Ashmere Spring outing with Croxley Green Flyfishers

Well its Spring again and we were off to Ashmere fly fishing,first up lunch by the Thames at Walton
in the hot sunshine,then late afternoon we headed to the fisherie where we tackled up.

We waited for the off and we were all soon in to our first fish in the first lake of our choice.

The boys posed for the usual pictures new boy Vinnie from Hemel was guesting today,along
with Carl Bolding the fly tyer ,Richard et al .

The chairman even caught a few fish and landed one for me.Tim Bone came along
today ,Tims been ill it was nice to see him back ,he caught a 3lb Brownie.

So ended a nice evenings fishing only spoilt by another early exit,the meal was
supposed to be the social part.

Albury Fly fishing

Spring has sprung this week so my friends and I negotiated theM25 and made our way towards
Guildford where breakfast in the pub beckoned.

Jeff the Kiwi was smiling but Kev was a bit quiet ,we tackled up and I soon got my only
fish ,Alan and Jeff did much better but it was not Kevins day.

I noted Buzzards, Raven heard Chiff Chaff  and saw some nice primroses growing in the
woods.

Around 1300hrs we knocked it on the head and went home in the afternoon sunshine.

Berlin to Wolfsberg

Up early again this morning a morning stroll took us over the river Spree at Oberbaumstrasse.

Next we had a tea and coffee at The Pirates before we headed by taxi to the HaupBanhof
train station.

We were taking the Ice train to Wolfsberg which is almost in Hannover,it takes about an
hour to get there.

All aboard the Hogwarts express in comfortable carriages,we were on our way.

We arrived and walked to the ground it was about a mile maximum passing the VW factory.

At the ground we picked up a few souvenirs and had some beers before kick off.

In the ground for kick off we were seated fairly high up and the atmosphere was good amongst the
crowd as Stuttgart started their singing.

The game picked up pace in the second half and Wolfsberg won 3-1 we left the ground and made
our way slowly back to the train station.

The train arrived a little late ,we got on the Ice train and were soon back in Berlin,
had a beer and burger and we were off for another night of fun in Berlin.

Berlin Grant's Stag Easter 2015

On Good Friday morning a 330 am pick up was a shock to the system as we made our way to Luton
Airport.The gang assembled and we were soon on our way to Berlin .
We arrived got our cabs to the Berlin plus hotel in Warschauer Platz.

Once we had checked in some of us went on a tour of Berlin,we got a taxi to the Brandenberg gate
where we eventually got on a British speaking guide tour with the very informative Sophie from South Wales.

Sophia got every body together after visiting the hot chocolate café as  it was a bit cold here.

We headed off to rendezvous with our guide where she outlined the ports of call on
the tour,our first stop was the Holocaust monument.

Sophia was a wealth of information and highlighted the plight of the jews and below
you can see this architects achievement.

Next up was Hitlers bunker which was now under the ground in a car park of all
places so it would not glamorize him,once again our leader was very knowledgeable.

We moved on to the underground where  the red army used red marble in its construction and
also for its embassy.

Next up was Luftwaffe HQ this long building was still intact and it was Goerings headquarters.

The Berlin wall section was seen at close quarters where I grabbed a curry vurst before viewing the
wall we were informed of the day it come down and all its implications.

Our final part of the tour took in Check Point Charlie and the two churches in the square,where we
left the lovely Sophie.

The picture below shows you how it was before its all changed now.

The Berliners got in to Christianity with the Czechs years ago hence the churches in the square.

Lunch was around 3pm today at the Hoffbrau beer hall where the lads got stuck into
their steins.

Needless to say a large quantity of beer was demolished before we left for the hotel
for a shower and shave.

Tonight it was the Berlin pub crawl taking us through till 1 am by which time I was
knackered.