Washing Day!!!

We've had a great time here.  Sachsenring is a great track and beautiful countryside.  Our hotel is in a gorgeous setting. The race yesterday was sooooo cruel. The weather was perfect, we had just had a big feed and settled back to watch with anticipation.  It was so exciting and then boom - all over.  Casey crashed on the last lap.  Oh the pain :(  We went back into hospitality and put up with the crazy Scots for a while and then I decided to go the Start/Finish Line to experience the whole start grid and cameras and umbrella girl hoopla for the next race.  The weather had become overcast and while I was watching them set up on the grid it started to spit a little bit.  Everyone was scrambling for their umbrellas and raincoats and ponchos and I thought "woosies, it's only spitting a bit"  Well.....the skies opened and and within seconds I was drenched.  By the time I ran back to hospitality I looked like I had taken a shower with my clothes on!  It was incredible.  There was thunder and lightning and the wind whipped up ferociously.  Within half an hour everything was good again so I could stand in the sun and dry out.  I did end up watching the start of the next race from the grid.  We headed off early from the track with a few beer stops along the way, but before we got to the gate the boys discovered that the tokens they had been collecting all weekend meant FREE BEERS.  So they had to take advantage of that!  It was good because by the time they had consumed their tokens, the track opened and we got to walk on it!  Steve and Pete decided to have a wrestle in the car on the way home while I'm driving, so luckily the roads are good and my ability to zone out is better.

I'm excited about today because we get to do the washing!! Sad isn't it but even Steve admits he is looking forward to doing his too.  Then Pete and I will catch a train to Salzburg, via Nurnberg and Munich.  If we catch the 12.56 train we should be there by 9.20pm.  Steve will head back with the car to amsterdam.  He may stop again at the Nurburg Ring and do a few more laps but he is undecided as yet.
Talk to you again from Austria. xx

Sachsenring

Sorry for the break in transmission.......we've had internet issues.  First of all.. Happy Birthday Jos!
Sachsenring has been amazing, the track is huge and the bikes are really close.  The track is hilly, the VIP facilities are sooooo good and the Germans are a crazy bunch!  (in a good way)  We can't speak the language but we have so many new BFF's.  We are sharing a table with some crazy Scots we met in Assen and our table is strewn with Scottish and Australian flags.  Casey poled first!  We had a bet before qualifying and I picked 1. Stoner 2. Lorenzo and 3. Spies.  Did I get laughed at!  At the beginning of qualifying, the Scots kept saying ha ha - where's Spies?  Anyway needless to say, even though Lorenzo didn't get 2nd, I won!!!  The racing for the day finished at 5, the corporate facilities finished at 6 and we left the track at 10.  We went to a Ducati Party (in the track).  It took us a long time to get there because parties had to be had along the way!  We had two Bavarian guys in their leather pants doing their pants slapping dance for us.  They wanted one of our flags so they had to work for it.  Another bunch ended up buying Schnapps we spent about an hour with them and the conversation went like this -  Casey Stoner - Yeah (drinks)  Mick Doohan - Yeah (drinks) Valentino Rossi - Yeah (drinks) ,,,and so on.  You had to be there.  The whole place was thumping with live bands, entertainment, fire works, and everyone was well behaved and happy and we saw no trouble.  It made Assen look a bit tame.  Anyway, we eventually got home.  I love my boys.

Friday was a scorching hot day.  We walked around the track which took us up and down and at places we were so close to the bikes.  Then it belted down with rain and we got drenched but luckily it wasn't cold.  We ended up buying umbrellas it was that bad.  We needed the umbrellas again for qualifying yesterday.  We sat in the stand for most of it until we were completely drenched and then headed inside to the VIP to watch the rest in comfort (it's a hard life). The day fined up again and it stayed good for the rest of the day.

I started typing this is 6am because we actually had internet access so now Its time for a shower and breakfast and head back to the track.  GO CASEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chemnitz

We took two comfortable trains to get here and it took just under three hours.  We caught a taxi from the station and got a great guy who tried his hardest to speak English.  Anyway once he found out we were here for the MotoGP he got onto his iPad (while driving) and showed us pictures of Lorenzos crash and then said he was into Go-Karts and showed us footage of Go-Karts going around Sachsenring and a picture he had cut out of him in a Go-Kart which was in the newspaper.  He was great.  We got out of the taxi and Steve yelled to us from his room.  He had arrived 10 minutes earlier after doing two laps of nurnberg racetrack on the way - one in the hire car and one in a race car.  He loved it!
This place is great - it's a castle and after a drink with Steve, we unpacked and then Peter and I got a push bike and went for a ride around the golf course and up into the forest.  It's beautiful but then the skies opened and we rode back getting soaked but it's not cold so all is good.   YOU SHOULD HEAR THE THUNDER!!  Scared the bejeebers out of me!

Just finished an awesome meal and some red wine with Steve and we are ready for bed.  Up early tomorrow to go to the track!!

PS: Ignore the times on the blog - I don't know why it says that date and time but as I type this it is 8.40pm on Thursday night (5.07.2012) here and it is 4.11am in Adelaide (6.07.2012)
Also: if you buy a pizza in Amseterdam - they don't cut it!

