nothing special, but it meant we could avoid the city centre for a little longer. Fully refreshed we returned to the centre to fully take in the Festival of Lights. It was a Saturday night and it seemed as though all of Berlin had turned out and brought the family! We started at the Fernsehenturm which had spectacular images projected on its stem. One piece I particularly liked had people squeezed into the narrow stem, trying to make their way towards an opening where a display of flowers was collated.

I had a map of the light shows on my phone but it was difficult to follow. I wanted to find the Nikolaikirche, a double spired church which we had somehow missed on our sightseeing so far. My map reading went a little askew and we got a little lost. After a brief stop to use a hotel loo, we recalibrated and finally found Nikolaikirchplatz. I think the streets would have been pretty enough, but the lights added even more to the atmosphere. It was a bit of a shame we had missed it during the day as the shops looked so quaint. In the falling temperatures it felt rather Christmassy!

Emerging onto the Marx Engel Forum, Mia saw smoke and lights in the distance so we headed towards it. It felt like heading towards a Glastonbury stage, not knowing what to expect! This was a very cool immersive light show accompanied by ambient music. The smoke made the light feeling like tunnels and waves moving towards you all the time. I really loved it, but I felt like I was constantly waiting for a beat to drop!

It was fun to revisit the places we had seen in the day time, all dressed up in their finery. The Berliner Dom seemed to have a number of rather kitsch patterns displayed on it. I was also becoming increasing impressed with my iPhone camera (a significant upgrade from my 7 year old SE!) We heard and saw a big crowd outside the Altes Museum so wandered over to see what was happening. There was clearly an acoustic gig happening. We snuck alongside the fountain but were promptly ushered back (it was a really big crowd but I still haven’t managed to Google who it might have been!).

Our final stop was back to the Brandenburg Gate for the third time! This seemed to be a much shorter “show” in all, and I would definitely say that the I found the other displays much more entertaining. Or maybe there’s a limit to how much you can watch pictures and videos made of light projected onto buildings.

We would have gone for another drink but the centre of Berlin on any Saturday night would have been difficult. This was almost impossible. We considered stopping somewhere less central, but we were also aware that we needed to be up at a decent time to pack and be ready for our train to Munich tomorrow.

Deep South Road Trip #5

Monday 23rd April

Our beds were far too comfortable but we had arranged for breakfast at 9am so we hauled ourselves up, enjoyed a fantastic shower - the power should be good, there’s a water tower in the middle of town!.  We had been offered the choice of pancakes or grits.  Our lack of enthusiasm for grits was met with an attempt at persuasion but we were not to be convinced. Blueberry and pecan pancakes it was (well, just pecan for Mia) with fresh fruit, fresh coffee and proper tea.  It was a veritable feast!  It was a bit of a shame our host did’t join us for breakfast as I’d have loved to chat with her about the house and it’s history. (Tip for budding AirBnB hosts; your guests do not want to chat when it’s late and they have been travelling and are tired.  They do want to chat when they are rested).

We wanted to see some of the town in daylight but we were very aware that we were still three hours from New Orleans (I don’t think we considered just how far it was when we planned) and didn’t want to hang around for too long.  We didn’t get a chance to properly visit any of the antebellum houses but we followed the green city trail for a time and then shifted onto the blue one back to the car.  The walking routes had information routes on the way showing photos of buildings both past and present.  I was particularly intrigued by the Eola Hotel, a grand old building on Main St which looks like it’s been left derelict for quite a few years.  It’s not really ever been my kind of thing but I can fully imagine spending a massive lottery win on buying and renovating it.  The information board talked of the famous guests of the past and mentioned it had reopened in 1982 but the board clearly needs updating.  I was rather taken with it even in it’s sad state.

The drive back to New Orleans was largely uneventful apart from me misjudging a lane and nearly coming a cropper (it would be typical after two weeks without incident!).  I drew the short straw of driving around the narrow streets of the French Quarter.  We left the car with the valet and checked into the Bourbon Orleans hotel.  This is one of the nicest hotels in the area and on the junction of Bourbon and Orleans so right in the thick of the action.  It was a final birthday treat for us both to stay in a “proper” hotel.  As soon as we got in we went back out – we had shopping to do!

