Thursday morning kicked off a quick stop at a remainder of the Berlin wall = known as the East Gallery. We then took a quick drive around the city and = got stopped by the border police who wanted to check the bus and drivers’ = papers. Their vehicle had the word Zoll printed on.

This morning we are on the way to Hamburg. I plan to have a very big beer = to celebrate!

We arrived in St. Goar late yesterday afternoon. They are famous for their = beer steins and Steiff teddy bears (which are insanely expensive). They are = on the bank of the beautiful Rhine river which we drove along. At the end of dinner we were surprised with birthday cake. It was a = combined.

When we arrived in Lucerne on Sunday our tour manager, Kirsten, annouced = some terrible news. The wind was too strong on Mt. Pilatus and the cable = cars had been stopped so we would no longer be spending New Years Eve on = the mountain 🙁 We went to see the Lion monument. It’s.

First stop after leaving Munich on Sunday was Vaduz. Lichtenstein is one of = the smallest countries in the world. They fall under the protection of = Switzerland. =20 We tried to get our passports stamped (you can get it done for 2=E2=82=AC), = but we could not find a place that was open 🙁.

After check-in and dinner it was into town for a walkabout and beer. The = others did not feel like going out so I hooked up with some crazy Aussies: = Virginia (Regie), Robin, Anna and Sandy. There was also Lindsy from = Canada. Lindsy and I did some window shopping while the others headed.

Best wishes for the new year!

We just passed Monsee the town where the bulk of the sound of music was = filmed. Definatly not a highlight on my itenary, but it seemed to be a big = deal for some. I am now being subjected to the soundtrack aaargh. Also we just ate Motzarts balls (a chocolate marzipan thingy). Tasty.

They showed us a documentary about the camp and then we could walk through = it. The barracks had verry little furniture other than the bunk beds. We = walked through the gas chamber and the crematorium. It was all rather = eerie, especially with the morning mist still hanging over = everything. I’ve seen.

After checking into our hotel on Thursday we walked over to the shopping = centre. It makes Canal Walk look like a 7/11. We only shopped at the Spar = (which was huge). We bought some odds and ends and of course loads of = chocolate (yum). Lindt slabs are R15! I also got my.