tschuess! - bye!

accordion music floats up from the bar below my balcony. it's the summer solstice and our street has been chosen to host berlin's celebration. the germans below, who normally blankly ignore each other on the street are now smiling at passersby and dancing slightly. i'm cleaning our apartment in anticipation of moving; thinking of all that awaits me in california. i already miss europe.

dan comes home from his last day of work at his german office. we clean and pack, each pretending to be excited to leave, each of us good enough actors to fool the other. but we both desperately want to be sitting outside enjoying the rare moment of sun and festivity with a bottle of wine.

instead of participating in the midsummer party when finished with our chores, we head out to run our last errands. fortunately our errands take us to the major landmarks of berlin, and we make our way from the tv tower down unter den linden to the brandenburg gate. we take a long last look at our favorite buildings, and views down the spree river.

we cross over the line noting where the berlin wall used to be and enter the world cup fan fest. the netherlands team is playing argentina. both teams have loyal fans crowding the street, but there is hardly a sound. all eyes concentrate on the string of giant screens placed up and down the fan mile. they are more interested in the game than trash talking each other. you would never find this kind of respect at a public showing of a raiders game, i think, as we turn right and head toward the huge new train station to free ride back to our neighborhood just in time for the midsummer night's last song. we've said goodbye to berlin.