Berlin: I've Arrived

I arrived in Berlin this morning and Barbara met me at the airport. Sandra is also visiting Berlin this week. We had breakfast and then they let me take a nap - which was supposed to be a little nap but turned into a very long nap.

I was a little nervous that I was going to get to Berlin. In Detroit - when my flight left an hour late and I only had an hour layover in Newark. But I was lucky, the flight from Detroit to Newark did not take the entire scheduled time and when I landed you could take a bus from terminal A to terminal C without having to go through security again.

When I got on the plane it was empty. It turns out there were a lot of late connecting flights. For a while there it looked like I would have an entire row to myself, but then a couple. came. However, I was lucky because I meet a new friend, Susan Sappington of Hartford, Connecticut. She was alone in her row, and generously offered me a spot. We had a delightful trip together. She is a mother of three and was on her way to Berlin to visit her youngest daughter who is studying here for the summer. We had a fabulous time chatting on the plane. I am so glad that I had a chance to sit next to her. And we were also lucky enough to make friends with Paul the flight attendant from Pittsburgh, who brought us some wine from first class.

But back to Berlin - when I woke up we headed to the main shopping district Kufurstendam. We were looking for a new black leather bag for Sandra. But it turns out that when you are on a mission that specific - you can find every other color or they cost 700+ Euros. So we failed miserably.

Then we went to Postsdammer Platz for dinner. We ate at the Sony Center. At Sandra's suggestion, I had beer with banana juice - it was deliciouses.

Then we headed to the Jewish memorial near the Brandenburg Gate. I also got to see the new US embassy that just opened last week. Now we are back at the apartment, but I should get to bed, so Barbara can get some sleep too. (I will add more pictures tomorrow.)