Hannover - Berlin: 'Real' Hitchhiking

After four days on the road we are now beginning to feel like seasoned hitchhikers - the real deal! However, today was the first time we had to actually stand and wait for a while before getting picked up. It took a littlewhile to get out of Hannover,with complicated U-Bahn (or was it an S-Bahn?), bus and walking manoeuvres finally landing us at a filling station in Garbsen, a town just past the suburbs.

We sat making 'Berlin, Bitte' signs for a few minutes and them bravely went forth to the filling-station exit. Standing there for about half an hour, however, we were disappointed. We were the subjects of many a sympathetic glance, mocking smile and look of outraged horror, but no car actually stopped for us. Getting a bit fed up, we decided to relocate our lift-petitioning to another road. As we crossed the carpark though, we ran into a fellow hitcher, who was going in the opposite direction, but pointed us to a man who was going to Berlin. We press-ganged him in the carpark with a 'möchte sie zwei sehr nette Leute mitbringen?' (would you like to take two very nice people with you?). It seemed to do the trick, and this is how we got to know Harald Bär.

It was a strange coincidence that we met Harald because he too had a Scottish connection - he owned a shop that imported scotch whisky. He was a genuinely nice guy, and very interesting conversation, about topics as diverse as the German unification, travelling the world and the problems of the autobahn. He also drove incredibly fast, and in two hours we were in Berlin.

Since our arrival here we have managed to locate a youth hostel (the inexpensive and very nice Lette'm Sleep) and have been debating the all important question - to Dresden or not to Dresden? Tonight the plan is to check out some of Berlin, and relax a bit.

Amsterdam - Hannover

We managed to hitch off the ferry with an awesome guy called Steve, a seemingly very successful business man who helped to build the Eurostar! He was fantastic company and took us all the way to the central station pretty much. From there we went to a local cafe to check out the accommodation situation and booked a hostel nearby. Walking towards the hostel we took in the sights, the 3 different types of equally deadly traffic and several expensive but enticing bakeries. we checked in to hostel central amsterdam, and found our room at the top of some ridiculously winding and narrow stairs. After settling in, we wandered to the van gough museum, and the outside of the Anne Frank house (we didn't go in though, it was a bit expensive). It seems we picked the wrong time to visit Amsterdam perhaps - all the big buildings (Rijksmuseum, Royal Palace) were being renovated, and were covered with a scaffolding, so the city had an almost half-finished feel. However, it was a nice calm place to start our trip through mainland Europe, and there was definitely a good 'vibe'.

On Monday (almost today) we hitched from Amsterdam to Hannover, leaving around midday and arriving near midnight. The traffic was absolutely awful at first, but our driver was great entertainment! Sven from Wiedersbrück. He even bought us some food in Enschede, the best fried chicken I think we have ever had! Possibly heightened by our heavy sandwich diet during the rest of the day. We reached Hannover by midnight and Jalpan (who we met through a website called 'couchsurfing.com' where members can arrange to stay with each other when travelling) met us at the station, and took us back to his cool flat, near the town centre. We had some time to get to know each other a bit and talk about Hannover, and now we're just about to go to bed.

Tomorrow, Berlin!

Thanks Sven and thanks Jalpan!

On the Road!

We're off! Vicky and I started our journey to Prague this morning from Edinburgh, and we have now reached Newcastle. It has gone smoothly and very quickly, thanks mainly to a handy lift from Vicky's dad, who was heading in this direction (note: this is not cheating - we stuck our thumbs out). We are due to catch the ferry from the North Shields of Newcastle to Amsterdam at 5pm today. Until then are going to be loading up on sandwiches at Tesco (ferry food is a little expensive for us) and taking in our last few hours in Britain.

Just to recap our purpose and our mission in doing this hitchhike: We are trying to get to Prague entirely by hitchhiking, stopping in Amsterdam, Berlin and Dresden on the way. Our flights back are booked for the 5th of April, so if we don't make it by then we are doomed... However, previous hitchers who have taken this route estimate it should only take about four days, and we have left plenty of time. We are hitching to raise money by sponsorship for the charity Link Community Development (www.lcdinternational.org), a great organisation that works to promote education and communities in sub-saharan Africa. However, if you have heard from me at all in the last few months, you may well already know this! It's not too late to donate - if you haven't already and you want to, go to www.justgiving.com/PeterAndVickyOnTheRoad

We're off to the ferry now - more later!