I went away last weekend to Berlin. It was grand. I'm trying to process. It was perfect timing to get away, following a couple exhausting weeks. I needed some new; new art, new museums, new food, new metro system, new conversations with old friends. And the time exceeded my expectations!

1) To walk around Berlin without an open giant bottle of beer is so not cool
2)"Bonhoeffer" a biography by Eric Metaxas was the perfect book to bring along, I can't seem to read fast enough though, as it reads like a spy novel . It did mean that I had no space for a chunk of the Berlin wall I intended to bring home (I'm not sure if my humor comes across when I'm tired). In case not... the main point: it's a HUGE book but oh so worth it. I will reflect more on this book and what it's stirring in me later.
3) Russian food is spectacular.
4) I managed to not eat one sausage. I'm okay with that.
5) I will always remember the Holocaust monument. One of the most gripping powerful pieces of art I've ever seen.
6) In a similar vein the Jewish museum was hauntingly beautiful. I'll never be able to explain the way the building engages your body, the way the architect build the floors at an angle to disorient you, or the fact that you walk over 10,000 metal faces representing victims of violence. And the hollow metal eyes bore into your soul and you know that you too are capable, you too can do this, you too step on their lifeless heads. And the empty sell like room with a sliver of sunlight at the top, and the heavy door which snaps behind you, fear and enclose and you cry without meaning to but feeling so relieved that you have.
7) I also expected it to be more crazy, more loud, more like a city-wide house (music) show.
But it wasn't, it was artsy and bohemian with a love affair for graffiti, yet quite peaceful. A good mix between Barcelona and Paris.
8) Cycling in Berlin was great though I did not feel at the top of the food chain like I do in Amsterdam. Cars still decidedly hold that place though they do have many bike lanes.
9) People were very kind and smiled as you crossed on the sidewalk! I'm not used to that.
10) Punk style
11) Lidl and Aldi are the main grocery stores! Yep, our grocery bill was very low. Success!
12) Speaking of cheap, food and just about everything in Berlin does not cost a lot.
13) Hardy anyone wears Birkenstock sandals.
14) Germans love their cake... and oh man, so do I!

I'm now home, feeling energized , very happy, and alive! (photos by Amanda O.)