It was a long flight, but I slept for seven of the nine hours! Here is the recap. On the night of the 31st, we all left for Heidelberg. For those who do not know it, Heidelberg is the epitome of a cheerful little German town. We walked around for a few hours, but our ultimate destination was Frankfurt. Back on the train, we opened the wine we had bought earlier. The only way to describe it is:

Hi everybody! I did not quite realise it, but today is Christmas Eve. I hope my family will not be too upset with me. We are at an internet cafe that costs one euro a minute. Casey is doing something to my left, while the host to my right is listening to Ricky Martin. Too funny. Yesterday we woke up, packed, and left our bags in the main office. I made another wonderful breakfast: eggs, yoghurt, a chocolate cookie, and bacon. The eggs and bacon were especially good wrapped in a piece of flatbread. I wandered through the residential district, saw a few churches, and visited the Stilles Museum. It was a little unusual, but an event there made me think I should start playing chess again. I then went around the …

That last post was on the 23rd, not the 24th.

We are now in Berlin, having followed several interesting paths since my last post. On our final morning in Bern, Fabienne, Sabina, Stefi, Leoni, Casey, and I took a long walk through the city. The lightly frosted houses created a picturesque winter scene. I could imagine raising children there. We walked down towards the river and stopped at a small cafe with large blue sofas and elaborate drinks. The coffee arrived with a glass of water, a welcome touch. After discussing the peculiarities of Bern, we returned to Fabienne’s home, collected our bags and a few remaining bottles of wine, and made our way to the station.