The End of the Road

Berlin was lovely, barring burning myself. It was a chance to catch up with Nicole and to see a foreign city through a (near) native's eyes. But we also took in the usual tourist attractions: Museum Island, the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag. After Berlin, we spent a little over a week with Elliott's relatives in Obernau, in the Windeck region of Germany. It is absolutely gorgeous countryside, the German equivalent of the Lake District in England. And Elliott's family was really fantastic, as well as their pets, from the shaggy-haired black dog to the Maine Coon cat (the most awesome cat ever, omg) to the half-bald, pot-bellied pig. Our time in Obernau was very relaxing and uh, filling, as we were fed absurd amounts of food and with alarming frequency. And then it was Obernau to Frankfurt to Chicago to San Francisco to Mountain View.

Hearing American English regularly took some getting used to at first; it's almost like deciphering a foreign language. It's hard to believe that we spent the last six weeks in Europe, in four different countries, moving from hotel to hostel to sobe, always on a plane or a fast train. I wish that I could stop for a long, long while, but tomorrow morning, we're driving down to Las Vegas to see my parents. Maybe I'll take a breather when I start law school, eh? :)

Here are some pictures from Turkey and Berlin.


Whirling dervish by the Blue Mosque.


Pride Parade down Istiklal Caddesi.


Our Bosphorous cruise, on which we saw dolphins/porpoises!


Elliott and Sun at Ethnicon in the Grand Bazaar, where Elliott bought a lovely teppich.


Nicole und ich at a cafe in Berlin.


Wet and rainy in front of the Brandenburg Gate.


Mmmmmm... wine warms me up.


Inside the glass dome of the Reichstag.


Walking on the Shalechet exhibit at the Jewish Museum.