Katherine and David left Bonn with a man named Felix and travelled north to Hamburg. We arrived in Hamburg and received directions from the central station to Bucerius Law school. By sheer genius David managed to get us on the right train. That we were on the right train was only established when we arrived at the stop we needed to be, up until that point we had no idea where we might be headed.
So, we arrived at Bucerius, and immediately got changed into appropriate mooting attire, and were presenting our arguments within about 11 minutes of arrival. However, the numerous moots we had completed thus far had prepared us for having to moot with little to no preparation, so away we went. Bucerius then kindly provided us with dinner before our second moot. Bucerius are a strong team and we had a good session with them. We must mention their hospitality too, Victoria University has a strong connection with Bucerius via the Vic Exchange program, so our hosts were delighted to have yet more kiwis in their midst!
The next morning David and Katherine caught a bus to Berlin. We arrived around midday and for once we had the afternoon free of mooting! A delight! Sad to say that we did not relish the opportunity to explore the delights of Berlin, but rather stayed indoors to work on our submissions for the pre moot the next day. You can't fault that dedication. Of course prior to the moots we had been invited to dinner at "White Trash" restaurant in Berlin. If you are ever in Berlin you simply must go there, the food is amazing, and for David and I was a special treat due to the range of veggie burgers. The team from Bocconi joined together with ourselves and the FU Berlin team for dinner and it was a lovely evening.
Early next day David and Katherine arrived at FU Berlin for what was to be the Everest of our trip: 5 moots, back to back. Claimant, Respondent, Claimant, Respondent, and then Claimant again. We had forgotten our names by the end of the day, but we did at all times know who we were representing, and that was a bonus. The day was a good learning curve in terms of stamina and really keeping on top of the arguments. We then headed out for dinner with all teams at a "traditional" Berlin kitchen, so needless to say there were not quite so many vegetarian options.
Katherine may have fallen asleep at the dinner table due to the 5 moots and little sleep, so unfortunately David and Katherine had to call it a night and not accompany the rest of the teams to an absinthe bar. In hindsight, definitely for the best. We then enjoyed Sunday by both exploring the city and watching movies - a "real" day off from mooting. But alas, no rest for the wicked. Next stop, Madrid (after Katherine proved to the the german airport security she was not a threat...)
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