The man from the bike refurbishers just called to say my bike is ready, so I can get it tomorrow. The first German caller on my mobile. It's a lot more difficult to talk on the phone than face to face in a language you don't know well, but it worked out ok in the end. This time, we'll try to get off the tram in the right direction.

Another thing that's different here is the way you top up your pay as you go mobile phone. You to a phone shop (in Germany, mobile phones are called "Handys"), and key in your phone number on a pad, then pay the man behind the counter the money you want to add. This is another way they have of keeping track of where the owners of pay as you go phones are. When I bought the SIM card, I had to show my passport and proof of address, which is pretty extreme. In the UK, I think you can still just hand over the cash and walk away.