Endlich, Hab' Ich Sie Gefunden!

Way back in the day, in a land far, far away, I dwelt in this institution known to us from the States as High School. I refer here to my final year, and specifically to my fourth year of German class. One of our largest year-end projects was to divvy up into groups and make movies. As with such open ended, little-to-do-with-the-class-at-hand types of projects, our group went above and beyond and turned a simple-enough project into a major production, requiring many man-hours to complete as well as a cast of thousands. Ok, tens. Our movie was a spoof on the grand theme of Indiana Jones: Baden-Wurttemberg Jones and the Search for the Golden Bratwurst. We named him after one of the 16 states in Germany, the one which name we felt was most likely to elicit a comic reaction from a room full of 17- and 18-year-olds. Yours truly had the extreme pleasure of playing the starring role: the first, the last, and the only. And in place of a holy grail or Arc of the Covenant, what more perfectly German than a legendary gilded sausage?

Well, little did we know that if it wasn't necessarily a golden BRATWURST we were after but a golden CURRYWURST instead, finding it would have been as easy as taking the S-Bahn to Hackesher Markt in Berlin, dismounting, and walking a few paces:


What I failed to capture in my excitement at that critical moment of documentation was the price. Believe it or not, a Currywurst Gold cost only €5, exactly double the price of a regular one. But I didn't go for it; I thought that those other €2 and change were better spent on a beer. What I also failed to capture are the answers to all the questions coursing through your mind — and mine — at the discovery of something so inane. For that I apologize. “...uncut with 22 kt. beaten gold”?? No way! What exactly does it MEAN!? Well, I leave tomorrow at 1 in the afternoon; perhaps we'll never know...

I guarantee you, this hasn't been the most exciting moment since my photographic encounter with the Fernsehturm three nights ago, but it's certainly up there. And yes, I intend on relating all the relevant details of the last few days, during which much has happened, including but not limited to: epic night at huge rock club, tour of the Jewish Museum Berlin, walk along the East Side Gallery and up into Friedrichschain, almost religious viewing of Wednesday's AC-Milan v. Arsenal match followed by a late-night romp through the neighborhood surrounding Zionskirche, incessant photography of graffiti, and a search for a proper busking spot which took me literally from platz to platz (Potsdamer to Alexander) with no luck. There was certainly some running and some eating in there too, but those parts aren't all that worthy of elucidation. And so, as the dust settles, it'll all come out.