And there're off!

It's currently 7pm EDST and we are flying over Western Australia.  The lights have dimmed, people are readying for sleep, except for the few walking the isles or readings under their night light.  So here I sit tapping away at the plastic keyboard of the laptop, writing the first entry to the next chapter of our blog, listening to the mellow and haunting sounds of Perfume Genius.

So you know we are headed to Europe, but many may not know where in Europe we are going... First stop is Berlin!  Then Dresden, Prague, Vienna, Munich, Nuremberg, Saltsburg, Cologne, Brussels, Paris for Christmas and finally, London for NYE!  There may be a few day trips to places like Bruges, Bon or Dusseldorf, but we'll see how we're going before setting those in stone.

Due to the horrid "man flu" chest infection I've had since Thursday last week, it's been really hard to even get excited about the trip.  Even on the plane now I'm still not well. :(  But I'm positive that's all going to change once I land in Berlin.

I'm really looking forward to Berlin; it's a city I love (more than I did New York, sorry David), the history, culture, art, photography, people, nightlife and the food & mulled wine.  I never really get excited at Christmas, for me in Australia it's just another day (except it’s my mother's birthday. You just lost brownie points with her. - WOOKEY), but in Berlin it's a social celebration involving friends, family and strangers. There are night markets and food & wine stalls where people will crowd around a heater in the very cold night air and chat with each other, be they stranger or friend.

My second reason for looking forward to Berlin this time is that my spiritual brother and best friend, Raz has flown out from Sydney to join us and spend the week in Berlin with us in celebration of my 40th year on the earth. :)

Anyway it's time for some sleep, if I can... I have discovered that flying into Dubai instead of Singapore is rather inconvenient for people to try and adjust their sleeping pattern to the destination country.  Oh well, that's what drugs are for I guess!

By the time I post this online I will already be in Berlin (or maybe the London airport lounge), so the adventure is just beginning!

"Let the mind be enlarged to the grandeur of the mysteries, and not the mysteries contracted to the narrowness of the mind."
- Francis Bacon