The Railway Children

As the train chugged into the camp, I didn't know what to expect. Our train was crammed from wall to wall. Men, women and their children stuffed into the big wagon that held us all captive. Only a little gap in the train door allowed us to breathe. I'll never forget looking round as best I could and seeing grown men who didn't look capable of crying, sobbing.

The train came to a halt.

Then the big bulky wooden doors slid open giving a screach similar to the sreams I had to take in on the 2 hour journey from Krakow.

Guards stood big and looking proud of themselves. Standing in their fancy green suits, guns by their side, they marched us out of the train like we were cows at a cattle market.

"All women and children on the left, all men on the right!" barked a young soldier who could only be in his late teens.

So after a minute of separating from loved ones and friends, we were split up.

"You will approach the doctor one at a time, he will point for you to go left or right. You go to the side he tells you! Those who are told to go to the left will be escorted for a nice hot shower. Those on the right will be taken to your new home. Is this understood?!"

A few nods signalled we understood. I looked behind to see a long queue that must have stretched for at least 800 meters, full of confused and sad individuals.

One hour had passed and I was approaching the front of the queue.

"I hope I get put to the left for a nice shower after that train ride," I whispered to myself

"NEXT!" the doctor ordered.

I stumbled forward. He paused. Then after a couple of seconds of eyeing me up and down he told me to go to the right.

Disappointed I sighed and walked to the right, where a tall skinny man took me and a few others to our new home. I was shocked at what I seen.

Expecting comfortable heated rooms, I was taken back by our 'new home' we were to stay in. Worse than the slums we had been in previously. I gazed out of the window, looking to the other side of camp where I seen buildings where the others who were told to go to the left headed for. They had big chimneys with a thick black smoke waving out.

They must be the lucky ones, getting heated rooms. I wish I had gone that way...

We arrived in Krakow early - around 8 am I think. After a fairly relaxing 12 hours, in the small, tight but comfortable cabin I was being held in along with John and the four other German fella's heading to 'the Polish Prague', I left the train in a stinker of a mood. Smellier than the Brazilian's feet from Berlin. Well maybe not that smelly as I probably would have commited murder if I had have been in a mood that bad. I don't know what it was, but I was just irritable and crankier than a dog on heat not getting any action - a bit like Jodie Marsh. I had a terrible pain in the side of my right foot aswell. It felt bruised, yet strained. And when you add a couple of stone to it, in the form of a backpack holding your essentials in, it doesn't take too kindly to that.

So there I am, hobbling along like a man with two wooden legs on ice just wanting to get into our digs. John was navigating and about 10 minutes into the walk I heard the words I really didn't want to hear: `We should have turned off a few minutes back.'

So with the frustration inside me bubbling like a witch's broth, I bit my tongue and followed John, limping like my feet were made of stone. Eventually another 10 minutes down the line, we arrived at 'Nathan's Villa Hostel'.

'I can't wait to lie down.' I thought to myself. So after going through the regular documents to check in, we were told our rooms wouldn't be ready for another couple of hours.

My heart pounded faster than a rabbit's getting chased by a fox preying on its next meal. The anger inside me rose faster than the tail of dog recieving a rare treat. But again I kept my cool, and left my baggage in a holding room, and went for a bite to eat.

So after exploring the old town and munching on a Chinese chicken noodle dish, we returned to the hostel to the well recieved news that our room was ready. After taking our luggage to our room, I was very pleased with what I seen.

A colourful, comfy, clean room. By this time after finding out the hostel had a bar I just wanted to go and sip on a ice cold beer.

So down we went planning on just having the one, when we were approached by a Australian girl - Sarah. 'You guys wanna play Taboo?' she said in an accent reminiscent of 'Home & Away' or 'Neighbours'. So we agreed, and me being me, the competitive Kevin Howourth came out. The 'I need to win' Kevin Howourth. And we did. I was the Cristiano Ronaldo of my team. The Alan Shearer. Getting the goals - or points in this respect. So there we were again. Two geordie's mixing with a gang of Australian's who were teaching English in Poland. Magic.

And one drink turned into two, which turned into three, which turned into about 7067! It got to the point where I was downing pints of the local beer through a funnel. The french crowd next to us chanting a French tune everytime I downed a pint, so I was a little bit drunk to say the least. This ahead of an early start the next day where we were travelling to Auschwitz on an hour long bus journey. I could just hear the words of what my mam would say ringing in my ear: "You'll be the one who suffers tomorrow, Kevin!"

"I'll be alright man!"

The second day was a much more eventful and happier day to say the least. We visited the Reichstag - which is the German parliament -

and the Berlin TV Tower -

These buildings illustrated the sheer power of Berlin. On returning back to our hostel after a busy day of seeing the wonderful sights of the German capital, we arrived to the greatest news possible - the smelly Brazilians and scary Arabic man had checked out. YYYYEEEEESSSSSS!

It also seemed that Ching, seemed to come out of her shell aswell, meaning she could no longer be labelled the timid Thai. She was anything but. From absolutely nowhere, she exclaimed "You want sausage?!"

"I beg your pardon! I'll let you know I have a girlfriend, a very pretty one at that, and if you are indeed a ladyboy from Thaiwan, i ask that you don't flaunt it about!" I screamed in anger.

Well, that would have been the dramatic response but instead I just laughed hysterically. And Ching or Brenda as we then found out she liked to be known, pulled out a jar of German sausages. She didn't understand why it was funny, but it would have been pointless explaining.

Later on we were then joined by 2 Canadians - Josh and Mark, and a Chinese/South African girl called Katherine. It was a funny night - the two Canadian's provided us with a few witty stories as we did them, and Katherine who was fluent in 6 languages also joined in with the jokes as did Brenda as best she could.

