I'm a little concerned with the impression I have left so far of the German people. They, as a whole like people from all countries all over the world, are good decent people. They mean no harm. I have come to realize that the abrupt manner and rather strict demeanor displayed to us, particularly when dealing with older German people is simply a cultural thing. I have seen them belly-laugh and chat with each other with emotion and great vigor. Their stiff, formal reserve comes into play with strangers though. In addition, older German folk seldom speak English, and they have absolutely no patience for people who do not speak Duetsch. This is not however the case with younger people here. They have studied abroad, seen a bit of the world and have the Internet. Young people tend to be much more open and friendly. Actually though, the very most friendly residents we have met here are not Germans at all but are displaced people from Turkey, Denmark, Tasmania, etc. Again, I think it' a matter of culture. Simple as that! Similarly, people say the French are rude. They are not rude at all; it is just that they were taught there is no reason to speak to a stranger. We Americans were raised differently; we say hello to everyone, we open doors for people and we will laugh and talk with anyone!

Easter Sunday. . . . All day I have longed to be with my daughter Cody, our friends and our pastors at LCR for this special day. We have missed Holy Week activities and we missed today's wonderful Easter service. We looked for a church nearby but it just did not work for us today.

We dodged occasional rain showers and managed to accomplish seeing the most important places on our list. We visited the East Gate Gallery, not promoted on a tourist guide sheet but on advice from Jeff, our bike tour leader. East Gate Gallery is an outdoor exhibit of artists' work on still-standing portions of the Berlin Wall. This wall runs over ½ mile and each section depicts the individual artist's thoughts, inspiration or message. The artwork was done in the 90's but was almost ruined by vandalism and graffiti. Most of the paintings have been restored by the original artists, but now the wall is lined with fencing to prevent further damage.

Lunch was at 1:30 in the Kafer Dachgarten Restaurant on the roof of the Reichstag. Lunch was very good of course, I had meatballs in truffle sauce and Stan had Weiner (veal) Snitzel and potatoes. The atmosphere was enchanting with a full-glass view of the city skyline contrasted with dark skies and white clouds lighted here and there with rays of sunshine. Our lunch entitled us to walk through the glass dome that sits on top of the Reichstag. Below the dome is the hall where Parliament meets. The original building first opened in 1894 to house the Imperial Diet of the German empire. The core of the building was destroyed in the WWII. It was partially restored in 1960's and served as hospital and maternity ward.

Full restoration began in 1990 at the time of German Reunification when East and West Germany were restored to one. We walked the nautilus style ramp winding up to the top of the globe with beautiful vistas of the city all around. Then we walked out on to the decks - the sun had just come out following a brief rain shower and tah-dah!! . . . Jesus's cross was shining once again on the TV tower and there was a rainbow in the sky. It was a God moment.

We had just enough time left in the day to return to Brandenburg's Gate one last time to actually walk through it and lay our hands upon this Prussian structure from the 1700's. We saw a wedding being celebrated at its foot and were made happy for the event and bride's and groom's moment of joy .

So, it's time to say good bye, Berlin, you lovely city. We love your energy; and love the multitudes of bakeries, coffee shops and sausage and curry wiener stands you have simply everywhere. We love that you create and regularly eat wonderful pastries, breads and small sandwiches. We are fascinated with your love of licorice and the hundreds of licorice candies you have in all shapes, colors and sizes!!! We think it's wonderful that you buy flowers! Bunches of them! We lust for your trains and underground systems! You have treated us fairly and we thank you. You have been through great trials in your history; you have paid your dues; we wish you well.