Today was a travel day and we were able to sleep in a bit later as our flight to Berlin wasn't until 1:15. I intended to go on a short walk to a nearby Starbucks, but ended up going in the wrong direction and had to take a short tube ride to get where I wanted to go and back. After breakfast at the hotel, which was quite decent, we arranged for a cab to take us to Heathrow. The flight was delayed by 45 minutes, but otherwise uneventful. We arrived at Tegel airport, which is scheduled to be closed and replaced by a newer bigger one in two months. It's quite apparent why they need a new airport! Had to line up for customs in the jetway!

The car rental was quite a hassle. I'll never use Dollar in Europe again! But we finally managed to get our VW Golf station wagon (bigger than our Golfs). I called Peter (Mom's cousin) who I'd previously arranged to meet, and 45 minutes later we were at Peter and Sigrid's (see pic) house in Lehnin. It was a nice reunion after several years. We enjoyed some "sekt" then drove to the same restaurant, in Golzow, where we'd eaten on our previous visit in 2007.

We met Horst and Jutta (another cousin) there, and had an excellent meal. The specialty was white asparagus, which is grown in the region and happened to be season. Several of us had it with our dinners and it was exceptional. After dinner we all went back to Peter's where we opened the bottle of Okanogan wine that I had brought for Peter, on account of a bet I made with him and lost. (I had bet him that Canada would win more medals than Germany in the Vancouver Olympics.)

It was a great visit, although trying to converse in German was apparently quite stressful for Sherry.

By the time we got to our hotel in a nearby town, it was quite late and there was no one at the desk, but they had left us room keys, so were okay.