October 2016 - Berlin Germany
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| Our life reading flight info... but man can she read these boards and find our flights :) |
With the girls having two weeks off school and feeling like our time here is running out, we continue to feel the pressure to see and do as much as we can on this continent while we still have the chance. So many incredible places are within reach, the tough part is deciding where to go next!
After some quick loads of laundry and dressing up in a pursuit for all things sugar, we turned around and flew out to a country where Russ and I both have roots; GERMANY! Of course, we could spend weeks traveling around Germany alone, but in an effort to see a city that was more removed from the rest, full of history and recommend for children, we set out for 3 days in Berlin.
Our first day was a blustery one, walking along leaf-laden streets. We all commented on how we loved the smell of fall and reminisced about the pumpkin patch, cider, donuts and all things fall back home!
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| Kicking leaves... which of course results in damp shoes... who knew?!? Well some of us did! |
We stayed in a location that gave us access to many of the prominent sights and sounds Berlin is known for! Our first stop was Check Point Charlie. Checkpoint Charlie (or "Checkpoint C") was the name given by the Western Allies to the best-known Berlin wall-crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War. The brain-drain of professionals had become so damaging to the political credibility and economic viability of East Germany that securing of the Soviet frontier became imperative.
Between 1949 and 1961, over 2½ million East Germans fled to the West and the East German economy suffered accordingly. On August 13, 1961, a barbed-wire barrier that would become the Berlin Wall separating East and West Berlin was erected by the East Germans. Two days later, police and army engineers began to construct a more permanent concrete wall. Along with the wall, the 830 mile zonal border became 3.5 miles wide on its East German side in some parts of Germany with a tall steel-mesh fence running along a "death strip" to slow and to reveal the prints of those trying to escape.
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| A piece of the wall - such a foreign concept. We talked for a while about how Russ and I remember watching the news and seeing the wall come down. |
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| Trying to give a little history behind the wall.... maybe too deep for today... |
We headed out for our next stop and along the way came across lots of beautiful buildings, filled with many historical things that we will come back and visit another time, and an incredible store, filled with traditional Christmas gifts and collectibles. The girls couldn't get enough of the nutcrackers, coo coo clocks and "smokers". Of course they wanted one of everything...who am I kidding, I wanted one of everything too!
After prying the children out of Christmas paradise, we headed down the road for Brandenburg Gate. Of course, the history, nostalgia and significance of the monument paled in comparison to the Dunkin Donuts that was on the corner. Brandenburg Gate is an 18th-century neoclassical monument and one of the best-known landmarks of Germany. It is built on the site of a former city gate that marked the start of the road from Berlin to the town of Brandenburg.
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| Brandenburg Gate |
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Pariser Platz is a square in the centre of Berlin, near Brandenburg Gate. The square is named after the French capital Paris in honour of the anti-Napoleon Allies' occupation of Paris in 1814 and is one of the main focal points of the city. |
Brandenburg Gate was commissioned by King Frederick William II of Prussia as a sign of peace in 1778. Having suffered considerable damage in WWII the Brandenburg Gate was restored from 2000 to 2002. During the post-war Partition of Germany, the gate was isolated and inaccessible, given it's proximity to the Berlin Wall.
Throughout its existence, the Brandenburg Gate was often a site for major historical events and is today considered not only as a symbol of the tumultuous history of Europe and Germany, but also of European unity and peace. A nice place to be when reflecting on symbolism of the later :)
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| Yum... Dunkin Donuts |
One block to the north of the Brandenburg Gate stands the Reichstag building that houses the German parliament. A quick walk past there with a few pictures, was the extent of our visit. We contemplated going to the top, however there were long lines and the security seemed quite intense, so we opted to keep walking.
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| Standing in front of the Parliament |
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Reichstag
Me: Do you want to go in and take the tour?
Annelyse: Do we have to? |
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| "We're of German decent... we need to appreciate this"... ok Mom... |
After the Reichstag, we headed for the East Side Gallery. The East Side Gallery is an international memorial for freedom. It is a 1316 m long section of the Berlin Wall located near the center of Berlin on Mühlenstraße in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg. The Gallery consists of 105 paintings by artists from all over the world, painted in 1990 on the east side of the Berlin Wall. The paintings at the East Side Gallery document a time of change and express the euphoria and great hopes for a better, more free future for all people of the world. Many of the paintings have been damaged due to graffiti, however are beautiful still given their history and meaning.
