Birthday Breaks

This bear charges!

It's normal practice in March for both Mr Howle and I to have a birthday.  Being traditionalists, they tend to be on the same day each year. Mine's on the 8th (note that for future toadying purposes all you followers!) and his is three days later on the 11th. This year, that meant they straddled a weekend, mine being on the Friday and his being the following Monday.

Rich's treat on his birthday evening was a trip to see a preview of "The Book of Mormon",  and the good thing about his birthday treat being a show is that it means I get to go as well. One of the funniest evenings in the theatre I've had for a long time. It's irreverent, it's cruel, it's blatant, its American, and it has heart. I hope it does really well.

We haven't really held a party for either of our birthdays since Richard threw a party to end all parties for my 50th six years ago.  Since then we have got into the habit of going away on holiday. Venice, Reykjavik, Rome, and now this year, Berlin. We've both been to Berlin for work. Richard to attend a conference,  and I to present at a couple, but neither of us really had chance to look around the city properly. So this week we squeezed in a quick break leaving on Wednesday evening and returning late last night on Saturday.

How the West was Won!

When I've only got three days in a city I am not ashamed to be a tourist. In fact I'm more than happy to  leap on the nearest tourist city tour bus and get my bearings and this is exactly what we did on Thursday. We hopped off to see checkpoint Charlie and spent time in the museum there to look at the ingenious and interesting ways that people managed to get over the Wall, and we spent time at the Brandenburg gate, impressively restored to iconic status in the centre of Berlin after its 28 year stint  in the no man's land between the walls.

Memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe

Berlin is a vibrant place, full of new building, and exciting things to do, yet you can't help  and be touched by its divided past. Hard to imagine just what it's like with a wall going down the centre of the road you living and knowing that your chances of ever living on the other side in the free West were few and far between. Standing in the snow looking at a memorial wall photographs of people who died trying to cross the wall at one particular place was an incredibly moving experience.

Possibly not quite as moving as the bout of gastroenteritis that  laid me low from Thursday evening onwards. Richard was ill last week while I was away in Liverpool, but in our relationship it's always been a case of " what's yours is mine" and so this week it was my turn. It knocked me out from sightseeing on Friday morning, and it meant I'm now an expert in the different types of dry bread that restaurants in Berlin serve. But it didn't dampen down what was a great trip.

We had been given a couple of tips of things to do by a friend's son who lived and worked in the city for a couple years-The right bit of the wall to visit, which memorials to go to, and where to walk-and we were lucky enough to find ourselves staying in the beautiful suburban Charlottenburg on the street packed with lovely restaurants and a fantastic suburban feel. 

 We touched a little bit of history, enjoy the relaxation of a short holiday, and I, at least, came back pounds lighter!

I should warn you that we now have a publication date for my book " So You Want to Be a Corporate Actor?" which Nick Hern books are publishing on 18 July this year. I doubt very much of this will be the last time it will get a mention in this blog, but just in case you can't possibly wait without pre-ordering your copy you can visit www.nickhernbooks.co.uk and quote promotional code CLAYTON1  which gets you a 25% discount as a reader of this blog.

An offer I hope you can't resist.

Mr Howle certainly gets around