Winfried Suchland was an exceptional Ambassador Cooridinator for the Berlin Friendship Force Club and made us all feel very welcome and helped us all enormously. The program was well thought out and for the most part quite varied. For some there were too many museums involved - others loved them. For some there was too much walking when we could have caught public transport. Where possible we were helped to obtain transport for those who couldn't walk the distances. We often forget that in Europe a lot of walking is on cobblestones that can be extremely tiring.

For the most part Hosts and Ambassadors were well matched although some had an ongoing problem with language and some were left to their own devices getting from home to the allocated meeting points and back at night. Although no official complaints were made I could see it was an issue.

The 5 days between journeys had us going in different directions with Vienna, Prague, Istanbul and Chesky Krumlov as preferred destinations. From all accounts all enjoyed their mid journey interlude.

We all met up the night before the journey in Budapest and were met the next morning by our hosts and Budapest Friendship Force Club Host Coordinator, Agnes Hirsch. Agnes had us feel at ease from the beginning and was enthusiastic and with her helpers did an amazing job of showing us their city. A couple of club members along with Agnes acted as our guides and interpreters all week. Not all hosts spoke a lot of English but we had a lot of fun communicating. Again the amount of walking was a concern for some. Most of us were lucky to have very generous hosts who went out of their way to help us.

Overall a very successful journey.

Geoff Whitwell, Ambassador Coordinator (alias Exchange Director)