spaking the lango

There are many parts of Germany where English isn´t common and travellers must get by on gestures. Even in a Mcdonalds.

This was the case on our long coasch ride from Frankfurt to Berlin. The regulations on rest breaks for coach drivers here in Germany are quite strict compared to Australia so the 4.5 hour drive soon stretched out to 7.5 to 12 hours depending on your driver and how lost they got in Berlin. We where lucky enough to get a two hour tour of the Berlin suburbs looking for our hotel.

It seemed that there was no shortage of Mcdonalds to stop at, except for the stop in Erfurt for lunch. In each case I had another opportunity to practice my German, which has definitly improved. In one case I became quite proficient at translating the total prices for my fellow travellers.

However in a small bakery and cafe in Erfurt I did come a cropper. The ladies behind the counter where very amused at something I said and on reflection I think I told one of them that she was hot! All I wanted to do was agree with her statments about the weather.