2nd Day. I like Berlin. I could live here when the sun is out.

John and I saved a couple from a mugging today. A guy was getting physical and the couple looked scared so I made an appropriately threatening noise and the miscreant moved off. Berlin doesn't appear to be any worse than any other big city in the crime department and its good to know that the New Yorker in me can still be relied on in the moment.

John got to a couple of first class museum's while I went off to find the ADFC, the German cycling club where 4 very heavy maps were purchased. Perhaps if I stop eating I can offset the weight of the gear. Perish the thought. I had a very nice cheesecake for lunch. No, not the whole thing. Merely a healthy slice cut to German specification.

It's been hot and humid. I love it. The locals seem a bit unprepared for the weather but it's a cheerful place. I could live here when the sun shines. Many small independent shops. The big US chains are here but if you avoid tourist areas KFC and Starbucks won't find you.

I haven't yet worked out the photo upload problem but I'm working it.

We also visited the DDR museum today where you are introduced to the color gray. You didn't need it if the state didn't make it. Surely there is something between state run and Capitalism run amuck. I can dream.

English is spoken widely here in n Berlin and in the situations where it isn't, it's possible to work around it with smile and wild gesticulations. More often than not, merchants just speak English before you have an opportunity to declare your ignorance. I suspect it won't be so easy after Berlin.

The State Dept announced a world wide caution for travelers today. I'll do what I can to stay away from concentrations of American tourists and embassies. I'd have done that In any case. I will also practice not looking like an American.

Many folks smoke here. More on this in a later post. For a people consumed as they are with rules and consideration for others, they've missed the boat on this one.

Bratwurst and potatoes salad for dinner in a beer garden this evening. Not a vegetable in evidence. Delicious but unsustainable. I suppose a potato is a vegetable but you know what I mean.