As much as I love traveling, I don’t really love the actual travel part. When I was young, I thought flying was fun, but that was when airplanes seemed more comfortable and security was less restrictive. That was also when I had more energy and fewer aches and pains. Unfortunately, when we were young we didn’t have the time or resources to travel just for fun.

After a long, exhausting day of bus, plane, and train rides, we arrived in Berlin (via Dublin) and managed to make our way to our hotel. The trick to fighting jet lag is to not give in to the urge to sleep when you first arrive, but to wait to go to bed at a normal time. We almost managed that. After a quick nap, we set out to reorient ourselves to the city and find a place for dinner. It was a lovely evening and we were able to dine outside where we could people watch as we ate.

After dinner we took a little stroll to Potsdamer Platz where we happened upon a peace rally with music and dancing that looked like something from my college days.

Tomorrow we will do some touristy stuff and then attend the first opera in the Wagner Ring Cycle, Das Rheingold.