As I mentioned back on our first day in New Orleans we both admired the paintings on display around Jackson Square but sadly it seemed many of the artists were only set up there for the festival.  Slightly disappointed we instead took a walk down Royal St, trying to avoid the expensive art shops with works starting at $1000.  We had found a shop selling more reasonable pieces and I think we had both previously admired the work of M Sani which showed black silhouettes of jazz musicians against various colour backgrounds.  I spent quite a while choosing (it was more reasonable but still not a small investment!).  Should I pick the purple which would go better with the colour scheme of my house or the more vibrant red or yellow?  I walked away to think about it, thought about sleeping on it but that wasn’t needed.  In the end I decided co-ordination was far less important than the one that made my heart sing so it was the red and yellow one.

Mia was even more impulsive over her choice of mask after looking at thousands of them.  She also wanted some more Mardi Gras beads and I picked up something slightly silly for my nieces.  Done with purchases it was another flit back to the room to change for the evening.  Although we were at the heart of the French Quarter we wanted to experience the slightly calmer atmosphere of the Marigny district and specifically Frenchman St.  We had dinner in the Marigny Brasserie accompanied by the Good For Nothing Band who played their own material in a jazzy, almost ska-esque style.  The songs were both fun and funny.  Service was a bit poor to start with but the food was damn fine.  I even got dessert – we had noted that the portions had been so huge we never had room for dessert and I was dying for proper American pecan pie.  I’m sure Mia’s brownie was bigger than my steak!

When we left the restaurant there was a brass band outside which we enjoyed, then had a stroll around the little art and craft market there.  We briefly stepped into the Spotted Cat Music Club but we seemed to be making a habit of turning up at places just as a band was finishing (it must have happened 5-6 times over the holiday!). It’s quite hard with all of these hives of music and nightlife because you have so many choices on where to drink and you want to try them all and it’s difficult to make a decision.  Maison eventually got our vote as a band was just about to start.  They were absolutely superb with a totally incredible singer who did amazing renditions of Proud Mary and Shout.  As she moved onto some ballads however I needed to move before I dropped asleep.

We returned to Bourbon St which had quite a different atmosphere on a Monday night.  The music booming from the bars into the street was very much more hip-hop based.  We found our favourite band from the Famous Door at a different venue but, surprise surprise, they were just two songs from the end of their set.  Mia got a photo with a couple of sailors who were in town for Navy Week.  We danced to the hip-hop that followed the band while it was old school but started to lose interest when they played anything from the last 10 years (I am 40 you know?!).  I was done.  It was pizza and bed for me.  Not even karaoke could keep me out.  We got back but Mia wasn’t ready to stop so she nipped back out but returned just 15 minutes later as the karaoke had finished.

Tuesday 24th April

Our holiday was coming to an end.  We did a final pack, getting all of our souvenirs in.  I carefully wrapped my painting in a few layers of clothes and put it in my hand luggage.  We had our breakfast at Café Beignet – we would have also had some beignets but the queue was too long and we had to request our car from the valet and check out.  After our previous airport experiences I was getting a little bit tetchy.  I needn’t have worried.  Dropping the car off was a breeze (although navigating to the nearest gas station to fill up was less so!).  No queues at check in so the bags were dropped and we were very happy when the assistant told us we wouldn’t need to collect them until London!  Easy enough through security and then we found a lovely little wine bar to rest until our flight.

Our transfer was via Chicago.  We had to change terminals and quickly spoke to BA check in to see if we could amend our seats as we hadn’t been able to choose them on check in.  She kept us on the same row but moved us from window / centre to aisle / centre in the hope no-one would choose the single seat.  She also said there was plenty of space on the flight so we felt happy we’d done the best we could to snag a “spare” seat.  We had a very tasty burger and I spent some time diary writing.  Our take-off was slightly delayed departing but we did get that spare seat!  I finished watching Downsizing which I didn’t quite complete on the flight from Miami but generally wanted to try to sleep after food (which we almost got missed out for!).  I dozed rather than slept.

We were obviously due some good karma on our return after our difficult outgoing journey.  Even our bags were more or less the first off the plane!  Once through customs and properly back in Blighty it was time to say our goodbyes.  Mia had a coach to catch and I had to traverse London to Euston for the train.

