Since I don’t have much time, here are a few points on what I’ve learned while I’ve been in Germany:

1. Germans really do start and finish everything on time, and on the odd occasion when they don’t (because of the late arrival of a dignitary, for example) lamentations on the loss of 15 minutes are endless

2. $5 flip-flops are not such a good deal when you have to spend $7 on blister band-aids in order to wear them

3. Berlin at the end of June is friggin cold – next time I will bring a jacket

4. You do not have to spend 20 Euros on an umbrella, if you spend enough time huddling inside shops waiting for the rain showers to pass you will eventually find an umbrella that costs only 3 Euros

5. It is very easy to spend far more than 20 Euros while huddling inside shops waiting for the rain showers to pass

6. Boiled beef should never be advertised as a ‘local specialty’ it does not sound appealing or impressive

7. Don’t bother asking the information hotline at Frankfurt airport for any information – they don’t have it and can’t seem to understand why anyone would expect that they do.