Lost in Translation

Tuesday at 4:00 a.m. Can't sleep; might as well post! In my reading of Rick Steves' travel tips, he stresses the importance of looking on the bright side of things as you travel (including jet lag!). So here are a few of my bright spots...

1) Yesterday morning we got on one of those city bus tours where you can sit upstairs, have a sky view, and hop on and off at will. It was a fantastically gorgeous day, so we bus hopped from noon to seven, I think. I loved it. A great way to see this city. We saw lots including the last standing bit of the Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, a few lovely churches and old government centers, both old and modern musuems, the erie Holocaust memorial, etc. My first stop was the Nicolaikirke (which, sadly, is under construction...). Still beautiful from the outside and in a beautiful old quarter. This is where we had the infamous "pot" of coffee. Should have realized 2.20 euro was too little to pay for our version of a "pot" of coffee! :)

2) We've eaten 3 versions of currywurst, and I can see why Steve loves it so much. And, boy, do they love their beer here. You don't get it in plastic cups, either. Even at an imbiss, its in a glass mug poured from a barrel. The apple strudel yesterday was totally worth the lyric that Julie Andrews sang (and better than cream colored ponies in my opinion). Also had schnitzel, but not with noodle. It was with kartoffel, a tasty version of potatoes pan-friend with onions and parsley.

3) I have been exposed to the German language long enough that I have no excuse for not understanding it better. (With Steve's two years living in Zweibrucken, he does really well.) The meaning of some written words comes to be instantly, others I just think "I should know what that means." However, it's almost impossible to understand any words when people are speaking--they go by too fast. Case in point, the tour bus guides spoke 80% German yesterday. (I laughed memorably at the movie "lost in translation.") The guide would rattle on and on in German and then say about one sentence in English. I wanted to ask "Surely you just said more than that...Is that all?" It was funny. We got the basics though, thanks to a multi-lingual pamphlet they gave us.

4) Thanks to my mom giving me some high-powered sleeping pills, I slept almost the entire flight to Berlin (8 hours)! Unfortunately, my husband did not. He was a sport, though, to live out a day's activities on almost no sleep. Last night, the tables were turned a bit. I think I'll be OK, though, since I slept well the night before.

Hope I can kick this sore throat, especially before we have to sing the Berlioz. Guten tag!