Ab durch den Kiez

Here are some final photos from Berlin. How strange to leave the city. Arriving here, I felt like I'd have all the time in the world, but time snuck up on me as it always does, and it felt like the blink of an eye. Should I have applied for Berlin on my Fulbright application? I've wondered that often in the last days, and in the end, I am convinced that I was right to use the grant to explore other corners of Germany. As an acquaintance of mine wisely put it, it's off to my new favorite among all the world's fair cities.

Oranienstraße, the artery of my life

Among the things I'll miss about my old favorite city is the U-Bahn/S-Bahn system. After a total of a year and a half in Berlin (split between my two stays), I've got the transportation grid pretty ingrained in my head. I know how to get from almost any station to any other, and I expect to spend my first few weeks in Dresden looking at Straßenbahn maps with a puzzled expression on my face.

I'll miss my friends here certainly. Especially lovely was the Kneipenquiz at Fosca, though it was on summer break for much of my time here. I've been particularly bad though, at dragging myself out of Kreuzberg to Lisa's in Friedrichshain and the southeastern suburbs my old high school buddies live in. I haven't even made it over yet to see Lisa's new apartment. Who knows? I may even see everyone nearly as often as I did before. I plan to get very familiar with the 2-hour train ride north to Berlin.

Typical Kreuzberg transportation along the Landwehrkanal

My old host family too, will only be a short train ride away. With Maine on the other side of the planet, it's unbelievably comforting to know I have a second home so close by.

Of course, I'll miss inanimate things too. I'm anticipating regular Burgermeister cravings, pangs at memories of the farmers' market at Boxhagener Platz, and failed attempts to recreate the avacado milkshakes at Buchhandlung. Since I've always thought that Friedrichshain was just a Schritt too far away for Cupcake to be located, I'll continue to go there infrequently, and my cholesterol-level will continue to thank me for it.

Berlin, du wirdst mir fehlen.