We're here. We're Gehman. Get used to it.

So I got back from Germany last night and I have to say: I liked it. I liked it a lot. I had some pretty negative things to say about the country before arriving: Germany is ugly, the people are mean, the language is terrible, and they probably still hate Jews. Well I'm still not Team German in terms of languages but it does grow on you after a while. And as for the hating-Jews part... I didn't feel that way at all. Preconceived notions are bad. I must learn to rid myself of them.

But seriously. Berlin is so cool. So cool. It's hard to say what drew me so much to it. It's a pretty laid back city. Lots of history, yes, even lots of bad history... but there's so much... NEW. So many modern art galleries with paintings I actually want to look at and gorgeous modern buildings made of glass and big broad squares. And it wasn't pretentious. I guess a lot of my feelings may be stemming from Paris the weekend before which I liked but I really loved Berlin.

(Synogague, it's a big one and it's important. But the name escapes me.)

The tour was okay, relatively painless. We went to most of the hot spots, the coolest being the parking lot that paved over the bunker of Adolf Hitler. And that's what I loved so much about Berlin. Even though there's history everywhere, even in Prague, the history here is tangible. The Holocaust wasn't a century ago, it was 60 years ago. That's two generations ago. My grandparents went through it. It still reverberates through me and I feel it at every memorial, every museum, every lecture. And there I was, walking the streets that 60 some odd years ago the Nazis walked, Hitler walked.. you get the point. It was wonderful and horrible. Simultaneously.

But back to the positive! I saw the Berlin Wall which was disappointing but necessary to see. And though the Story of Berlin museum was overall a waste of my 6 euros (the next day), it was pretty interesting to see what a real life bunker? nuclear bomb shelter? looked like. Living in Europe has brought out the history lover in me. I knew it was in there somewhere.

We found a Dunkin' Donuts! This is by no means exciting to those in the states but DD is not to be found ANYWHERE. Starbucks, sure, but Dunkin' Donuts? So of course I felt it was necessary to get myself a cup o' Joe from DD, a French Vanilla one to be specific, and the lady attempts to squirt syrup into my drink but doesn't really get much. Knowing I'll be paying for this either way I ask her to just squirt in some Hazelnut. And then I got the German stink eye which is far scarier than any other stink eye. I felt diminished. And really stupid. And she put milk in my coffee instead of cream and... enough. I don't want to talk about it anymore. It was a bad (expensive) experience.

The traffic lights are actual men wearing hats which I stupidly thought resembled long hair from afar which resulted in many people laughing at me. I wasn't wearing my glasses. And secretly hoped it was long flowing hair.
And curry wurst deserves its own paragraph:

Our tour guide Neil (who had the worst case of chapped lips I've ever seen) told us about curry wurst, which is really a sausage covered in ketchup and sprinkled with curry powder. It is divine. It may sound disgusting, but it is so so good, especially after a few rounds of mojitos. The woman at the counter may have been HELGA FROM SVEEEEDEN in another life but in this life she is that German lady who is really large but can serve you your curry wurst in 15 seconds. And will say bon appetit for good measure. I loved this woman. Apparently we lived down the street from one of the most famous curry wurst joints called Curry 36. And there were constantly people there, no matter what. Even after my falafel dinner Saturday night, I could not resist the temptation that is curry wurst. I had two. If I don't end up doing PR for high end hotels/restaurants in my life, I would be happy to travel and eat local food. Preferably with camera and a salary but we shall see about that. Amazing.

Saturday morning we drove to Potsdam and went to Cecilienhof which is the palace in which the Potsdam Treaty was signed. Luckily the audio tour was short and sweet and there was a lot to look at. I only managed one illegal picture but it's shoddy and isn't worth putting up here. But again I was surrounded by history and really that's what Germany is all about. Ahem, Gehmany.

We were then dropped off in the center of the city by the broken church (Jenn and I made jokes but it is in no way funny and it is sad that 90% of Berlin was flattened to the ground) and eventually made our way to the Story of Berlin museum which was mostly a waste of time but had its moments. Saturday night called for Reichstag! Such a cool building and I really appreciate their using the motif of transparency to show that they are, in fact, honest people. Or something like that. Whatever the case, it was a gorgeous building but it was really far too cold for my attire.

We missed happy hour by 15 minutes, had a mildly alcoholic drink each, and off I was for my falafel... and later on night 2 of curry wurst. Still just as good as the night before. This time, pictures were taken.

Despite the worst fatigue I've felt in a while (I would chalk it up to three weekends in a row of intense traveling), we all went out separate ways. Jenn and I had decided that the Pergamon was absolutely necessary and it was SO WORTH IT. They reconstructed the side of what they believe was the Pergamon altar and the amount of stuff they found is just unreal. Thankfully an audio guide was included in the price and I was able to sit and listen to the story unfold about the battles with the Greek gods. Sometimes I would get up and walk around the museum. This took much energy. Still though I did my fair shair of touring the museum and it was seriously one of the coolest things I've ever seen. It's up there with St. Peters.

Dresden was the second half of the day and I would have enjoyed it much more if it wasn't the windiest day ever. Unfortunately I was cranky and cold and didn't take in as much of Dresden as I would have liked to... but it reminded me a lot of Prague. And I keep looking at churches and I don't want to. Give me synagogues, mosques, huts with a stick figure... but no more churches. I need a break. Still though, a cool little city with a freakish amount of Russians strolling about.



Now. I finally get to relax and enjoy Prague for the first time in several weeks. Weather still hasn't cleared up but here's to crossing fingers for this weekend.

I can't wait for my family to visit so I can share all of this with them. As in the city of Prague, my life, my expenses...

S.