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After two weeks in Berlin there was still not enough time to see everyone and all the places we wanted to visit, but we had a goodbye dinner with friends and family on our last evening.

Next stop: Jena

Our hosts Ulrike and Martin, who Horst had met through a student exchange program, had visited us ten years ago and we had lots to catch up. We went for a hike up the hill through narrow cobblestone streets to a tower overlooking Jena, and, of course, quenched our thirst with a beer at the top. Next day, we went for a long hike to Schloss Ettersburg with its surrounding trees and wide open meadows, enjoying the sunny day with blue skies and white clouds. Next, we strolled through historic Weimar, taking lots of photos of beautifully restored buildings, again quenching our thirst with a beer and stopping for a late lunch. Horst especially enjoyed his Wurschtplatte.

Monday was spent exploring the streets of Jena, visiting the Botanischer Garten and an enchanted big old cemetery, that Ulrike´s kids played in when they were little. A sandbox remains even today.

A drastic drop in temperature together with spending a whole day in the city has dampened our spirits. Today, the city looked and smelled dirty and, walking through department stores, we could easily have been in any other city or country. What's more, we stopped at Starbucks (how German is that?) to connect to the Internet, and, walking along sidewalks, we had to watch our step (dogs are plentiful here).

Appropriately our trip starts in Berlin, where we left 40 years ago to go to Canada. Arriving at Tegel airport, due to close in a few weeks when the new giant airport in Schönefeld opens, we had our first Currywurst and beer standing at a table outside.

After several attempts at the ticket vending machine that kept ejecting our not so crisp Euro notes, we managed to buy transit passes for the week. Getting onto the bus, we quickly realized that lining up does not work here!

Winter here is not nearly as exciting as in places where there is snow and people can ski or where it is cold enough that you can skate. Here, in the rain forest of the north-west, winter has many shades of grey and brown, but you can also find greens in the sword ferns, the moss and the little ferns all the way up maple trees. And then, when the sun comes out, the colours come back and we leave our houses to catch some sun rays and stand at the beach, watching the whitecaps on the water.