Similar to Belfast, the whole concept of a wall and separating people was difficult to explain to girls who were born with logic and reason. And also much like all the ruins in Rome, it was hard to visualize/conceptualize what the city must have looked like with an enormous intact wall running through it, not being able to go to the different things on either side.
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| Appreciating and savoring freedom... "first we were on that side, now we are on this side" |
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| Yep... we (including Annelyse) noticed the "edits" to the original painting. Both girls were aware of the election and the two primary candidates, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton... Annelyse has also heard the "F-word" at school and has inquired as to what exactly it means... somehow she has decided it means Frog poop, so Russ and I have decided to go with it. Obviously when she saw this sign, she decided that the people in Berlin weren't a fan of Mr. Trump. |
After our stroll we hopped in a taxi and headed for a place I found that I knew the girls would thoroughly enjoy, Pee Pees Katzen Cafe (Cat Cafe)... upon entering the girls were completely smitten with the two kittens, Pelle and Caruso.
One had found a nice cozy spot in a swinging chair-hammock and the other had commandeered the wheel-chair of another patron. The excitement leading up to the place made a a bit nervous that the girls would be disappointed. At one point, Loralye told Annelyse that if they only had one cat to give away, they would have to share it. No matter how many times I told them they didn't give the cats away, Loralye kept saying, "we'll just wait and see". The good news, is that while they didn't walk away with a kitten, they said it was the best part of their day.
Funny story in Loralye's continued pursuit of being first... while trying to buy tickets for the Metro, we were struggling a bit because the machine wouldn't take bills or credit cards. A nice gentleman behind us, offered help, and attempted to purchase the tickets to see if he could get it to work. After putting in HIS coins, Loralye promptly removed his ticket from the machine and headed off in search of her train. I swear, this child. Slightly embarrassed, she gave the nice man his ticket and promptly asked why we didn't have coins... of course... true to her genes, she deflected attention and error to another party.
Our last day in Berlin we took things slow and just putzed
around the city. We started with a nice
dip in the pool with our new friend Sydney, from Australia nonetheless! These girls make friends everywhere and if I wasn't nervous that it would weird these people out, I would start taking pictures of them with their temporary acquaintances. Poor Sydney was 5 years old... right between Lo and Anna, which translated into WW III for these girls... our two, anyway! Every time, Lo suggested an activity, Annelyse would say Sydney was too old for that... conversely, when Annelyse suggested they do something, Lo insisted Sydney "was too little". If this child didn't walk away thinking she was capable of doing anything short of walking, it will be a miracle!
After getting cleaned up we headed out for kids play café. Russ found this place and was convinced
it would be something we would want to recreate in the states, however upon
arrival, it was not quite what we expected. He was envisioning a place where the kids could play and he could veg... enclosed, safe, warm with boundaries... walls (not the same kind exactly from yesterday... but walls) and a moment's peace.
Ha! Wishful thinking... A section of the place was full of sand and sand toys which was a huge hit! Right next to where the parents sit and relax... yeah right... Outside there were lots of bikes, trykes and
scotters to roam around on. Again, wonderful, perfect and fun, assuming you headed here with an agenda to play and sit on your keister and enjoy a cup of coffee.
After a cup
of tea and some good play, we headed over to the Berlin Zoo. While in Portugal, we were watching the
Discovery Channel which happened to feature a segment on baby animals. While watching we noticed the back of the zoo
keepers smocks had “Berlin” written on them.
The girls were so excited to go and find some of these babies the
following week.
Seeing that fall is upon us, the walk through the zoo was a
bit brisk with the animals retreating inside to stay warm. Some of the highlights at the zoo were
watching the elephants snap tree branches into bite size pieces. The girls got a kick out of watching them
hold the branch with their trunks then use their foot to snap the branch. The show from the seal was also a hit with
his superb talent of balancing the ball on his snout, along with the very
up-close and personal experience with the hippopotamus. Of course the highlight
was the poop chunks floating in the water.
