Adventures in the marvellous Mini of doom!

Dave Smart

Mini at an old border crossing
Mini at an old border crossing

Part five:
And so to the East…

I set off from Osnabruck at about 11, with the GPS set to ‘avoid highways’ and had a lovely morning travelling the A roads, culminating in an enjoyable frickadellan and strawberry tart for lunch.

I found from the locals, that the old East/West border was to be found at a town called Harbke, so I headed for there, where I found an interesting border museum. Having spent more time than anticipated there, I set off for Berlin on the motorway, now my faith in the German people was restored, as the reception the Mini received as we approached Berlin Improved dramatically. In particular, the family in a Polish registered Jeep took great delight in smiling, waving and taking pictures of the Mini for a couple of miles before disappearing.

I made the mistake of popping into Potsdam, as it was a name that stuck in my head for some reason, bit of a mistake, the town was nothing remarkable, that I could see, and I got stuck in a nasty traffic jam.

Once in Berlin, I headed for the Brandenburg gate and then the Fernsehturm, a large iconic TV transmitter, where I managed to park illegally for a couple of minutes in the coned off roadwork area, for a couple of piccies. On my way to the Fernsehturm, my GPS said there was a Tourist Information office close bye, so I parked and looked for it. A couple of girls from Belgium took a shine to the Mini and after duly signing it we chatted and they explained to me that they were hitch hiking around Europe and ‘sofa surfing’ a concept I think I’m going to have to explore to minimise costs on this trip.

Eventually I found a hostel for €40 per night including parking. The room is large and spacious and only really a small step down from a hotel in that the flooring is linoleum. Stupidly after having a rather wonderful, and very welcome, shower, I lay down on the bed and promptly fell asleep, putting paid to any sightseeing.

Keith Adams

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