beer, cheese and hidden meat...
The trip to Frankfurt au Main began with a resigned sigh. I had to check my damn luggage yet again on an international flight. This time I was prepared; shampoo etc., undergarments, sweater, socks, books and camera in my backpack and as I watched the case disappear down the chute, I allowed myself a swift sigh as I turned away, certain to never see it again. I made my way through the cruddiness of the American Airlines terminal at JFK, sipped a pint and waited for the flight to board to Heathrow.
Flight? Uneventful... unable to sleep I chuckled my way through Little Miss Sunshine, ate a putrid gelatinous mass of vegetarian lasagna, dozed fitfully for a total of 12 minutes and watched the sun rise over England. Of course the flight was late, of course Heathrow is completely asinine by making you go back through security even while you are connecting flights... of course I missed my flight by ten minutes.
Arrived at Frankfurt on a later flight and could not believe that a) my bag made it and b) Sean had waited for me to share a cab to the hotel... trefftpunkt. Meeting Place. Smoke in the air and a whirl of travelers... Frankfurt's' airport is the busiest in Europe yet makes the most sense and is almost elegant in it's organization and ease to navigate.
Some images of Frankfurt? The Lilliputian elevator at Hotel Maingau, being the only patron in Studio 59 drinking beer with the bartender who was watching the German version of Melrose Place with a deep-set intensity, the vast array of food at the free breakfast including a dazzling amount of spreadable meat (not eaten), the Flea market slinking along the river, chocolate croissants, the pseudo-crack spoon/firecracker toy at the Frankfurt Woolworth's, the swank hotel where we stayed the second night...and then the drive to Berlin.
Originally we were to take the train but a member of our small gaggle decided to rent a car and we loaded up, figured out how to put it into reverse and made our way to Berlin. Sex shop rest stops? One biggie. Hidden Meat cheese sandwiches for a deceptively cheap Euro? one. Castles seen crumbling on either side of the car? 2.
Firmly established Sean and myself as the worlds most preeminent map decipherers. Even when faced with the challenge of a complete reversal of the directions...
Yes, yes, we rock.

As always, when I go to write about a place it never fares as well as the images in my mind...a collection of fragments seem to resemble the trip but they become dislodged and jumbled.

Berlin deserves more than what I wish to type right now...