We love Germany!

Hallo!

We headed back to Germany on Wednesday but a new city for Millie and the kids…Berlin! We immediately remembered why we love Germany as soon as our taxi picked us up at the airport with two boosters for the kids. When you “go with daddy,” you get to stay in nice hotels, so on to the Westin Grand we go! We walked to supper and were again reminded of our love for Germany. The restaurant, Lowenbrau, had a kids’ play area with tons of toys. New toys are the best!

On Thursday, the kids and I ventured out on the bus and tram which was so easy as I didn’t have to fold up the stroller for either of these means of transportation. This was a huge upgrade verses having to fold it up and carry it up and down stairs in London and Paris. We had fun at a kids’ museum where Bea and Teddy got to play in an indoor climbing area with other kids. This was a hit! However, the highlight of the day came at night when we met Cory’s colleague and his family for dinner at their favorite Bier Garten. Bea and Teddy had the most fun playing with their three kids. Bea especially felt so big playing as their kids are 9, 11 and 13.

Another bonus to traveling with Cory is the breakfast included. We make the most of it every morning! Teddy eats as much eggs as possible which doesn’t happen at home since Bea is allergic. Bea enjoys the cereal spreads. For whatever reason we hardly eat cereal at home. Of course, we all love the crepes/waffles/toast with Nutella. I know you can get it at home but it wouldn’t be a treat if you ate it everyday.

Friday’s adventure was to the Zoo Berlin. Since Berlin was divided for so long, it has two zoos and two of many other things. We chose the closer one that we could bus to easily. A zoo is always fun but this one was challenging for me. They were doing a lot of construction so navigating to find certain animals (i.e. at scheduled feeding times) became let’s just see what animal is in front of us instead. We did have two highlights when we watched a lioness play with her bamboo pole and when Teddy played with a Mandrill or Rafiki as he called him.

We also met Ampelmann in Berlin. He is what you call the walk sign for pedestrians here. He is very different looking to your normal walk sign so the kids had fun watching Ampelmann. Cory took us to a riverside cafe for supper to start our weekend. We witnessed a street performer cranking an old timey organ instrument. I felt like he needed a monkey sidekick! Since we’re in a suite in this city, Cory and I enjoyed watching a movie comfortably from our room (instead of the bathroom).

On our last full day in Berlin, we were tourists seeing the sites. This city has beautiful architecture which was great as we don’t last long in most tourist museums yet with our two. We also saw a section of the Berlin Wall. It seemed fitting to read personal stories about the wall’s history while the dark clouds were above and the rain came down.

To round out our time here, we were so fortunate enough to meet back up with the Spindeldrehers. Their family has provided all the wonderful recommendations of what we did there. As I mentioned their kids are older and as dinner wound down, the Spindeldreher kids took Bea and Teddy outside to play and we had a 20 min double date. It was the best! They were just lovely and Bea was smitten with their two girls! We hope to return the hospitality someday.

Next stop Amsterdam!

United Buddy Bear at our hotel