Berlin-bound!

With a short stay in the Air France lounge first to type this. It is my goal to blog daily while on my trip to Germany. The theme of this trip is to bring young American Jews to Berlin to witness modern Germany. It's sort of a, "We've come a long way since that thing 70 or so year ago." Sponsored by the German government, I will get to see Potsdam, Sachsenhausen (the former concentration camp), meet with a German MP, Wittenberg, the Holocaust Museum, and take part in discussions on German relations with Israel, the US, and on policy such as immigration. I look forward to drinking real German beer in Germany, going for a run on the streets, and seeing the city and the parts of the country we visit.

Of course, I have to get there first.

Nothing is so disconcerting as getting an email while on the bus to the airport telling you that your connecting flight from Paris to Berlin has been canceled. I was relatively calm as I figured they would put me on a later flight, which is what they did, but the counter folks did not find out about the change before I did. That was interesting as they checked my bag, sent it on its way, then would have to locate it to put a new tag on it. I give my bag a 50/50 chance of meeting me when I land. If that's the case, all I have are my jacket, backpack, clothes, and Red Sox hat (you can't travel internationally with your Sox hat, right?).

The flight is boarding soon - I stayed up most of last night in hopes I will sleep on the flight and be well rested when I land. Next post from Europe - and hopefully pictures.

The journey begins...