We awoke early, after a restful night sleep in a clean hotel. Let me repeat the most important part again: hotel. One cannot truly grasp the meaning until you've felt grimy shower tile under your feet, slept with your bed against the door because there was no lock or dried your hair in the kitchen where your hostess made herself eggs.
Another amazing feature was the continental breakfast. This is probably the last time you'll hear a statement about breakfast here, I probably dislike breakfast more then anyone you'll ever meet. This aside, the assortment was my type of breakfast: turkey breast, cheese, small rolls, yogurt and cranberry juice. While thoroughly enjoying my breakfast sandwich, I smiled to myself as I watched a bus pull up outside the window of the Holiday Inn Express. My feet will be glad for public transportation.
What an enjoyable city to sight-see in. We hit all the main tourist attractions and made sure to see a few off the beaten path, as well. The Reichstag was our first destination. We waited in line for almost half an hour and filed slowly in groups of ten into the building. Inside, we were ushered through metal detectors. Not surprisingly, LD was pulled aside for his bike lock (which they believed to be a gun lock, yesh). After our little incident, we were piled into an elevator and whisked to the top floor: an indoor/outdoor roof, covered partially in glass with amazing views of Berlin.
Much to the dismay of my feet, the city was easily navigated on foot and beautifully decorated for Christmas. We happened upon a Christmas market, richly decorated and filled with the smells of Weihnachten: roasting chestnuts, cinnamon and sausage.
Berlin was home. In all the traveling we had done, I never felt more comfortable then in Berlin. It felt like Pennsylvania. If I were placed in the center of Aldi's in Berlin and in the center of Aldi's at home, I wouldn't know the difference until someone spoke to me. In stating this, I am not dismissing the history that seeps from Berlin's pores; I just felt as though Berlin welcomed me with open arms and a pint of beer.
