Slightly-spooky puppets in a shop window.

Dunkin' Donuts! A lot of American chains don't exist in France, and I'm always surprised to see them when I visit other countries. I had no idea that Dunkin' Donuts existed in Europe, and I was excited to see if the donuts in Germany taste like the ones in New Jersey. (They do.) It was a very interesting anthropological experiment, introducing a French woman to Dunkin' Donuts. We ended up eating Dunkin' Donuts on more occasions than I'm proud to admit. There aren't a ton of things I miss about the States, but this is one of them.

For me, the part of being in Germany that feels the most like being in Germany is the very German typefaces all over the place. Most other things — the buildings, the cars, the streets, the people — could almost be in France or another European country. It's the German fonts that remind me I'm in Germany every few steps I take. Living in Paris I get so used to the light, elegant French typefaces used on all the cafes and shops that I forget they're French-looking at all. And then I go to Berlin and see these solid, imposing, pointy letters that you could kill somebody with.

Whoa, and then there's this bakery that uses the Disney font! That was unexpected.

Sexymama! I took this picture for my friend Corri.

Very emo guy on some storefront. This is the land of Sprockets, after all.

Charming pixel art plastered onto a wall. I think that's an upside-down, ripped up Santa Claus! The other thing, I have no idea.

I ran across this Marx bust in a grim and non-touristy section of East Berlin on a very dreary Sunday afternoon; warm, gray, rainy, everything closed, no one in the streets, and barely any cars anywhere. I felt like I'd been transported back to the old days, pre-Wall coming down. Until...

... We sought shelter from the rain right around the corner in the only thing that was open: a McDonalds with crazy Americana nonsense painted all over it! I'm kind of surprised the Marx statue hadn't hopped down from its pedestal, dug itself a grave, and then lay down to roll around in it.

Crazy graffiti in Friedrichshain. (We missed the Bryan Adams concert.)

WOW! This is my favorite mural I've ever seen in my life. Click here for a more huger version. I know I fought this thing in one of the Castlevania sequels.

This guy might be my second-favorite mural of all time (but I'm pretty sure I didn't fight him in any of the Castlevania sequels). I like how pointless and weird this stuff is. Beats all the artsy feel-good stuff in Philly.

Thx America! This sign was hanging all over the place in our hotel/hostel. Wow, this was unexpected! For more than one reason, really: A) I've realized for a long time now that the rest of the world doesn't hate America like we think it does, BUT that doesn't mean anybody totally loves us, either. It's surprising to see that Berlin/Germany is grateful to us for... something? I feel very stupid asking what this might be? Still WW2? I guess? And then the other shocking revelation this sign brought me was B) the American economy is finally so bad that European countries are actually taking pity on us and extending their charity to us. The exchange recently got quite a bit better, but up until about about a month ago the Euro was hovering around US$1.60 all this year, which is horrid. For some weird reason it's dropped considerably in the last month, down to $1.43 right now; I check constantly because all of my clients are in the States and I'm paid in US dollars, so the exchange rate is a big factor in my day-to-day financial comfort in Europe (one of the small sacrifices I'm happy to make in order to live in the country of my choosing). Anyway, I wasn't able to take advantage of the hotel's offer because I never actually have any US currency in my possession; I guess this offer is for Americans who are coming straight from the US with pocketfuls of cash they're planning on trading in for Euros. Anyway, it's an extremely generous offer, and the existence of this goodwill toward Americans is sweet, not to mention more than a little embarrassing.

That's all the pics! Thanks, Berlin! See ya in the funny papers.