Two Geordie's mixing with four people from different corners of the world - marvellous!

The next morning we awoke early, about 7am local time, and after a nice shower and a bit of grub, we said our goodbye's and headed into Berlin for the last time.

After locking up our bags at one of the many Berlin train stations, we headed for my personal highlight of the trip - the Berlin Wall. Something inside me was moved. So much that I wrote my name on it! And my mam's. And my dad's. And Tracey's!

After visiting there we took one more look at the Reichstag and set off to the train station for our overnight train to Krakow, Poland.

Ratings out of 10 for Berlin? 11!

As we pulled into Berlin, I was astounded by the sights I was seeing. I was under the impression it would just be like your average city, yet it isn't that at all. I've been all over the world, but Berlin takes some beating.

Tall colourful buildings. Trams, trains and cars buzzing past you like a demented wasp, just continuously flying in every direction without rest. And the people lively and chirpy, making the atmosphere something special.

Not only is the German capital a modern classy city, but a place enriched with history. Whether it is the Berlin wall or the Reichstag you want to see, believe me, you won't be disappointed.

The first night was a quiet affair. After working out the fairly simple but busy train system (or 'S' system to the locals), we travelled to Worschester Street, where we then took a ten minute walk to our temporary home 'The All In Hostel.'

It was pretty basic for the 12 Euro's each we paid for the 2 nights stay, but it served the purpose of what we required; a bed to sleep in!

On arriving to our room, we were pleasantly surprised by our boudoir's decor. The owner had obviously made a trip to Ikea and not just gone to the nearest second hand shop like a lot of hostel owners seem to do.

So after unpacking our bags, choosing - or fighting over our beds, and making up our beds (which consisted of rolling a sleeping bag out) we thought we'd struck lucky; then the four Brazilians came in.

Nice enough chaps. They greeted us in the usual fashion and asked the mandatory questions.

"Where you from then?" one of the Brazilian's enquired.

"Oh I'm from England, you?" I said, having my first encounter with a fellow traveller.

"Brazil. Where about in England?"

"Newcastle..."

"Is that near London?"

"No, Newcastle is in the north."

"Aaahhhh Scottish?"

"No..... Newcastle is in England."

An easy mistake to make I suppose. And now you're probably thinking well Kevin you're being a little harsh aren't you? Well that isn't the reason I found my stay with the Brazilian's a little uncomfortable.

It is after them taking there shoes off. Never in all my life have I physically felt so sick at a smell. I mean when a room is hot, and you add an odour like that to it, you're only asking for trouble.

Luckily they left the room shortly after letting there feet seemingly ruin my introduction to 'The All In Hostel'.

Me and John then went our for a bite to eat. A classy but cheap (if there is such a thing) Chinese restaurant was our next destination. And after munching on a very nice Chicken Noodle dish and washing it down with a couple of beers we returned to our digs.

After checking air levels in our room - it was clear. Then a timid Thai girl, Ching came in. She pottered about the room looking nervous. Tiptoeing fleetly around the room. Then I realised she was sleeping on the bunk above me. I joked to myself "Tracey won't be very happy when I tell her I have a Thai girl sleeping on top of me...."

I took out my I-Pod when me, John and Ching were settled and dosed....and dosed.....and dosed....... When all of a sudden I get a shove on the shoulder. On opening my eyes I nearly soiled my kegs. It was a middle aged Arabic man staring into my eyes.

"This bed free?" he pronounced.

"Well obviously not if I'm lying on it, now get out of my face, I'm listening to some tunes!" I wish I could have had the courage to say that, but instead I did an Alan Howourth:

"No mate sorry, however them two beds over there are free."

"Thankyou."

And with that, with no luggage, no clothes, no bed sheets, no nothing, he climbed into the hostels tacky covers, turned over and went to sleep.

Then that's when my brain went into overdrive. "He's obviously not from round here so why doesn't he have any belongings with him? Weird!"

So then again I dosed......and dosed.....and dosed.... Barry White belting out into my ears.... dosed....dosed....dose....dos....do.....d..... And then a smell travelled to my nostrils, fit for only a tramp sleeping in a field full of manure. Those bloody Brazilians are back!

"Good Morning Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to Amsterdam." The words I'd longed for all night. 12 hours of hearing the young baby next door sob its little heart out, and the sweltering hot cabin we were in, which kept me up all night. It was over. For three weeks anyway.

Me and John went out onto deck, and gazed at the coast of Holland. Once departing the ferry, I raced away from John in excitement. As far as I was concerned, the trip had just begun.

After boarding our coach that would take us to the heart of Amsterdam, me and John looked at eachother, and then came the cheesy handshake.

After a comfortable 40 minutes on the coach, listening to a few classic tunes on the local radio station, playing hits such as 'Heaven is a Place on Earth' (my dad would have loved this bus journey) we arrived in the vocal point of Amsterdam. It was rich with bicycles, trams, buses, cars and pedestrians.

We headed across the main road to the Amsterdam Central, and into the service centre to get details on when and where to catch our train.

After arriving at platform 14B we were approached by a tall bald man. He reminded me of Uncle Fester from the Adams family. He came with the news that our train had been cancelled. Great.

So back we went to the service station, where we were assisted by a man who looked like the guy who has played Spiderman, I forget his name now. He took it upon himself to sort our little predicament out. There wasn't a form of technology he didn't use. Mobile phones, telephones, the internet and walkie talkies were just some of the contraptions he used to solve our problem out. He came back with a new train, time, platform and where and when to connect at our connecting stop Hilsveum.

From there everything went as smooth as the froth on a Costa cappucino. We were soon to be arriving in Berlin.