Almost 2 weeks with Sue!

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Well....where to start... I spent about 10 days staying with Sue in Berlin which was very spoiling to me... I ended up crying the day before I was to leave in a Turkish internet cafe... my first real break down on this trip - not caused by the sights 😊 Berlin is an amazing city filled with so much old and new architecture...so many scars throughout the city...marking their war torn past. The first night in town I was walking down the street with Sue and her friends when I realized that the grafitti decorated wall next to me was the one and only Berlin wall...which I had watched awestruck as a child being torn down, worlds away over the TV. Berlin is crazy like that...filled with things that I had only heard about or read about..but got to see in person everyday, not necessarily as destinations...just part of the every day. I had a bike to myself the entire trip and used it as much as possible...it had a basket and everything, so when I threw my MP3 on I felt very Euro...and even got frustrated by the tourists at times 😊 I did most of the sights in Berlin, including Check Point Charlie (the museum is a must), Topography of Terror and Sachsenhausen concentration camp...among many beautiful cemeteries, monuments, museums, etc. Many times when I was in Berlin I did get tearful; the people have been through so much and have been so resiliant. The city has an amazing amount of parks and green areas, water ways and fake beaches when one is tired of the attractions - I spent a fair bit of time in the major park, Tiergarten, which also is a main pick up point for gay males...different experience for me...did not get looked at once 😊 When Sue wasn´t working we spent time in the country bicycling, an afternoon beside a pool in the River (?) too much shopping and of course some drinking in the evenings....sorry for the lack of sleep 😊 Sue introduced me to types of meat of would not dream of trying on my own - all with good success though 😊 Berlin is a city I could live in for a year, no problem, it was nice to practice my abismal german but I would love to soak it all in and learn the language again.

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