Wanderlust: Germany 2012

Come, follow me through Germany.  

You're in for a pleasant surprise.

Because I found a country where the locals were eager to hear I was having a good time.  Where German moms offer bowls of white asparagus and dumpling soup on summer evenings, then sweet butter on brown bread with pumpkin seeds in the morning.

I found a place where each town boasts their own special blend of beer and sausage,

where you can lose yourself in apple orchards,

old-world streets,

or wooded footpaths

wheat fields,

or night festivals.

Come, wander with me the back roads of Bavaria,



retrace the footsteps of the resistance movement in Munich,



find beauty in the strangest places,

construction in Berlin

or ride the ultra-modern U-Bahn all night long.

Why visit Germany?  Because this is a place ripped straight from daydreams:
Lake Constance,

the famed Neuschwanstein castle,

secret cafés in Berlin,

and Munich's Viktualienmarkt

(my daydreams often involve markets)...

(You know I fully shlepped a bottle of this vinegar flavored with local honey back to California.  And it is delicious!)

I let everything go in an Alpine lake,

and awoke with the sun on my skin and an overwhelming sense of calm,
of quiet, of stillness.

Why visit Germany?  Because this is a place where you must remember to never forget,

Ina guides me through Berlin's Holocaust memorial, as people appear and disappear amongst the concrete pillars


Where you must remember that free thinking does not come for free,

and that with democracy comes great responsibility.

the Reichstag, Berlin

Because these lessons go beyond Germany or America, beyond the consciousness of the individual.  Because we must continue to look towards the future, aligning ourselves with the global community, with greater humanity.  Because it is the right thing to do.

East Side Gallery, site of former Berlin Wall

Because truly understanding people can be complicated.  Because people are complicated.

Because, despite our differences, we must rely on human connection, kinship, on empathy and understanding.  Life is too short to do otherwise. 

and this great world is much smaller than it seems.  

Jahre Deutschland, 

Vielen Dank für Alles!