I feel the need to write a concluding paragraph but it’s hard to sum everything up in a few words.  We had the most incredible time.  We saw places we had dreamed of for years.  Indeed, some of my favourite moments were just sitting in these legendary places, drink in hand, soaking up the atmosphere, smiling to myself and saying, “wow, I’m really here”.  We had crossed 5 states, visited 4 cities and driven 1368 miles (at a cost of less than £50 in fuel!).  We experienced a wealth of food and music.  We didn’t get in any trouble (we didn’t even SEE any trouble), get arrested or get lost.  Most importantly we didn’t fall out.  I had the best time in the best company of one of my oldest friends.  It really was the trip of a lifetime.

Deep South Road Trip #4

Thursday 19th April

After our late night in Nashville we were late to rise and finally checked out at 11am.  Instead of taking the direct route to Memphis we wanted to drive the Natchez Trace Parkway.  This is an ancient track that has been used down the ages for many purposes and was preserved at the beginning of the 20th Century.  The 444 mile road is now maintained by the National Park Service.  It took us a long time to find the beginning of the Trace, using a combination of the SatNav (which we were still struggling with), maps and guidebooks we finally got onto the right road.  The entrance to the Trace itself was well marked and we think we entered right at the beginning (or rather by the mile markers, at the end).

We stopped quite a few times along the Trace for photo opportunities.  First was the Double Arch Bridge which was completed in 1996.  Next we took a detour into Leiper’s Fork which I think we could have spent quite a few hours in if didn’t feel like we had only just left.  There were lots of antique and curio shops and an good looking restaurant but we only really had time for a few photos.  We managed to stay on the road for 17 miles before finding another place we wanted to stop.  Water Valley Overlook was a lovely place for our picnic (well a couple fo sandwiches, some crisps and cookies).  There were then two beautiful waterfalls we stopped at, Jackson Falls and Fall Hollow Waterfall.  The whole journey was idyllic, we practically had every stop to ourselves.  I can imagine at the height of summer it would be really busy.

Just after crossing into Alabama we wanted to look at the Wichahpi Commerative Stone Wall but it had shut 15 minutes before we got there.  It was after 4pm and we were still 2 hours from Memphis so we routed the SatNav directly there and resumed our journey.  We drove down an incredibly boring road just south of the Tennessee border and got into Memphis around 7pm.

The instructions to get into our next Air BnB read a bit like a Crystal Maze puzzle but we made it in.  This one was very smartly decorated with exposed brickwork and in varying shades of grey and silver.  Rather industrial and definitely decorated by a man!  We needed food and Gus’ World Famous Fried Chicken was just around the corner.  This was the most incredible fried chicken I have ever had.  Seriously.  I don’t think I could ever eat KFC again.

Friday 20th April

We had so much on our list to do in Memphis but there were two really important museums to see and we planned to prioritise one each day.  Today we had tickets to Graceland.  A shuttle bus to Elvis’ home went from the Memphis Rock & Soul Museum which was close to our apartment As we waited for the bus a marching band  parade came down nearby Beale St and stopped all the traffic.  We were a bit worried that the parade would mean we would miss our 11:15 slot (although our ticket would still be valid all day) but we didn’t have a problem and were ushered into a small cinema to see a short film profiling Elvis before boarding a bus to cross the road to Graceland itself.

We were furnished with iPads and headphones and entered through the front door.  The tour goes in a specific sequence and it was very busy and crowded.  We started on the ground floor (the tour doesn’t go to the first floor as this was always considered the family’s private space).  The two rooms at the front, the living room and dining room are decorated similarly in white and cream sight he same blue and gold drapes throughout.  The living room also had some beautiful peacock stained-glass windows.  We also saw Elvis’ parents bedroom – Graceland was in part the fulfilment of a promise he made to his parents that he would look after them and buy them a nice place to live.  Elvis’ love for his parents is clear throughout the complex reflected in the two onsite restaurants being called Gladys’ and Vernon’s after them.

