Vilnius/Frankfurt/Berlin
May 2, 2011 

Distance Traveled Today:  1035

Total Distance Traveled:  9934

Obama Kills Osama

Well, it took nearly 10 years, but we finally go the son-of-a-bitch.  I just wish I felt better about it .

Why couldn’t we have apprehended him?  Why did we have to pounce, commando-style, guns blazing?  Wouldn’t it have been better for us, better for the world, to put him on public trial?  Incarcerate him?  Did the administration think it would make the USA look weak if we didn’t murder him?  I don’t really get it.

I also feel a tiny bit guilty for taking a bit of partisan pleasure in the fact that this victory happened on Obama’s watch.  Good for him.  Along with the exasperated release of his birth certificate last week, it seems to be a pretty good month for the President.

Memorable Accomplishments of Barak Hussein Obama

• Getting elected, even though he was a black dude named Hussein
• Passing his compromised yet still important health bill
• Getting Bin Laden

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I made a pretty costly mistake regarding the inter-Europe flights.  The weight allowance for baggage is sharply less than it is for intercontinental flights, and I got slapped with pretty vicious fees on the Brussels to Vilnius and the Vilnius to Berlin flights.  I got pretty steamed, but it’s really my fault for not doing better research.  If I’d known it would be so expensive, I would have found a way to ship one of my large bags by train or something from Brussels to Berlin.  I’ll be more careful next time. 

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As queasy as it made me to fly on the very day Osama’s death announced, my two short flights were easy and boring, as you want all flights to be.

I got to Berlin and my hotel just fine, but quickly realize I’d made a mistake thinking the hotel was in a “cool” part of the city.  It’s called Courtyard City Center, so it was an honest mistake, I think.  I mean, doesn’t that sound good?  But it turns out the “city center” – called Mitte – is a boring, strictly business-only district with few amenities and very little charm.  The hotel is very definitely a business, not tourist, hotel. 

But that’s okay.  I made my way to the subway and after a little struggle figured out how to purchase a week pass.  Public transportation is fantastic in Berlin, and with this pass I can easily hop around the city to get to the good parts.