I just had the most fabulous CS experience. It is the people that I met that made this trip. I am constantly amazed at the kindness and generousity of strangers. My host was someone I 'met' through a CS photography project I am involved with. I stayed with him,his new wife and their 9 week old baby. To take the pressure off all of us I booked a hostel around the block with a private bedroom and a shared bath and shower down the hall. I stayed in the former East Germany in Friedrichshain. It is a trendy neighborhood of young people with many baby carriages,bars,outdoor cafes,antique shops. There are people out walking or riding bikes and I felt very safe there walking alone at night. It was very much a neighborhood and even I got to 'know' some of the shopkeepers. My host was a super cool cat art director with a eye for design. His spotless white home had his own paintings on the walls. He rented a 'smart car' to pick me up at the airport. He worked during the day and I shopped and cooked and tried to help his young wife with her crying baby. I consider this family 'like family' now and can't wait for them to visit me in NY this summer. I really miss holding their beautiful baby. It was good to have the hostel to be able to go to be alone,change my clothes and have private time.

I went to three CS meetings where I met many people including Bridgette from 50+. We went to all the meetings together and spent an afternoon together. Thanks,Bridgette for helping me figure out the trains which I only got the hang of on my last few days. I met 'Puneet the colorful hitchhiker' see my new profile pic. He is a very interesting man with a magnetic personality. He wanted to be remembered to Cadence and Zoe. I met Uwe from Berlin CS and Gunther Dorn who organizes the Wed meetings. Many laughs and good conversation.

I did a walking tour with my host of the touristy sights which ended with us sitting in deck chairs on the river Spree having a beer. On the weekend they rented a car and we went to their 'country home' a two hour drive on a Friday night going 80MPH. In the morning I woke to being in this incredible Medieval town. We walked to the bakery on cobblestone streets and the buildings had the wood planks on them with interesting roofs. The air smelled like Ireland with the smoke from all the fireplaces. I think more than half the buildings in town were empty and just begging to renovated. Young people are coming back to this town and buying lofts and businesses and the prices are relatively still cheap. My hosts rents the ground floor in his building to a pizza shop. I loved walking in this old village and went to the old church on Sunday morning. My host is renovating this building mostly himself and he has this old building with very cool,stark,clean design kitchen,furniture and his art work. I cooked Jambalaya for them there for dinner which we shared with gallons of good red wine!

Judy