Behind the dining room we were led through the kitchen which was fitted out in dark wood.  Our audioguide included input from Elvis’s daughter Lisa-Marie who talked about this being a real hive of activity and that there were always staff making food for someone.  We briefly saw the famous “jungle room” before heading downstairs to the TV room, decorated in blue and yellow and with three TV sets and a bar.  This was attached to a pool room which was quite horribly decorated in a dark but garish pleated material on all of the walls and the ceiling.  The stairs back up had a deep green shagplie carpet on the walls and led us properly back to the ground floor and the jungle room.  It struck me how light and airy the rooms at the front (shown as they would have been when Elvis first decorated the property in the 50s) are but how dark the rooms at the back (representing the décor of the 70s) are.  Maybe a little representative of Elvis’ state of mind?

From the jungle room we went outside to Vernon’s office (Elvis’ dad managed many of his financial affairs).  We saw the paddock – Elvis had a great love of horses – then went to what was once the Trophy Room but now has exhibits items profiling the Presley family history and his wife and child.  Home videos were playing and it showed an idyllic life at Graceland.  Interestingly it very much glossed over his divorce from Priscilla and descent into ill health.  The tour came past the swimming pool (surprisingly small!) and into the Racketball Room.  The audioguide tells a very romanticised version of Elvis’ death – that he came here for a game of racketball, played a couple of songs on is piano here for his friends then went back to the house to rest before a concert that night.

The tour then goes back outside to the graves of Elvis, his parents and paterna grandmother who outlived them all.  The Meditiation Garden was created during Elvis’ lifetime and was a place he came to for peace.  I hope he finally found it.

On the bus back to the complex I reflected on how well the house tour was laid out chronologically  (indeed it’s just occurred to me how you see the 50s décor, then progress to the 70s décor).  We had lunch at Gladys’ Diner – I had to try Elvis’ favourite peanut butter and banana toasted sandwiches!  We then went through the other exhibits of stage costumes, detailing Elvis’ life in the army (he roughed it apparently by staying in a nearby hotel!) and a showroom of his cars, some of which had to be retrieved after they were sold on.  Finally we had 15 minutes to look at his planes before the hourly bus was leaving.  There is one smaller plane but the larger Lisa-Marie was much more impressive and you can walk right through the middle of the plane which is really cool.

The shuttle bus loops round to Sun Studios but we had stayed at Graceland much longer than expected (it was about 3pm) and decided to give it a miss.  Back at the Rock and Soul Museum we walked up a block for our first experience of Beale St.  The sun was shining and the bars were already thronging with people and music.  We dropped into a bar on with a garden and I had a Big Ass Beer which turned out to be a Big Ass Mistake.  I think it was about 2 pints, I’m a bit of a lightweight for beer and I hadn’t eaten much that day!

One absolute “must-do” in Memphis is to see the ducks at the Peabody Hotel.  The ducks are resident and live in their own apartment on one of the upper floors but spend the day in the hotel’s atrium and fountain.  At 11am they are ceremoniously walked from the lift to the fountain, and at 5pm they are ceremoniously walked back again.  As we walked toward the Peabody, Mia was sceptical as to whether this really was a thing.  It was definitely a thing!  The hotel lobby and bar area was packed with many people who had got there earlier and staked their claim to a view from the balcony.  We actually managed to get a place by the lift which meant we could see the ducks just before they disappeared back to their abode.  There was a long announcement about the history of the duck’s residency but it was hard to hear all of the details.  The “parade” itself was brief but we did manage to get some photos and video.

We were trying to find a grocery store so we could pick up some breakfast supplies but it seemed that, like Nashville, stores in town simply don’t exist.  One “convenience store” near the Peabody provided tea but no milk of bread.  Another “market and deli” near our apartment was definitely only deli.  Still, tea and creamer were procured and we headed home to change for the evening.

Back out and back on Beale St I really wanted to take in B.B. King’s Blue Bar.  We eventually got a table - unfortunately it was right next to the organ on the stage meaning we had a rubbish view but it was exceedingly loud.  The bands we saw however were absolutely superb.  We ordered some food but I could already tell the worst thing (for me) had happened – that Big Ass Beer had zapped my appetite!  I had a huge plate of delicious BBQ pulled pork in front of me but I could only pick at it and drink a lot of water to rehydrate.  I was tired but still had the energy to get up and dance a few times (one definite advantage of being sat right by the stage!). We had originally planned to take in a few bars but decided to stay where we were until we wanted to go home.  The lovely waiting staff boxed up my pulled pork so I could enjoy it again later.

