Guten tag, Germany!

Berlin... Berlin was too perfect for words. 

If I could relive my time there on a repeat loop I would. My very own Groundhog Day fantasy. Maybe a few years from now, I will tell you the story (who knows, I might even blog it here if "Buzzing about..." still exists) but for now, I can only show you a few photos.

1) View from atop the Berlinerdom. Maybe it was a sign...

2) Not just an ordinary car park - this used to be Hitler's bunker.

3) Nothing is as it seems in Berlin: this "Police" vehicle is actually a stripper van. 

4) And these "guards" at Checkpoint Charlie? Strippers.

5) The Berlin Wall. 6) And the Berlin Wall Bear.

7, 8) Berlin's idea of an art gallery. Too awesome. A refreshing change from the Van Goghs and Botticellis.

9) Riverside lunch: beer with "banana juice"
(the Germans are fond of their mixed beers). My tastebuds approve. 

10) Just one of a few city gates at the Pergammon Museum. *jaw drops*

11) The haunting Jewish Monument. 12) A different look at the Berlin Wall.

13, 14) Repainting history. 

15, 16) Two dress circle seats at the Berliner Staatsoper (Berlin State Opera) to see Leonard Berstein's musical adaptation of Voltaire's Candide.

I normally don't have too much trouble saying goodbye, but this one was hard. It still is hard. My days in Berlin were some of the best I spent in Europe, and that's saying something.

And to think I wasn't even going to go to Germany...