"Is this Berlin?" Chiun asked, perking up.

"You know it isn't," Remo said tiredly.

"All Hun cities look alike to me," Chiun replied.

"It's Magdeburg," Remo told him. "We've got another eighty miles to go."

Chiun's face pinched in displeasure as he stared across the visible portions of the gloomy German city.

The Gothic spires of the Cathedral of Saints Maurice and Catherine rose high above the other flat roofs. Industrial grit and grime seemed to be attracted to the steeples as if they were magnetized.

"I see they allowed that monstrosity to be completed," he commented with displeasure. He nodded to the cathedral.

"Gothic architecture doesn't do much for me," Remo admitted, glancing up at the steeples. "Still, you've got to admit it's pretty impressive."

Chiun turned to him, hazel eyes flat. "Do I," he said. His voice was devoid of energy.

Remo shrugged. "Sure," he said. "It's like the pyramids. I don't know how they managed to do anything so huge back then. I mean, we consider ourselves lucky when we get the government to deliver the mail on time."

Chiun extended a bony finger to the steeple. It was still far in the distance. They were not even going to drive within miles of the massive cathedral.

"That eyesore is representative of everything that went wrong with Europe in the last millennium," he said. "It is the direct product of the vile pretender Carolus the Dreadful. And you would defend such a thing?"

"Hey, I only said it was impressive," Remo said.

"It is ugly," Chiun insisted.

"Whatever." Remo shrugged.

They drove on in silence. The cathedral receded behind them along with the city of Magdeburg. They had just crossed the Elbe River and were proceeding along to Berlin when Chiun spoke once more.