Parsonian's Blog

Over 4,000 shops in one huge complex.

One special variety in the back row: “Turkish Viagra”.

Lots of great fresh spices in the Istanbul Spice Bazaar, including “Turkish Saffron”.

Meat and veggie doner for shaving in Istanbul.

Proof that the Germans really do love David Hasselhoff…

Wrapping up Berlin today. I have walked many miles through the city, touring the Brandenburg gate, the Bundestag, Checkpoint Charlie, and the Deutsches Museum. The Jewish Museum is open late, so we may visit before heading to the airport.

Our flight to Istanbul leaves at 3 AM, but our connection to Kathmandu has been postponed three days, so we will have a few nights to enjoy Turkey.

München is a few days behind us, but I never got a chance to post a picture until now. This was in one of the relatively tame beer tents (I forget the name).

After Freiburg, we stopped in Rothenburg for a quick schneeball (“snowball” pastry), another bite to eat at the Markthalle in Hannover and are now in Hamburg. I haven’t seen any burgers yet, but I really want to eat a hamburger in Hamburg.

The autobahn is a lot of fun to drive, but not to navigate. None of the signs have directionals like North or South–instead they have names of cities or towns, so you have to know the region or look at a map at every turn. We’ve done a lot of backtracking (several times there isn’t an exit for 10km), but I think we’re getting the hang of things.

Oktoberfest was lots of fun, and a little strange. Definitely more carnival-like than I was expecting.

We rented a car, a little Ford Fiesta, and drove to Freiburg yesterday. We are heading up to Rothenburg on our way to Frankfurt tonight.

We have had a hard time getting online recently, thus the lack of updates and pictures. I will find some time soon.

Arrived in Munich around 4 AM via bus. About to head to our hotel for pre-Oktoberfest shenanigans.