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?"