Hello, America. It's good to be back...even if it's surrounded by Germany.

East side of outer most Berlin wall.

It is our third day in Berlin and we are starting our day out in the United States. What? How can that be you say. Well, we are technically starting our day in the good ole US of A by visiting the American Embassy. We took the subway and were lucky enough to be able to keep up with our host, Astrid, and not get lost on our way. I would show you a picture, but the guards were kind enough to "let" Meghan delete the photo she took of the building.

Here we met with Mrs. Sabine Lieberz who is an agricultural specialist at the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service or FAS. We had a fascinating conversation with Mrs. Lieberz about what the FAS does and why it does it. With their help in gathering data on crop conditions around the world, it helps set accurate market prices for crops, which is essential for accurate price discovery.

Mrs. Lieberz also explained how German agriculture must deal with not only German ag policy, but the ag policy of the European Union as well. She went on to speak to the difference between a directive and regulation and how each impacts German ag policy. She also gave us a very intriguing insight into the German mindset on issues like TTIP and GMO's.

Next thing we know, our time with Mrs. Lieberz had ended and we were on our way back, a little behind schedule, for our lunch with Udo Hemmerling, but not before a little cultural flair from an older German gentleman while riding the subway. As we came to a stop, I stood up to get out of an older mans way. As he was walking to the door, he was talking to me in german. Apparently he was upset and I need to learn to speak german. We all figured this out as the international symbol for discontent, or the one finger salute, was indicated in my general direction. None of us, including our host, was sure what set the man off. Anyways, the trip must go on!

Meghan, Kristi, Susan & Nick by Berlin Wall.

Arriving at lunch, we met Mr. Hemmerling. He is the Deputy General Secretary of the DBV and we were to discuss sustainability and energy policy. As he began explaining that German citizens have the ability to purchase their power from a multitude of power suppliers, our minds were blown! I have a sneaking suspicion that this will be happening quite a lot on this trip. We discussed the policy that incentized farmers to invest in biogas plants as to increase the country's amount of renewable energy. Turns out the program was more expensive than the government anticipated. I think that even I could have told them that! Now changes have been made and a new biogas plant no longer pencils out, so very few are being built when the subsidized guarantee isn't there.

West side of outer most wall. 

After lunch we hustled to the Berlin wall memorial. It was truly amazing being in the place where such an important event took place, and one that I even remember watching unfold on TV. We all learned an amazing amount about the wall, which was really a system of walls and fences, that divided East and West Berlin. I have a feeling that we will be hearing more about the impact this has had throughout our journey. Seeing the memorial and learning more about the wall was an experience that I came away from both sad and angry at the same time. This Friday, the 4th of October, will be the 25th anniversary of the reunification of Germany, and I am here while they celebrate it.

Remnants of Berlin Wall.

After we finished at the wall we had some free time to explore. We went to see Checkpoint Charlie, the American guarded portal to East Berlin and enjoyed dinner and the Berlin evening before calling it a day. Tomorrow is our last day in Berlin, a city I really am beginning to grow fond of, before we head out to Neubrandenburg for the next leg of our journey. Lots more to come. Thanks for reading.

Auf Wiedersehen!

Nick