Sunday 5 February: A day trip out to Potsdam. We spend a couple of hours walking in the Sanssouci Park, from the Palace to the Orangerie to the Drachenhaus (Dragon House) - and all the way back.	An interesting tree outside the Palace.
Organic barbed wire made of twigs.	As we head back from the Drachenhaus, the setting sun casts a beautiful light on the trees.
Now we're ready for some drinks! My friend (and Mac/Linux/internet security/coffee guru) Tillmann comes to pick us up and takes us on a quick inner city trip: first a couple of drinks; a walk through the Dutsch Quarter, looking at pretty houses; then a dinner; followed by a drive over the Glienicke Bridge between Potsdam and West Berlin - where they used to exchange spies during the Cold War days, before he drop us off at Berlin-Wannsee station.
My lasagne with cabbage - more vegetable than the pasta, very light and delicious.	A round object found in the snow by the Glienicke Bridge, on the Berlin side.
Friday 10 February: After further drinking, eating and head-banging in Berlin & Kiel, Alyson flies back to Manchester on Wednesday; and Akiko & UsaKousa catch the train to Dortmund for another weekend of similar activities... Right: pre-concert supper in the Steigenberger Hotel bar: Mango & Buttermilk soup with shrimps. A strange combination, but it's light and refreshing.	(© M. Graham)
Saturday 11 February: A curious fruit holder in our room at le Meridien in Stuttgart. (© M. Graham)	Backstage after the Deep Purple show: Gerrit, Margaret and Akiko go silly. UsaKousa are silently saying "bloody kids!!!" (© D. Flemming)
Sunday 12 February: Drive in convoy to Erfurt. We plan to stop halfway for lunch, but then realise the recently opened Autobahn to Erfurt doesn't have any facilities - no service stations, no toilets, our navigation system can't find any signal either! So we go off into a little village in search of our lunch...
This is what we find: the Golden Duck. (© M. Graham)	And inside, waiting for our food.
After the meal, the girl in the blue dress in the photos on the wall (above right), several decades later, comes to talk to us at our table. We then realise that everyone in our party is of a different nationaly (from L to R in the photo: David from Luxembourg, Blanka from Czech Republic, Margaret from Scotland, Gerrit from Bavaria, Statthis from Greece, and me from Japan)!!
We sign the guestbook before we leave the restaurant - in our own languages! (© M. Graham)	Much later on: late night snack at the hotel bar - UsaKousa are eating some nuts. (© D. Flemming)
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