My flight to visit the German assistant Bastienne left from Geneva, Switzerland, so Heather and I stayed near the Swiss border for a couple days in Annecy, a gorgeous French town in the Alps. The French built the city up so much before I got there, and I understood why when every step I took along the lake I wanted to take another picture. The water was a beautiful clear blue, which I guess is turquoise in the summer, and the snow-capped cliffs and mountains gave it such a contrast that it seemed almost fake. The bad part was it poured almost the whole time we were there, but that didn't stop Heather and I from eating delicious meals topped off with some good conversation and some relaxing book reading at the hotel.
Then I was off to Berlin; a wonderful mixture of past, present, and future in one city. Bastienne, the German assistant found me at the airport...thank god because I found out later that the Germans are so wonderful with saving the environment that their massive public transportation systems get confusing, plus the no German language capabilities kinda held me back. I stayed with Bastienne's brother and his girlfriend Melanie and started off the trip with a free English-guided tour which taught me so much history in the 3.5hr walking tour that I felt jipped by my history books. And from there I knew what I wanted to see more in-depth. Its amazing to see the city's state of transgression that its in, and I have definitely decided that I want to go back and see what its become in the future; among other things for some more yummy German desserts and to see the other areas of Germany too. I could write on and on but pictures will have to suffice because this two-week vacation has put me behind on many things.
