… on the Gay Germany tour in September 2023! Once again, Professor Andrew Lear packs an amazing itinerary into 10 days of delightful travel, this time in Munich and environs and Berlin. Highlights included: a guided tour to the Deutsche Eiche, Munich’s premier baths/restuarant/condo/rooftop bar complex, led by the adopted son of the owners (Freddy Mercury lived across the street!); an exhaustive but rewarding visit to the Residenz, the Wittelsbach city palace that’s bigger than 2 football fields; a trip to the Bavarian alps to visit 2 of “Mad” King Ludwig’s castles (Linderhof & Neuschwanstein); a sobering visit to Dachau, the first concentration camp; then, in Berlin, a walking tour from our hotel in the Friedrichstraße to the Brandenburg Gate, and thence south to Checkpoint Charlie & the Topography of Terror Museum; a visit to the Museum Island and the former Jewish cemetery; a quick romp through Sansoucci, Frederick the Great’s theme park in Potsdam (followed by a sumptuous meal Zum Fliegenden Höllander); and a visit to Isherwood’s haunts in the Nollendorfplatz neighborhood. While the German cities can’t compete with Italy in terms of physical beauty (and, after all, they were bombed to smithereens in WWII), the history, culture, Professor Lear’s deep knowledge and unique perspective lent an added dimension to our experience of these and other attractions. I’d definitely recommend this trip, (I can’t help it!)