It is my last day in this city that I have totally fallen in love with. Tomorrow I have to go home. But I am already planning the next trip here.

In the past few days I managed to do a lot of the things on my list; Wednesday Tom, Kasch and I went to the Checkpoint Charlie museum, a collection of exhibits and photos about not only the Berlin Wall but also non-violent protest and the fall of Communism in other countries. It is shocking to me that less than twenty years ago, people were still burrowing tunnels in efforts to escape to the west. My apartment here in only a block and a half from where the wall once stood. Crazy.

After that museum – and it is a very big one – we went across the street and ate some lunch and then Tom and Kasch left. It was about three in the afternoon but I knew I was running out of time so I went to the Jewish history museum, housed in a zig-zaged modern building. I spent about two hours in there, checking out the history of the Jewish people in Germany starting in the middle ages until modern times. THEN I decided to go to the top of the Fernsehturm. There is an elevator that takes you to the top very quickly, and there is a viewing area where you can see the layout of Berlin. They also have a restaurant one floor up that rotates so you can sit and have a drink and look at at all of Berlin. When I first went up they said the restaurant was full, but heading to the elevator I noticed there was no one waiting, so I asked and was given a table. It was so cool! I had a glass of wine and a herring salad that was kind of nasty but who cares! I revolved around a couple of times with my head pressed against the window. Looking down at Alexanderplatz I could see all the people walking around like so many ants. I did not get home until nine that night – it was a very full day.

Thursday Tom and I went to the Pergamon museum, which has an an ancient Greek altar and an actual city gate from Babylon reconstructed inside. It was really cool but I think I was a bit museum-ed out. Then I met Paul Scraton, a writer who writes A Berlin Diary among many other things, and his wife Katrin and beautiful baby Lotta in a ginourmous beer garden called “Prater.” Later Tom and Kasch and I went to dinner at a place called White Trash Fast Food. I had an “L.A. Style Burrito.” Not! But it is a cool place and we had a lot of fun in there.

Yesterday we went to Potdam and Park Sanssouci. This is an amazing place just a half hour away on the train. The town itself got heavily bombed but there are still some cool buildings there that have been restored {also some really hideous DDR buildings.} Sanssouci is like the German Versailles. You walk in from the town and round a corner and WHAM, there is the most amazing, huge palace in front of you, with terraced grounds sloping down. And that is not all; there are amazing buildings all over the park, in all sorts of architectural styles. I brought along a picnic which we ate in the shadow of the Sanssouci palace and then we walked and walked through the vast park. We even saw a deer!

Last night was Thai food and then a drink at a place I went to last week called Scotch and Sofa. The bar has all kinds of kitsch from the 50’s and 60’s in it so I wanted Kasch to check it out.

This week hasn’t been the 24 hour party last week was but I think I am glad because I did manage to see an awful lot. Even with Sad Arcade Fire day.

I’m off then, for the last adventure. I am going to have one final wine at the outdoor wine bar in Alexanderplatz and then head to the KaDaWe where I WILL have an overpriced glass of champagne. I promised myself.

Tonight I am cooking for Kasch and Tom at their house. Tomorrow I will be home. Onward.

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