Home (For now):)

Today, we headed back to our home in The Netherlands...But not before I got a few quick pictures of the the gorgeous lobby area of the apartment we rented for the week...

Elizabeth told me the entry way reminded her of " The Sound of Music" and, the entry to the courtyard reminded her of "The Secret Garden".:)

Doesn't she look thrilled???!! 

Driving out of Berlin

 We made it home a few hours after we thought we would because there was so much traffic.  Guy did a great job navigating through the rain, and managed to drive about 140 MPH on the autobahn today.:)  We also managed to smuggle some German sausage safely back to our Dutch freezer...It is hardly an American Turkey (You can ask my friends about that!:)) but, we are proud to have gotten it safely to our own freezer.:)

German Sausage

The kids were so excited to get "home".  Elizabeth told us in the car that for a minute she forgot that we weren't going to our Houston house....just our "Netherlands" house.  But,  home is home, as long as we are together.:)  ( If you'd like to see our previous adventures in Germany (when the kids were little), click here and scroll down and click on "Germany" in the sidebar.):)
Until next time, Doei!:)

A few of the "treasures" the kids brought back from Berlin.:)

Auf Wiedersehen, Berlin

Our last day in Berlin started off with skeleton donuts....

And a ride on the underground....

A visit to the T.V. tower...

And, sadly, more reminders of the horrors of war...

Jeremy found a few cars he would like to add to his imaginary car collector's garage...

We had an amazing lunch at a great Thai Restaurant....yes...we had some great Thai food in Berlin!!!

photo courtesy of Jeremy.:)

 Did some more more great shopping and found a Lego Santa!

 Got to browse and shop through an open market...

 And had a great dinner and a quick family pic to celebrate our last night in Berlin.  Danke Sehr, Guy, for an amazing trip with the best trip planner ever!!!  I love you!:)

Poor Elizabeth, she was so tired from all the walking we did.:)

Unexpected development,,, J lost a tooth in Berlin..First person in our family to do so!  The German Tooth Fairy will have to make a visit!:)

Third Day in Berlin

Our third day in Berlin started off with a walk along the streets of the eastern side of Berlin, and we came across these reminders of the atrocities of WW2...

Right there on the corner of this street...

Since yesterday, was a very somber day full of learning about history and the horrors of what war and hate can do to people, we thought the kids deserved a day to have some fun.  A friend of mine in Groningen had told me about the Game Science Center in Berlin, and I knew it was right up Jeremy and Elizabeth's alley!:)  If there is anything that Guy and I have learned in our years traveling with kids, is that you can visit all the historic places, but you need to remember your littles and that they need to have some fun, too:) And, did they ever have some fun...

The animation picks up J's facial reactions.

Listening to a virtual haircut

Making your own story, as you go along with the Chooseatron.

Ping pong video game

Turning your voice into a kaleidoscope on the television screen...so cool!

And those pictures were just a few of the things offered at the science center.  Then, after lunch it was time to do some swanky shopping at KaDeWe.  I got to stroll through the department store where I could have dropped the equivalent of $1000 on a Stella McCartney sweater coat....oh..to have that kind of money to drop!!:) It was very interesting to see how "the other side" lives.:) But instead, we headed up to the gourmet food floor and the kids discovered anything and everything that could be made into chocolate.  Jeremy discovered chocolate cars!:) And, I discovered a very extensive selection of wines from around the world...no picture of that, though, I was too busy exploring!:)

And they both ended up with a few KaDeWe treasures!!:)

Another great end to a great day in Berlin!:)

First Full Day in Berlin

Monday was our first full day in Berlin and since Guy is such a great travel planning guide, he knew right where to go to get bus passes for all of us to take a bus tour of Berlin.:)  I managed to take a few pictures of the city...

Jeremy seeing the Berlin Wall for the first time.

Swanky shopping we will return to later.:)

Enjoying some German sausage.:)

Trampolines in the plaza!

Jeremy and Elizabeth were crazy about the Buddy Bears.  You can read more about them here. There are different painted bears all over the city!:)   Berlin's symbol is also the bear.  The origin is a bit fuzzy on how exactly the bear became Berlin's symbol, but you can read more about it here.

Oh, Look! A Buddy Bear!!:)

Picture in front of the TV tower (which is in the clouds):)

Humboldt University - The oldest University in Berlin

War Memorial

One of the many palaces in Berlin

Another Buddy bear:)

The famous Brandenburg Gate

The columns are huge!:)

You can read more about The Brandenburg Gate here.:)

Picture of the roadway of where many parades started to end up at the Brandenburg Gate

The picture on the bottom is what the gate looked like after bombings during WW2

We went to the Reichstag Building (where the German Parliament meets).  Right outside that building is a Memorial to the Murdered Members of the Reichstag. It commemorates the 96 members of parliament who died unnaturally (murdered) for opposing Hitler's regime.  It was very humbling to see all the names of the people who were killed.  Knowing the outcome and the total number of people murdered during WWII because of Hitler is chilling...

Jeremy standing in front of the memorial.

The Reichstag building has a very interesting history.  You can read more about it here.  It was used as a place to promote propaganda before WWII and then for military purposes during WW2.

Reichstag Buidling- where Germany's parliament meets

Before the Berlin wall was built, the Soviet Union blocked off railways and canal ways to areas of Berlin occupied by the Western Allies.  On September 9, 1948, the people of  West Berlin gathered at the Reichstag building and the mayor, Ernst Reuter, gave a famous speech.  It was playing when we visited...

Speech was playing through a speaker. It was in German but had an English translation.

Another palace:)

And of course, I had to have schnitzel while I was in Germany.:)

It was a great second day in Berlin planned out by one of the best travel guides I know.:)   Danke, Guy for a great tour so far!:)