Saturday, January 31, 2009
Berlin-London

I had set my cell phone alarm to 6 am and Anja and I jumped up immediately as we had a lot of clearing and cleaning of the apartment to do before we left the house at 6. 30 am. Anja very sweetly escorted me to the station at 6. 30 and decided to return to the flat that had served me so well, to clear away the garbage and take it home with her (in her bicycle basket!). Having packed and kept my backpack ready the previous night, we were out of the house and I was on the train by 6. 40.

Though it was a Saturday, there were a few folks on the platform and as the train sped towards Treptower Park where I had to make a change, more passengers climbed on—which was comforting to me as I am rather unnerved about traveling in public transport when it is empty. Within an hour, I was in Schonefeld airport and with much time to spare before I boarded my Ryanair flight, I was able to finish my Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (known as the Sorcerer’s Stone in the American edition).

The flight was smooth and uneventful and we arrived at Stanstead aiport without any incidents. I caught my Easybus van and was dropped off at Baker Street from where I changed two buses to get home to Holborn.

The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur as I downloaded my pictures from my camera, edited and captioned them, had a shampoo and shower, did my laundry, unpacked my backpack and brought things back to normal. checked and responded to my email (both business and personal) and made a few calls. This has become my routine when I return from trips and I pretty much do it now in my sleep. Before I knew it, it was 8. 3o pm and I was starving and thoroughly enjoyed the Salmon Pie that I had pulled out from the freezer on entering my flat. It made a very satisfying dinner before I decided to retire early as Stephanie and I have made plans to drive to Battle and Hastings tomorrow.