With Macula Society taking place in Berlin this year, I had hoped to bring Melody and Westley to visit my relatives in Germany. But with rising Omicron infections and geopolitical tensions with Russia, I ended up traveling solo. My first flight from SMF on Saturday was delayed, requiring a scramble that landed me in Munich. Fortunately, the speedy ICE trains got me to Luneburg in just under 7 hours, which felt like a cinch with pastries and Wi-Fi on board. I arrived at Aunt Phuong’s house in the evening, filled on her bun nem, then overcame jet lag to sleep through the night in my nephew’s room. I awoke Sunday to homemade banh mi and a tour of my aunt’s garden. They introduced to me a promotional 9-euro ticket that provided unlimited access to public transportation in June, which provided a whirlwind tour of Hamburg including the Rathaus, a harbor ferry ride, and the Elbphilharmonie observation deck. Anh Hung met us there, shared hazelnuss ice-cream, then strolled through the glitzy HafenCity waterfront, past a Ukraine photo exhibit at St. Michael’s Church, to seafood at Casa Madeira in the Portuguese quarter. We walked off our dinner at the red light district in St. Pauli, including the infamous Herbertstraße where women were not allowed. On Monday, more relatives drove from Münster to join us for Chinese buffet, followed by desserts at my aunt’s home, where Andreas gave me an in-depth lesson in bee keeping. I awoke early next morning for a train to the Ritz-Carlon Berlin at Potsdamer Platz, which the Macula Society had managed to completely book for members only. After wowing at the 5-star room amenities, I went for Sichuan zajiang nudeln at Liu, checked out an Assisi Panorama, Checkpoint Charlie, and Topography of Terror, then returned to the meeting and welcome reception. I gave my talk on Thursday, then after lunch at the hotel, explored the murals at East Side Gallery before joining UW colleagues for a 3-course tasting menu of upscale German fare at Kurpfalz Weinstuben. Early Friday, I tested myself for COVID via telehealth using an antigen test kit from my friend Lejla, just one day before the U.S. lifted testing requirements, but cleared me to play hookie by visiting the Holocaust Memorial, Bandenburg Gate, Reichstag building, Pergamon Museum, and Berliner Dom. I was most impressed by the Reichstag glass dome, where the audioguide was triggered automatically by location, as well as the Ishtar Gate of Babylon and Islamic art collection at the Pergamon. For lunch, I went to Lebensmittel Mitte for hearty käsespätzle, but could not get a seat at Zur Letzten Instanz for their pork knuckle. I spent the afternoon shopping for a messenger bag, but instead got an iris photograph as personal art. Swimming at the Ritz and banquet at Frank Gehry’s Axica reminded me of the high life of retina and the costs of this trip, which fortunately was offset by a travel grant. On Saturday, I headed to the airport after getting currywurst and fries at Curry 36 at Berlin HBF, and suffered another tight connection in Munich before my usual dinner stop at SFO on the way home. I was glad to catch up with relatives, but sad that I didn’t have my family with me. Unfortunately, I developed a bad cough after getting back, so it’ll be another few days before I feel really home again.