Saturday 21st April

When we originally planned this trip I was thinking about the music, the food and the people we would encounter.  It wasn’t until I really started to research that I realised how entrenched the Civil Rights Movement was (and in some ways still is) in this area.  In particular I don’t think I really registered that Martin Luther King Jr was shot in Memphis until the memorials on the 50th anniversary of his death came around at the beginning of the month.  The National Civil Rights Museum is located in the Lorraine Motel where Dr King was assassinated in 1968.  It was an absolutely essential place to visit and just a few minutes walk from our apartment.  We spent absolutely hours in here (and we only actually completed half of the museum.  The first section was actually a temporary exhibit marking the anniversary but even this took us nearly an hour.  It gave lots of background on the politics and history of the Southern States and really helped to give us context, especially as it’s a history we are somewhat unfamiliar with.  It also profiled the owners of the motel at the time, Walter and Loree Bailey and how they had a very successful business as this was one of the few motels that allowed black people.  Many touring musicians at the time used the motel including Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles and Otis Redding.  Loree suffered a stroke just hours after Dr King’s death and died herself five days later.  The motel, having now gained an unwanted notoriety, declined in business and was bought by the Martin Luther King Memorial Foundation following foreclosure in 1982.  The museum opened in 1991.

The permanent exhibition began with the story of how black people were shipped to the newly colonised continent of America by the European settlers and traders, primarily English, Spanish, French and Dutch.  The conditions for these people were appalling and I felt a sense of shame at my country’s part right at the beginning of this story.  This was followed by a short film talking about the struggle for civil rights for black people in the United States.  The museum then continued in a chronology through emancipation, the Civil War, the Jim Crow era and the various court cases and protests which eventually led to a number of laws to force equality between black and white people.  This culminated with Lyndon Johnson pushing through the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act in 1965.

Most interesting were the stories of individuals who were prepared to put their lives on the line to obtain their rights to be treated equally.  Throughout the exhibits, Dr King’s doctrine of peaceful protest reigns, largely through sit-ins and marches.  The galvanisation of students and organisation of the community through church groups was inspiring and you really got a sense that even the most oppressed people can make a huge difference to the world.  There was so much of the whole era that I was not really aware of.

The tour of the main building culminates at rooms 307 and 306 where Dr King and his entourage were staying on that fateful day for the Memphis sanitation workers march.  We could look out onto the balcony where he was shot which is commemorated by a wreath.  The story continues beyond his death to the legacy and the ongoing struggles for African Americans up to the election of Barack Obama in 2008.  It concludes with a film showing three civil and human rights campaigners which was further inspiration for me!

We made some purchases in the gift shop and decided to have some lunch (Greek for a change!) while deciding whether to continue with the museum.  The Legacy Building is in the boarding house where the shot is believed to have been fired from but other than that we didn’t feel that it would add a great deal to the huge amount of information we had already consumed.  We chatted to the waitress of the café who told us how she worked at Graceland when it first opened, including a tale of how the airplanes were transported by road to the complex!  We tried and failed to buy some more bread for breakfast and returned home before setting back out for the evening.

As it was early when we headed back out we took a stroll along the Mississippi.  It’s unbelievably huge!  We got some nice snaps of the bridges and boats then headed back in to Saturday night on Beale St.  Our first thought was to eat at Rendezvous BBQ – recommended by a lot of people but not true BBQ as it is dry rub rather than sauced meat.  The wait was quite long so we grabbed a drink (Beale St is similar to Bourbon on a Saturday, lots of bars selling drinks in plastic cups and most people hanging out in the street).  The police presence is huge but friendly and the atmosphere was electric.  We saw a guy backflip almost all the way down the street and couldn’t resist a purchase of fudge from a delectable smelling sweet shop.  We looked at a few places and decided that we’d had our fill of BBQ and that we really ought to have had some Cajun cuisine – probably should have had it in New Orleans rather than Memphis though!  We saw a restaurant doing a Cajun Platter for two which sounded ideal.  We waited at the “Please Wait Here” sign for ages!  Eventually an American group came in – they weren’t for waiting and spoke to a server who said to just take a table.  We’re just too British!  Service was still a bit lacking but did improve.  The food was ok – we both really enjoyed the fried green tomatoes (neither of us had tried them before) and the crawfish etouffee but the chicken was dry and the gumbo was bland.  However the guitarist was a very enjoyable slice of blues.

