Whisper House Press

Our first visit to Berlin was my son’s introduction to the city. We stayed in Mitte and used the S-Bahn and U-Bahn as well as streetcars, and we managed to get to the Stasi prison turned memorial site, Hohenschönhausen, to tour a Max in the Capital of Spies key location. We met with friends for brunch and for a visit to the German History Museum. We perused the Bernauer Strasse portion of the wall (photo spot for the cover of Max…) and visited the Memorial to Murdered Jews of Europe. Throughout that week, I wanted my son to get a feel for the place and learn how to get around.

Our second visit to the city came three weeks into the trip, and both of us were feeling a bit homesick. This is—no stretch in saying this—the first time I’ve ever desired to go home from Europe. It was my seventh visit to the continent and my fifth lasting a month or longer, and I’ve never before thought, “If I could go home today, I would.” I was surprised even that I allowed myself to feel it.

This month marked two more weeks added to a collection of several months’ spent in Germany’s capital, and I definitely feel as though I know the place, but I get to know it better every time I return. I felt, this time, a sense of completion. I’ve written two books set here. I have read a ton of books about it and will continue doing so. I want to spend more time in other German cities.

Throughout the week, we doubled back on a few spots, my son ate his first-ever schnitzel (he loved it), currywürst (he was so-so on it), and we visited the former Ministry for State Security (again, the Stasi) headquarters-turned-museum in Friedrichshain. We stayed near the East Side Gallery, so he got plenty of good looks at that artistic and historical site. We didn’t venture into Kreuzberg, but we did dip back into Berlin’s core for a few walks (Alexanderplatz to the TV Tower (and up top!) and down Unter den Linden to the Brandenburg Gate. (It is extremely weird walking this road imagining my grandfather rolling down it on a Russian tank at the end of the Second World War.)

I’ve always been downright sad leaving Berlin in the past, but this time, I got my fill. I wanted to get back to my wife and daughter and our three dogs. And—it’s true—I actually missed my job (teaching) and was looking forward to getting back.

I was also pretty curious about what London would bring. That would be our final stop on the four-week trek through Europe and the first time I’d get to visit.