Let's see if I can't end February the way I started it - with a post.

This is a picture of me circa 1984 after I made a daring escape from East Berlin over "the wall". Not pictured are several snipers, roving spotlights, and a team of German Guards with dogs, all of which I managed to elude.







In an unrelated story, we just returned from Berlin with Gwen and company (family) and a good time was had by all, despite just about everyone getting sick at some point. Gwen herself is currently afflicted, and unfortunately so, for she has been ill for the past three weeks now with consecutive colds. Only her brother Charles and myself managed to escape without illness, but I suppose that there is still time.

This was my second trip to Berlin in two months and I continue to think that the city rocks. This time we had Nate along, who speaks German, and who had lived around the area for some time in the past. He has a local friend named Christina, who was quite nice and who met us several times and told us about the city, Germany, etc. I definitely continue to enjoy meeting locals and learning the subtleties of the culture. I'm also re-inspired to try and finally learn some more German, though progress on that front has thus far been slow and relatively unmotivated. (You get something wrong, and the tutor inevitably screams, "NEIN!!" It's intimidating.)

Gwen and I stayed in the utterly luxurious Hotel Adlon, which is the nicest hotel I've ever had the pleaure to snobbily look down upon others from. Mere FEET from the Brandenburg Gate, it was a lavish and unapologetic way to spoil fair Gwendolyn upon her return to civilization. (The kind of hotel I normally try and rush past security and into while drunk just to say I used the lobby bathroom.) The service was impeccable, the amenities far-ranging, the spa area exquisite, and the bathroom an Eden unto itself. The price was predictably steep, but ultimately worth it. It will be hard to ever travel back to Berlin and stay anywhere else.

Other trip highlights included the Pergamon Museum, famed for its collection of ancient Greek sculpture and an actual Gate of Babylon. The audio guide was sharp, and it was probably one of the highest quality two hour periods I've ever spent in a museum. (Hard to imagine that the famed Babylon was once the height of civilization - especially given its location about 60 miles from modern-day FOB Falcon.)

The rest of the time was spent meandering about and checking out other parts of the city and its many attractions. Through it all, I was even able to put together a decent smattering of photos for my "Mike is an Idiot" compilation (coming along nicely over the years by the way), a few of which I'll post below along with a handful of others.









From the front of the Adlon




At the entrance to the Lord of the Funboys Museum....