Amsterdam to Berlin

Here's what you could have won.

About twenty years ago, when I was working at JPMorgan, there was a self-help book doing the rounds called 'Who Moved My Cheese?'. In précis, there are some mice who go to the same place every day and collect their cheese. But one day it's gone!

The book is to do with how the various mice cope, and the lesson to take away is that the mice who do best are the ones who accept the change and go looking for a new source of cheese.

It's not a great book, and, frankly, it could have been a pamphlet. And it didn't do much for me because - by nature or nurture - change is something that I have always been good at accepting and dealing with.

However, that characteristic has been put severely to the test by Brexit, and never more so than when I am in the EU. Here's what you could have won.

And the difference between the EU and post-Brexit Britain, as well as the after-effects of the Tories' ideological missions more generally, is perfectly illustrated by the trains.

Today we took the train from Amsterdam to Berlin, and it was marvellous in every respect. I think I could happily spend weeks travelling around Europe by train, accompanied by the Minx and a few good books.

The journey today took about six hours and I enjoyed every minute of it. We arrived in Berlin early evening and took a train to Savignyplatz, followed by a short walk to where we were staying. Today's Blip is of the control panel for the wonderful old elevator lift in the building.

And after that, we went out to revisit Schwarzes Café, a haunt of David Bowie and Iggy Pop's when they lived in Berlin*, for a couple of drinks and a bite to eat. It was a perfect finish to the day. I really think I could live here. (You know, once I've got all the paperwork that would have been entirely unnecessary a few years ago.)

*Allegedly. The Schwarzes Café sign says 'Since 1978' (see Extra), and although Bowie lived in Berlin from 1976 to 1979, I'm not sure that Pop was there for that long.