I had always planned to delay my November trip to Berlin until after the midterms, and wow, am I glad I did. To celebrate yesterday’s election results in the midst of my fellow citizens has been a joy beyond imagining. There are still horrors to come, no doubt—we have not gotten rid of the central villain and his devious henchmen yet—but to know that a sizable majority of Americans (including Texans! including South Carolinians!) are absolutely fed up with this administration is satisfaction enough for now. I haven’t felt this good about my native country for years.
On Friday I will arrive in Berlin for the first time since my book about the city came out. (I’ve been told I’ll even be able to see Berlin Before and After stacked on bookstore tables, a thrill I have yet to experience here in the States.) I have a full schedule planned, including three operas, seven concerts, several photography shows, the usual round of art exhibits, and a number of dinners with friends—and that’s not counting the unplanned parts, which Berlin specializes in. So I thought I would try something new on this visit. Each morning, starting on Saturday the 7th, I will try to write a post about what I have seen or done or discovered during the day before. If I can keep it up, perhaps I will end up producing my own modest portrait of the city that was so beautifully captured by Franz Hessel, Joseph Roth, and Billy Wilder in their journalistic accounts from a century ago.