Berlin and Bavaria...

Guten tag! I think it's time for an update... Ja? Well, the last time I signed off I was heading to Berlin. What a great city! There is a lot happening there: a ton of history and a modern, hip, vibe that produces some great night life, or so I've been told...

It took me a day to get used to being on my own again after the wonderful stay with the Ahrens family. There son, Rüdiger, met me at the HauptBahnhof (main train station)in the city and was very helpful in helping me find a hostel and get my bearings in the city. He was also a great tour guide and knew a ton about Berlin. It was also great to see him again, the last time was 15 years ago... We both had changed a little. It was nice spending some time with him.

I spent five days and four nights in the city and still only scratched the surface of it... The monuments, museums, parks, and streets are numerous. The following is a summary of the highlights/sights from my visit:
-The Reichstag/Bundestag, which houses Germany's governing body
-Brandenburg Gate, symbol of Berlin and sometimes, Germany
- The Unter den Linden Street
- The Victory Monument (Siegessäule)for those of you who recall, this is where Obama gave his speech in Berlin a few months ago...
-The Berliner Dom (cathedral)
-Alexanderplatz
-Potsdamerplatz and the Sony Center
-The Memorial to the Murdered Jews
-Checkpoint Charlie
-The Documentation Center and Berlin Wall Memorial
-The location of Hitler's Bunker

Museums:
-The Pergamonmuseum, which houses the Pergamon Altar and one of the gates to the ancient city of Babylon (one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World)
-The Alte (old) National Gallery
- The Gemäldegalerie, a great art museum with some incredible Northern Renaissance art
- and more...

I enjoyed navigating the city using the U-Bahn (subway), S-Bahn (rail),Bus, and of course by foot. Berlin has a laid-back feeling and pace, even more so than that of Paris. I enjoyed this aspect and the newly arrived Fall weather made everything just great!

Finally one last thing regarding Berlin: Peter instructed me to find an ice cream shop in Potsdamerplatz, so I did, and thanks to his generosity I enjoyed a Korant Becher ice cream. Peter, it was good and I can see why it is your favorite! Danke!

There is much more regarding Berlin but unfortunately for now, you will have to stick with the summary above... Pictures soon, I hope...

From Berlin I took a train south to Nürnberg (Nuremberg) and from there the S-Bahn to Schwabach where I met Roland and Susanne Funk. I am now in the part of Germany known as Bayern (Bavaria). I met Roland and Susanne at a hostel in Ireland and they were very kind and generous and extended an invitation to visit and stay with them if i made it to the Nürnberg area... Of course it was in my long-term travel plans and since I love home stay visits, it worked out well.

The stay with Roland and Susanne has been truly great! Again, I am very fortunate to experience German life first-hand and see places and things that most "tourists" don't get to see or experience. Just incredible...

Roland and Susanne have been great hosts and tour guides. In fact, Roland was a tour guide in Nürnberg for a company when he was in university... The Medieval part of the city of Nürnberg is very beautiful(it has been painstakingly reconstructed since the end of WWII, where it suffered heavy damage due to it being the headquarters of the Nazi Party). The another interesting part of the city that relates to the Nazis is the massive structures and architecture that were used for massive rallies. It was interesting to see such places and buildings in person, having only seen them in history books and archival film footage before.

Yesterday, I had a brief visit to a German school, as Susanne is a teacher, before heading to Dinkelsbühl, a small, walled, Medieval town that supposedly rivals Rothenberg in its charm and beauty. Dinkelsbühl was very beautiful and I enjoyed getting lost in the maze-like streets and exploring and following the inner and outer parts of the city's wall.

Again, this is all a very brief and a general summary of the past week or so. I can say that the hospitality, goodwill, and generosity I have experienced is overwhelming. I continue to learn about the culture, history, and of course, politics during my tours and conversations and over very delicious meals and beer tasting sessions... I am learning some of the language too, but unfortunately not enough to really survive alone... Speaking of language, I apologize for any spelling or grammatical errors in the postings. At times it has been difficult to think, speak, and write in English!

Ok, what's ahead? Well the Wiesn', of course! The Wiesn is the German/Bavarian term for Oktoberfest in Munich. The festival started last Saturday on the 20th and runs through October 5th... I will be making my inaugural visit and appearance this Thursday and I am looking forward to it! I've learned quite a bit about it in the last few days (history and traditions of the fest) but I will wait to tell you about it all until after my visit. I'll leave you by saying that I have been practicing lifting steins filled with beer/bier ever since my arrival in Germany in preparation for this event and recently I have been practicing singing, Ein Prosit...!

Prost and Auf Wiedersehen!
NPL