Sachsenhausen

Headed off on the Underground this morning to join a walking tour to Sachsenhausen - Berlins Concentration Camp.  We met the group and then took a 45 minute train trip to Oranienburg and a three kilometre walk to the Camp.  It was really hot today but there was plenty of shade along the way.  It's a beautiful little town with lots of old houses with flowers in window boxes.  The Camp was very confronting with things like torture instruments, ovens, gas chambers and a Pathology building which was the most confronting.
Before the tour we walked through the Tiergarten in Berlin which is a beautiful place and we wished we had bikes to ride because you can go for miles through beautiful gardens with many statues and memorials.  There is a lovely smell of blossom all through Berlin.  They have cleared all the barriers around the Brandenburg Gate so we got to walk under and around it.
In the stations are many huge pictures and stories about Berlin and all its growth over the centuries and they show pictures of the devastation of the place after the wars.   Berlin was 80% damaged after the 2nd World War so there are many areas which are new and modern - most development took place after the Wall came down in 1990. 
After the Camp tour we walked back into Orianenburg and caught the train  back to Berlin, then had a lovely meal and caught the underground back to our Hotel. 
It has been a fascinating few days here.
Now for a complete change of pace - Racing!!  We head off tomorrow to chemnitz where we will meet up with Steve again for the German GP.
In the words of Ellen - "be kind to one another"
Luv yas

The Third Reich

What a great day.  We set off on the Hop on Hop Off bus and got off at the Siegessaule (The Victory Column)  We looked at the displays on the ground level of the tower then climbed a spiral staircase all the way to the top.  The view was amazing.  Apparently the original spot for the Column was in another part of Berlin but during the time of the Third Reich and their plans to make a different city, it was moved and made taller.  This happened in 1938-39.
After that, we made our way back in the direction of the Brandenburg Gate where we did a Third Reich walking tour.  The tour leader was a great guy called Sam.  He was so knowledgable and had a passion for history and his tour was really interesting.  It was a three and a half hour tour which turned into 5 hours because everyone was so interested and wanted to keep knowing more.  We saw the Former SS and Gestapo Headquarters, Goebbel's Propaganda Ministry, stood on the site of Hitlers Chancellery and bunkers, it is just a car park now and will never be recognised because the Germans didn't want to put anything on the spot incase it become a shrine. The bunkers are still underground and they have tried to remove them but they were built so well and are so thick they can't be moved and cant be built on because the walls are so thick and inpenetrable that they cant put foundations down for another building.  We also saw the Lufthansa building, and caught a train to the Jewish Quarter and saw the Synagouge and Cemetry. It has made us want to visit even more sights in Berlin but time is running out!  After the tour we caught the train back to our place (after taking the wrong train at first and going the wrong way) While at the station we checked out the next leg of our trip to Chemnitz and had crepes for tea.  I love Berlin!

Happy Birthday, Catherine xx

Berlin

The train ride to Berlin was fantastic!  We had a whole six seater room to ourselves for the whole trip and it was so comfortable.  We had a good meal on the train and it was daylight the whole way so we could see the beautiful countryside.  As soon as we left Amsterdam, the English speaking commentary stopped but luckily we had a timetable so we could work out where we were.  The trip took 6 ½ hours but it went quickly.  We got to Berlin and it was still light (9.30pm) and our hotel is within walking distance of the railway station.  The Station is huge.  It covers three or four storeys and trains run on every floor!  We had an early breakfast this morning, did some washing and got on the Hop On Hop Off bus to explore and get our bearings.  This is an amazing City with lots to see.  We got off at Checkpoint Charlie and walked along the street reading all about the history of the struggles which lead to the building and then the tearing down of the wall.  Had our photo taken at Checkpoint Charlie and spent about 4 hours in the Jewish Museum.  We came out of the Museum and amazingly, the bus arrived so we got straight on – really feeling lucky because we were hanging out to sit down and enjoy the ride back to our hotel.  Well…..we went a few stops and the bus driver said OK everyone off, it’s six o’clock and the bus is finished!!!  We thought it was hilarious because the bus took us further than if we decided to walk back!  Anyway we had had about 10 minutes to sit down so we were recharged and headed back to the Hotel passing the Brandenburg Gate on the way.  It was cordoned off because they had a soccer event the night before but we got to see it anyway.  Everything here is beautiful and the buildings are amazing but it’s hard to find signs in English so we were walking past amazing sights not knowing what they are.  We will get on the bus again tomorrow (it has an English commentary) and continue where we left off.  I don’t think four days will be enough but we’ll give it a fair crack.  The weather has been great but as I’m typing this it has started to rain.  Let’s hope tomorrows weather is good.

                                    

                                      

   



Win to Casey Stoner!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a fantastic day!  The weather was great the races were exciting, Lorenzo and Bautista crashed on the first corner - right in front of us with Lorenzos bike in flames and they almost had fistycuffs!  What more could you want?  Although it would have been good to see Lorenzo and Stoner have a good race and I'm sure Stoner wouldn't want to win that way but - a wins a win and did the Aussies go crazy!!  We decorated the Strubben with Aussie flags and everyone wanted photos.  One American guy fell asleep on the lounges so his friends draped him in the flags and took photos.  We have met many Nationalities, as well as more Aussies and some of them are going on to Germany so we will catch up again.  Although they all got pretty hammered by my boys ordering them more drinks so they may well avoid us.  Fair to say they had a good time at the time but may feel differently in the morning.  Drinks started at 8.00am and we were the last to leave at 7.00pm (because they closed the bar)  It took another half an hour to get to the car because everyone wanted to hug and take stupid photos and then all the way back to the hotel the flags flew out of the windows and the horn stayed on.  We got lots of cheers.  It was exactly like Phillip Island - only without Matty :(

It's been a great experience and we have a whole lot of new phone numbers for different countries all around the world where we are welcome to stay.  It's funny being the only sober person in a sea of drunks!

Tomorrow we head back to Amsterdam to drop Steve and Mike off and then Peter and I will catch the train to Berlin and stay for a few days before meeting Steve for the German GP where we can do it all again.

The pictures are of Lorenzos crash, Lorenzo being taken back to his garage, the usual Love-in and Peter as he is now as I type this.