When in Rome, do as the Romans do.  When in Berlin, however  — shut the hell up and absorb all you can.  It’s amazing what you can learn about a city just by listening.

When my buddy Brent was struck down with a nasty sinus infection, his good friend Christian quickly picked up the slack to show me the sites.   Christian and I hit it off right off the bat. Good thing too … because otherwise I would have been reduced to riding around in one of those cheesy, godforsaken double decker buses filled with unappreciative tourists.

Hanging out with him I felt like I was always in the middle of a United Colours of Benetton advertisement.  I had no idea what was going on, but always felt cool.

The thing I found interesting about Christian is that even though he lives smack dab in the middle of Berlin, he had yet to visit a majority of the touristy areas.

“I drive past this every day and yet I’ve never been here,” he said when we visited the Berlin Wall Memorial.  (Funny, I say the same thing when I drive past Arrowhead Stadium in KC.  Or any other place where organized sports are often held.  Just sayin’.)

The memorial was a touching, sentimental tribute to the 1,000+ mile wall that divided a nation in two for nearly 30 years.  As Christian and I walked around we didn’t say much.  We didn’t have to.  You could feel the ghosts and the angst of days gone by.  Berlin is a city rich in culture and history and, unfortunately, a jaded past.

I genuinely enjoyed Christian’s company for a number of reasons.  First and foremost, I hate getting lost in an unfamiliar city.  The chances of that happening were minimal at best with Christian’s hometown navigational skills.  Second, his English was impeccable from spending a year in California.  My German consists of “Gesundheit” and that’s it.  Christian went out of his way to give me an interesting running commentary throughout the day.  And he managed to teach me a few German words to boot.  I butchered all of them.  The best part, though, is that he was a friendly, jovial fellow who managed to make a memorable weekend even that much more special.   It renewed my faith in humanity.  Uh, and Germans.

The fun part was learning the behind-the-scenes German scuttlebutt that you just can’t get unless you’re hanging out with a native.  When Christian pointed out that most bathrooms have floral print wallpaper, I could not have been more nonplused.  “Look closer,” Christian said.  “No, look REALLY close.”  Turns out Germans have a sense of humor.  All the flowers were really little pictures of penises and vaginas disguised as flora and/or fauna.  I’m considering redoing my bathroom.

I invited Christian to come visit me in Kansas City so I could return the favor.  I don’t know how impressed he’ll be with BBQ, but there are several jazz and blues bars I’ve driven by every day, but never visited.

I’m planning on throwing caution to the wind.