Icn bin ein Berliner....

If anyone knows what that title is a reference to, I will award you many points....

 

First, an update...

Brenda got her luggage. You probably all know this  by now, but it arrived. At literally, the 11th hour. We were to leave London at 4.00 am (yes, its true). And the luggage arrived at 11.30 pm. Can you believe that? I really didnt. It was honestly a miracle. Somehow, some way (probably Larry Baloun) it got there. So we were glad...particularly Budds who pretty much hugged her bag for 10 minutes.

 

Thal, Switzerland

So, our journey has advanced. Since my last post, we have travelled to Thal, Switzerland to witness a wedding reception of our dear friends Jon and Katie VanLaake. It was the most beautiful four days. I dont even know how to begin to describe them. We arrived in a small city with winding streets and charming walks, perched up against a hillside. Katie and Jons apartment is in the greatest building ever, complete with a garden gate, wood floors, a loft and wooden cases with locks that harken to Lion,the Witch and the Wardrobe. We attending their reception on Saturday, which took place on the lawn of a ´castle´, a beautiful building with towers from 1604 and small fountains out front. After the reception we went to the Van Laakes (Katies new family) and were served the Van Laakes own wine and fresh cheese by candlelight. Being part of this wedding wind down with the family was probably the best thing I could imagine. The Bruins and Van Laakes welcomed us in as if we were one of their own. Wilbur (Jons dad) took Brenda and I on a tour of their Vineyard and we reflected on the meaning behind 'I am the vine and you are the branches'. Perched on the hillside at his vineyard, listening to Wilbur talk about the love of wine and tending his grapes was probably the most wonderful moment I can imagine. Between the wine, the coffee and the chocolate, we were spoiled with amazing food.But it was also so much more, we got to be a part of "swiss life" as silly as that sounds. We experienced the organic life of a family, as they brought us into their home, their garden and their vineyard. They took us to places we could have never found on our own (Bodensee Lake!), and fed us meals, cakes, sweets, cheese, wine that is important to them. I am so grateful for these days. As I said to Brenda, I would have done this whole trip, JUST for those four days, truly magnificent.

 

Berlin, Germany

I guess it is pretty obvious that Berlin is in Germany, but hey, you never know. So now as I write this, I sit in Berlin. It is also an amazing city. Thanks to Lavonne and Monicas great tip, we caught the New Berlin free tour of the city. These tours are great. The guides work off of tips at the end, so the tour is ´free´´. They work so hard and condense so much history into 3 hours. If you go to that site, you might be able to see a picture of us, or so they said, I dont know. On the tour, we walked through the Brandeburg gate, passed the Rheistag (German Parliment) saw the Berlin wall, walked through the Holocaust memorial, saw where Hitler died and so much more. This city is chalked full of incredible history. Just think, two world wars and the Cold War with Soviet Occupation. This city is basically the centre of 20th century history. So I am loving it. If England was my literary paradise, this is the history one....everywhere I go, my history texts are coming to life. This is a pretty amazing city as it tries to move away from its past and strive for more, pretty interesting. Today we went to a concentration camp...this is far too tough to describe on a blog so ask me one day in person.

 

So, things are well. We are safe, and so is our stuff. One funny thing is, Brenda and I keep forgetting to eat and end up wandering around starving until we must stop to eat. Needless to say, it has resulted in some funny meals. Tommorow we leave for Prague. Its strange to think we have already covered 3 cities, but also crazy to think there are so many more ahead. Send me a line if you get the chance, just saying anything at all...its good to hear from you.

 

I am suddenly realizing this post lacks incredible stories...so let me say this, they are happening, but you might have to ask me about them in real life...some things just cant be blogged..hehe. Love and miss you all my friends. Write me!