today, after waking up to a breakfast of soft boiled eggs and toast and a quick email to someone far away, sebastian took me for a bike ride around the city...after finally adjusting to the small height differential of the bike, i was able to see the city in all its beauty and wonder. i admit i didn't realize that berlin has so much water, a river flows thru and even the lake by sebastian and sarah's balcony...the birds are always singing and i can see the mother and father swans across the lake with their little ducklings behind...the jewish memorial was amazing, how the ground undulates and the tops of the stones vary in height as well...one can really get lost or maintain a clear sense of direction in the growing grid of stone...each face is smooth to the touch of the fingers, where the ground is rough and scattered with pebbles between the square cobblestones...i sat and looked at the reichstag from the grassy lawn...resting and soaking the quiet in...my arm is scratched...where did that come from?