Being a Saturday night a lot of the bars were charging for entry.  We would have liked to see the Prince tribute but at $15 it was a bit steep.  We ended up in an Irish bar with two pianists who were again brilliant.  All the musicians in all three cities work for tips and many take requests.  I normally struggle to think of something but I decided on Elton John’s Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting for a $5 tip.  The atmosphere was great for a time but oddly seemed to die off relatively early.  We considered moving on elsewhere but we were also aware that we had to drive the following morning so called it a night.

Sunday 22nd April

We finished our meagre rations of bread for breakfast, packed and moved on again.  It was Sunday and we were going to church!  The Full Gospel Tabernacle just outside of Memphis was founded in 1971 by soul singer Al Green.  We wanted to experience a proper gospel church and when I found out that the Reverend Al Green often presides over the services in his church we had to make the stop.  We arrived in good time and waited sheepishly outside the church with clearly the other tourists.  Eventually one church member arrived and invited us in (in that way that says “why are you out here in the rain?  Just come on in!”).  There was a Sunday School in session and – like most of our fellow tourists – we made our way to the back.  The service started almost on time at 11:30 and the Rev Al Green was listed in the order of service as attending but as time went on it was clear he had decided not to head out in the bad weather and his second in command was taking charge.  Slightly disappointing but the experience was still a joyous one.  The band were loud, tight and kept thrumming throughout the service (we’re sure they dropped Diamonds and Pearls by Prince in at one point!). The solo singers were uplifting but the gospel singing itself wasn’t particularly amazing (no harmonies!).  At the end of the day however this was a church service not a concert and we were bombarded with the word of God, verse after verse fully referenced in a very impressive manner.  The energy was palpable and you could see various members of the congregation getting emotional throughout.  We heard stories of one of their members recovering from three gunshot wounds and another who seemingly had a miraculous recovery from lesions on her brain.  I remain somewhat sceptical.  However the welcome was warm and extended to all of us as brothers and sisters.  It would be easy for this church to tire of tourists but we didn’t get that feeling at all.  Two hours later (it really didn’t feel like that long!) the service was over we filed out.  I asked one lady for directions to the restroom and in response I got many a “glory be to God” and a huge hug!  It was a really lovely moment for me (and yes, she did also show me to the restroom!).

The road beckoned.  We got a little more fuel, found a proper shop and bought some bread rolls.  We would have found somewhere more picturesque to eat but it was lunchtime and we were starving so we filled them with my leftover pulled pork from B.B. Kings (it was almost more delicious this time) and got going to Natchez.  We would have liked to have taken the road to Tupelo and picked up the Natchez Trace Parkway almost where we had left it but time was pushing on so we instead we joined it at Jackson.  The Southern Mississippi end of the Trace is a little rougher around the edges than Tennessee due to the softness of the ground and every time we got out for a photo we were accosted by midges.  We may have missed a big chunk out of the middle but we did complete the stunning and end of the Natchez Trace!

Natchez is a tiny city famous for it’s antebellum (pre-Civil War) homes and buildings.  It has been a geographically and strategically important place since the Native Americans with it’s location on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi.  La Perl was our home for just one night, a beautiful Victorian era home owned by Lorraine who was a wonderful hostess.  She suggested we go down “under the hill” for some food and a good bar.  We had a walk towards the river – we’d missed the sunset but the sky was fiery with red and orange which made for some good photos.  We walked south and eventually found the road down but it looked a bit dark and spooky and I really had a bad feeling about it.  I also didn’t fancy climbing the gradient back from river level to 200m above the river later!

However I did really fancy going to the oldest building in Natchez and some say the oldest bar in Mississippi.  It was gone 8pm on a Sunday night and we were a bit worried they would have stopped serving but the time we got there.  The town was practically silent except for the wind and we hadn’t seen much in the way of bars or restaurants.  However our fears were unfounded and the place was open.  They do proper cocktails, many featuring rum distilled next door in the Charboneau Distillery.  The food is a bit proper too, I had a crawfish pot pie which is up there with my favourite things eaten throughout the holiday.  We stayed until closing time (Sunday night, not much past 10pm).