Berlin - alles gut

I am here. Alles gut! My destination is in front of me. Alles gut! Having navigated lost/found luggage and gone through the paper work for my bag that was broken into I feel that I have conquered the airport logistically and linguistically! Alles gut! Although I did ask if anyone spoke English when dealing with the broken case. Alles gut! It is an old case in any case and the lock has been broken and the whole mechanism is now unsafe. If it works out that it can be repaired then it is a waste but if it can be replaced that will be a bonus. Will keep you posted as to what the outcome is.

My next challenge was to get the taxi from the airport to Frau Hille's home that based upon my research on google maps is only 34min away via taxi. As she will not arrive from work until 6:30pm and the fact that the Goethe institute closes at 5pm I decided to wait at the airport and get tourist information and then make my way out. This has turned out to be a blessing as I had all the time in the world to find the right place and take my time dealing with the situation mentioned above. The bad part now is that there is no wifi at this airport...that I have found today...the good part is that all my addresses and locations are book marked into google maps, written in my documentation and printed in the confirmation material so once alles gut!

Well all I can say is that I am so happy to be here! I am staying in a new three storey home and have a lovely view of the gardens, Christmas trees have been taken out of homes and await pick up, I have never seen so many real spruce trees in one place. I am staying in Lichtenberg and am only 6 stops from the Goethe Institute via the U-Bahn. Maren Hille my host took me on a late night tour is that I could make my way there independently tomorrow. This is an eastern suburb area that was part of East Germany. This is onto noticable as you walk around as the gas mains are above ground and this was not the case in west Germany. There is this strange mixture of architecture and the old sits beside the new and I am pleased that this home is a new home in this area. There is a power station near by that looks like it never stops. Maren has a doctorate in green energy and is working on reforming the energy needs used in Germany. They have a plan to be using green energy by 2050.

Bis bald

Michelle