Don't have a Vegemite cocktail

The hotel is not too bad at all. It is not really 5 star and Cate took some convincing that it was in fact in Berlin when she looked out the window – because it looks over the Tiergarten and there is nothing much to see except trees.

But Berlin is exceptionally beautiful. After the dual catastrophes of the war and Communism in East Berlin - Berlin has become a magnificent city of majestic avenues and buildings and parks and architecture that is a wonder to behold. It is the kind of city that Hitler envisaged – but achieved in a different sort of way. Albert Speer would have loved it.

Amazingly – some monuments and buildings were left un-pulverized. Nothing was left undamaged but some things escaped total pulverization – which is miraculous.

Simply because the bombing was so imprecise that a bomb aimed at a target was unlikely to land within a kilometer of it and could land up to 10 kilometers away. You would be surprised how many cows died.

So – given the number of bombs that were dropped on Berlin – I did not expect to find much at all – and was delighted to find some things – such as the Berliner Dom – beautifully restored – and the Siegessaule in the Tiergarten – which is untouched.

That these survived both the bombing and the stampede of the Russians into Berlin is nothing short of amazing and makes you realize that the Fuckup Fairy takes no sides and is apt to doze unexpectedly at any moment.

Anyway we have walked for bloody miles and seen many splendid things. We went to the Pergamon museum where they keep the things they stole from the Turks or the Babylonians or whoever. This is why there is no point in going to any of those countries. There is nothing there. It is all in European museums.

This afternoon we had a cocktail called a Nolet Julep. It is a Mint Julep with Licorice. It was Fucking Awful. It tasted like a Vegemite cocktail. It was Cate’s choice. She regrets her error.