She is not yet dead - that's what the geezer said

No, I'm still alive and in Frankfurt at the moment, and very much looking forward to getting back to Berlin tomorrow. I've had a great break, with lots of interesting moments, and I'll post about it this weekend. I just thought it would be interesting to give a quick list of the things I've picked up on the way. I'm not a big souvenier shopper at all, being mildly obsessed with spending as little and packing as lightly as possible, but this time I am a little more laden down on the way back, to wit:

4 bars Swiss chocolate (plus the half-eaten one in my purse)

1 pound Turkish Delight

1 pound baklava
1 glass evil eye and

2 small ceramic bowls, both purchased in Istanbul

1 copy of An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears, bought a few hours ago when I realized that I was desperate for reading material, having read both books I brought with me about three times (my CD player suffered an untimely demise last week, so I've been reading non-stop on the train).

I also started back from Istanbul with 300 grams of dried figs, but I finished up the last of those this morning. And, of course, my purse is full of all manner of maps, flyers, hostel bills, receipts, and other slips of paper - the security guard at the airport in Vienna had to go through it, and I felt really bad. Particularly when he identified the suspicious object he'd seen on the X-ray as my hairbrush, which is pretty grungy.

Also, here's a picture of me standing in front of the Golden Horn, taken by a German I met in the hostel who felt sorry for me because I didn't have a camera:

Hope everyone had a great Easter weekend, and I'll be in touch.