Berlin

Most of the group took an early afternoon flight out of Munich to Berlin. We took the light rail direct to the airport from the foot of our hotel. I love public transportation in Europe. The flight was short and we were checked into our hotel (two blocks from Checkpoint Charlie) by about 3:30pm.

Funny thing in the Berlin airport (see video in previous entry). The baggage claim is immediately inside once you disembark the plane. There was a rubber duckie on the belt that kept going round and round. Everyone assumed it fell out of a stroller that was checked as baggage, but no. The parents grabbed the stroller, but left the duckie. Various passengers kept playing with it as it passed, putting it in different positions. The duckie managed to never get clobbered by a new piece of luggage as it passed the offload mouth. Just as we were leaving, an airport employee plucked it off and asked who it belonged to. No one claimed it. So, rather than let it be orphaned, I decided to take it in. I realized that I do not have a memento from this trip yet. Now I do. I figure it must be some kind of good luck…




A went to late lunch/early dinner with a few other reps, then wandered the downtown area gazing at monuments and architecture, returning to the hotel around 7pm. Damara had taken a different flight and arrived around 8pm. She was hungry so I accompanied her to another dinner – Italian again. Great thin-crust pizza.

The next day I tried to do some clothes shopping again - I really need a heavy coat for my next trip. This time I used Damara as my personal shopper. Still no luck. Too small or too expensive, but now I have a good idea of what I want, so I'll be able to look while I'm in Boston.

We did the educational fair all afternoon. After, the party at the hotel. Open bar. Finally, I indulged myself. Still I resisted being talked into going out to the clubs, as I had to wake up at 6am to fly back to the USA. Sure, I coulda stayed up all night, but I just didn't have it in me.



Tegel the Ducks says, "Does this really indicate that this room is non-smoking?"

Lucky Duck

Germany

Why is it that one forgets how good it feels to run? I ran a little over 5 miles this afternoon in Munich, mainly through the English Gardens, and it felt GREAT. Totally shook the travel cobwebs from my head..



Now I'm ready to sit back down at the computer and work on expense reports. Yay! But first, I'm going to shower and see if I can find the flagship Aigner store to look at really cool clothes that I probably can't afford.

I HATE FLAIR!
I made the mistake of going to Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. Why? Because none of my fellow reps that I am friends with are in town yet, and it is less depressing to eat alone at a bartop than a table. Plus, at a bar there is always a chance you might meet someone, as I did at dinner at a Hard Rock in Barcelona once before. At a table it is impossible. Anyway - the bartender who served me was horrible. None of them were great, but he in particular was painful to watch. He kept trying out his pitiful "flair." I hate this s#!t. MAKE DRINKS, DAMMIT. If I want to see juggling I will go to a vaudville show. He wasn´t even good at it. Ugh...

My friend Damara finally arrived and we went out for a drink and to catch up. We travelled together in Africa and met up for drinks last when we were both in Dubai at the same time. Another rep came along with us, so we couldn´t really talk like we wanted to, but it was fun anyway. The fair the next day was productive. We went for Italian afterwards with a third rep named Yance.

Oh yeah - I spent two futile days looking for a reasonable place to get all my laundry done, which at this point is most of my stuff. Not to be found. Even outside the hotel they will only do it by piece, rather than by kilo. One pair of jeans? 5 Euros. Whatever. It might have to wait ´til Boston. I think I have just enough cleans to make it.

No time for touristy stuff. I did take a couple of pics while walking the old city, which I will post on the next blog.