Last Day

My last day in Berlin is coming to a close. Tomorrow morning Petra will deliver me to the airport bright and early to catch my flight home. I’m almost done packing, I just need to get my shampoo and stuff out of the bathroom and find some place to put them. Unfortunately, I seem to have bought a lot of stuff, and my big duffel bag is currently full to bursting. I have no idea where I’m going to put said toiletries, or the clothes I wore today and the pajamas I’m going to wear tonight. I supposed I’ll be stuffing it in the bag and hoping those zippers hold.

I bought enough chocolate alone to feed a small army. Maybe that should have been a clue that I didn’t need so much stuff. There will be a very happy element at the Air Force Academy next weekend, I think.

I wasn’t able to meet up with my friend this afternoon to get some pictures that actually have me in them (remind me to get a cell phone next time I leave the country), but I still managed to get the occasional passer-by to do it for me. Listening for other English-speaking people really helps things out. I now have proof that I haven’t just been hiding in a hole somewhere and making this all up.

See?

I also headed over to Checkpoint Charlie, and got the picture of the sign that I missed the last time I was there.

There are more pictures on Flickr, although I admit I didn’t reach my 1,000 picture target. Looks like I feel 129 pictures short. Maybe I should go to the zoo again.

This picture has an interesting story. Or sad, I supposed, depending.

The woman in turquoise hangs around tourist attractions, asking “Speak English?” If you say yes, she pushes that card in front of your face, which asks for money. I saw her at the Topography of Terror, Checkpoint Charlie, and the S-Bahn station at Alexanderplatz at least 3 times. She keeps at least one child with her, and one time it was actually an older child who was asking tourists if they speak English. What I find interesting is that she seems to be very well-cared for, and the little girl even more so, even though she spends her whole day begging tourists for spare change. I feel bad for the little girl, really.

On a different note, I still have to figure out how I’m going to fit the rest of this stuff in my bag, so I’m going to make an effort to do that. Oh, and dinner’s ready, so I’m going to eat. Sounds like a plan.