Thoughts on Berlin

They're someone else's thoughts, but I agree with him. Does that count?

Our September 2005 trip to Germany was much more difficult - emotionally - than I'd anticipated. Running headlong into family history, even when you're prepared for it, isn't always easy. And yet the people we met in Germany are some of the nicest people we've ever met while traveling - we're still in touch with the couple we met in Munich, as well as four people we spent time with in Berlin. We'd love to go back, just to spend time with them. I think my hesitation about the country would be less the next time around, but I have no way of knowing for sure.

Next time I would like to go to the city where my father was born, I know that, and I also know that'll likely bring back some of the unease I felt last year - but it also feels like something I should do. Ordinarily, inserting the word "should" into a sentence is usually a sign of bad things to come, but in this case it doesn't bother me.

Chris is likely to be heading back to the trade show that took him to Berlin in the first place, and though we haven't decided yet if I'll be joining him on any of his trips this year, it's safe to say that we'll return to Germany at some future point. And maybe, since we've already done many of the touristy things, we can just focus on the highlight from our initial trip - the people.