Somehow, some way, I, a slightly delusional, totally sleep deprived, Michelle Graessle am laying in a bed in a hotel in Berlin writing this right now.
Honestly when our flight to Paris was delayed, I figured it would feel like days until I reached this moment, snuggled in my clean sheets in this chic hotel. I tallied it up and I have been awake for a solid 34 hours, give or take a couple periods of trance-like-pseudo-sleep on the plane, knees in my chest, crammed in the window seat. To top off that joyous adventure, I arrived in Berlin to find that the airline, while rerouting us to a new flight after we missed our connection in Paris, had also lost track of many of our bags. This happens to be one of my great fears in life, and combined with the fact that I will be away from home, out of the country in EUROPE for two weeks made for one anxiety filled afternoon… until I met Berlin.
Walking out of the airport I would sum up my state of being as death warmed up. I was hungry, cold, tired, irritated, anxious (mostly because of the luggage fiasco), all of which was putting a serious damper on my day. When we finally packed into the bus and began our brief tour of Berlin and I saw some of history’a most storied locations right before my eyes, my mood softened. As I mentioned in my intro, I’m somewhat of a history buff/nerd/enthusiast, and I became as giddy as one seriously sleep deprived person can be as the tour progressed. We got to see the Reichstag building, the cobble stones that mark the location of the Berlin wall, a striking and thought provoking Holocaust memorial and many other landmarks of German culture and history that so intrigue me. It could have been in the elaborate exhibition of a history and culture so different from the one I’m used to, or, at the same time, the striking similarities to home that so drew me in. Either way it was safe to say I liked Berlin from the start, maybe even loved it.
After a much needed power nap it was off to a delicious welcome dinner, my first full meal in 24 hours, a little more exploring and now here I am, snuggled in my bed, typing this blog, wondering why it is that I’m not even tired anymore. Maybe it’s the jet lag, or maybe it’s the little bit of magic that seems to exude from this city’s core that are keeping me thirsty and eager for what tomorrow brings.
Until then, goodnight, Berlin. It was nice to meet you and I’ll see you in the morning.
Michelle
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