Jet Lag is a MoFo.

I've been in Berlin for seven days and I still can't get right on the sleep situation.  Every day at like 6pm Berlin time I'm racing for my pillows.  Then I'm awake at midnight or 2am and stay up till 7am.  As I type, its 5am Berlin time and I'm up scheming ways to stream Thursday's Scandal episode.  So far I have been unsucessful. 

Tomorrow is my last day in the fair city of Berlin.  I have been buried in work for most of the trip so I am sorry that I have not really been posting pics and videos. I have them though and will do it when I get home.  Berlin is a very energizing place, the people are friendly and relaxed and open.  There is a a strong artistic vibe that I definitely resonated with and you can tell that its a city on the verge.  In certain ways it reminds me of NYC in the 80s with all of the grafitti and street art and street culture.  The company I work for had their Christmas party at one of the hot and happening clubs in the city since after all, it is a music software company.  The club totally reminded me of a club in NYC where you would enter on Saturday and leave maybe Sunday afternoon or evening.  Big, sprawling and ready for the 'down for whatever' crowd. LOL.

Today I did a walking tour and got to dig a little deeper into the history of the city.  Germany and especially Berlin has a VAST history so clearly I only scratched the surface but I definitely learned some things and felt some things.  WW2 and the fall of the Berlin Wall are both events that happened really not that long ago.  When I cleaned out my grandmother's apt last year upon her death I found a cache of letters from my grandfather to her and they were all written while he was away in the army during WW2.  So to walk through the streets of Berlin and hear stories from my tour guide and think about all that happened, how it affects us today, and what might have happened if the Nazis had not lost certainly gave me a lot to think about.

I would like to come back to Berlin when I have more time to really take it in but I am definitely grateful for this small taste.  It has been a great and reflective way to wrap up what has been a year of  learning for me.  Lots of lessons to carry into 2014.

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