Eight Hours in Berlin

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I am currently in Berlin for a brief rendez-vous with my travel companion, Mr. Tommy Noonan. I took the TGV (the fastest rail service in the world) from Libourne to Paris last night, then after a surprisingly restful nights’ sleep in the Paris Orly airport, I caught an early morning flight to Berlin aboard EASYJET airlines. In my experience, I found air travel (airports, security, etc…) to be so much smoother, less stressful here than in the US. After the recent bomb scares in the UK I guess I was expecting a bit more hysteria at the terminal…..
I find it funny that Tommy and I have been planning on traveling together for months in advance, and thus far we have only been in the same place for a total of two weeks (out of a total of almost three months). He has been here in Berlin for two weeks seeing friends, dancing, and ‘apartment-sitting’ in this beautiful apartment with hardwood floors, vaulted ceilings, a really beautiful place. My favorite part of it is this one wall, which has been stripped down to the bricks beneath the sheetrock, revealing also the wooden doorframe. You can kind of see it in the pic I’ve uploaded.
I leave this at 8 PM on a bus, Lithuania-bound once again. During my time in Pineulh, France, I received emails from Sigitas, the Kaunas coach, saying that two more players were out for the season because of injuries. Mantas, our catcher, had already been hurt during the Moscow tourney; he was the one who hurt his knee while catching the first pitch of the tournament (a ceremonial pitch thrown by the assistant to the Mayor of Moscow).
So I am headed back to Lithuania to play for Kaunas these final two weekends of their season. It is the Lithuanian finals, between Lituanica Kaunas (my team) and a team from Vilnius, the capital city. It should be a good series, and the fact that we have now three injured starters should make things even more interesting.
I return to Lithuania with a bottle of Merlot from the vineyards of Chateau Picon, the vineyard managed by Alain, who is the president of the Pineuilh Baseball Club, and two dozen baseballs for the Kaunas team, a gift from the French team to the Lithuanians. Jean-Marie, the man who arranged for my stay in Pineuilh, had the idea of sending them baseballs after hearing of their difficulties of acquiring baseball equipment. I was very touched by this gesture, and am excited about the opportunity for the Kaunas and Pineuilh baseball clubs to start a sort of exchange/friendship. Along with the baseballs, Jean-Marie has also passed along an open invitation for Lithuania to send a team to participate in the Easter baseball tournament held in Pineuilh every year, a tournament that traditionally includes teams from across Europe as well as a few teams from the US.
I will be in Kaunas until the 15th or so, and then who knows……maybe back to France to work construction? Work the vineyards?

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Photos

easyJet
arriving in Berlin

Flat in Berlin
Clint's flat (Tommy's flat)