berlin flavor

I'm in the midst of a lot of searching for bookings for a hopeful return to Germany this fall, so I thought I'd post a gallery of some Berlin flavor - no specific sights, just the general every day flavor of my surroundings when there. I've secured a place for Munich (no easy feat since I'm months late in doing so, given that I'm there during Oktoberfest and everything books up early) and am in the middle of my Berlin searches at the moment (also not easy since I time my visit to coincide with a festival). Normally I make my bookings in January, but I was negligent in doing that this year because I got caught up in stuff going on between Christmas and Olympics. Also, after my experience with hotels last year and with the apartment rental in Paris, I'm making an effort to avoid hotels. Its taken a few years to learn that's the better way to do things, but hopefully it will work out. We'll find out (hopefully) in September.