Let's see how far I get in Berlin without any money.
On my plane ride here i've been reading Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse five. Rob says this is ironic to read while traveling through Germany. Our Berlin guidebook suggests not mentioning World War II here with a particularly arrogant tone ("So...zero out of two, eh?") but I can't help being struck by how different and removed the hardened, cruel Germans in WWII novels seem to be from the polite, civil, efficient yet down-to-earth Germans I have met in my life. I've not yet had the bad sense to bring this up to any of them, but the movies and books certainly seem to be talking about a different country. Which they are. Germany, and especially Berlin, and seen a lot of change this century-something I'm sure I will learn all about tomorrow when I watch the celebrations at the Wall, or what is left of it at least