Gross but funny! Lastly, the monkeys and house full of big cats
were full of good laughs. The girls were
able to get the big, black panther to growl which was pretty intimidating but
entertaining at the same time.
To finish off the day we ended up back at the Christmas
store and got some special German trinkets to add to our souvenir
collection. Another quick swim and some lasagna
in the apartment and we called it a night!
The next morning we headed to Berlin Central Station and
caught the train to Prague! The train ride was stunning through the
mountains with the leaves changing and smoke billowing out of the cottage chimneys. The best part of the train
ride was having lunch in the dining car.
I don’t know what it was about it, but it was super cozy and made us not
want to leave. After a lovely authentic Czech
lunch that the girls devoured, we hopped off train and headed to the city.
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| I could have stayed on this train for days... I am not sure exactly what it was that was so endearing, but it felt warm and was so peaceful. |
PRAGUE - Czech Republic
Seeing that we had a long day traveling, we didn’t wander too far from the hotel on the first night. We headed to Old Town and took in the sights and smells complete with the lovely aroma of the Tredelnik... more on that lovely treat later!
It was nice being in the city after sunset, which given daylight savings, was around 4:30 in the afternoon! We stuck around for the 5 o’clock chiming of the astronomical clock!
The Astronomical Clock features "The Walk of the Apostles" which depicts the Apostles among other moving sculptures, including four figures which are set in motion on the hour. These figures represent four things that were despised at the time of the clock's making.
The first is vanity, represented by a figure admiring himself in a mirror. Next, the miser holding a bag of gold represents greed.
Across the clock stands death, a skeleton that strikes the time upon the hour. Finally there is a figure representing lust and earthly pleasures.
On the hour, the skeleton rings the bell and immediately all other figures shake their heads, side to side, signifying their unreadiness "to go."
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| Annelyse is still puzzled by the fact that many of the towns we visit have an "Old Town" |
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| The Astronomical Clock was first installed in 1410, making it the third-oldest astronomical clock in the world and the oldest one still operating. |
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| Pic in the morning... got a better view of all the parts and pieces of the clock and there are a whole lot less people out and about when we get up! |
The next morning we headed out bright and early back through Old Town to the famous Charles Bridge. The Charles Bridge is an historic bridge that crosses then Vltava river. Its construction started in 1357 under King Charles IV and was finished in the beginning of the 15th century.
The bridge is 621 meters (2,037 ft) long and nearly 10 meters (33 ft) wide. To put it bluntly, it's huge! The bridge is decorated by a continuous alley of 30 statues most of them baroque-style. Most sculptures were erected between 1683 and 1714. They depict various saints and patron saints venerated at that time.
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| Headed for the Charles Bridge! |
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| Can't let sister have a pic without her having one. |
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| In front of the Charles Bridge. |
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| Views from the bridge... not bad for an early fall morning! The swans were about as big as Loralye. Likely well-fed down there given the amount of traffic over this bridge daily. In the background you can see Prague Castle and St Vitus Cathedral. |
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| Daddy's Girl |
The girls really enjoyed looking at all the statues seeing that we were on a mission to find the statue of John of Nepomuk. Ahead of getting to the bridge, we talked about finding the statue with the ring of stars around his head. Legend has it, that if you touch this statue with your left hand, luck will come your way. Well of course any reason to find for more luck (which in their minds means candy) is a reason to seek out a statue! After much seeking we finally found him and rubbed him enough to have luck for weeks!
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| Focus on the fact that Annelyse is in her photo. |
We opted not to go into details of why John of Nepomuk was there... however, the story goes John was killed at the request of the king by being thrown off the Charles Bridge. The reason being was that John refused to tell the king the queen's confession (which was she invited a bishop to Prague who was the king's enemy). A few steps to the right of the statue, is a cross with five stars.
This is the exact point where the priest was thrown in the water in the year 1383. Legend has it that stars appeared when he touched the water. Here you are supposed to touch the cross and the stars with your left hand and make a wish. Whatever your wish, it will come true!
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| Such a beautiful city... |
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| More statues... each had a lovely plaque and story. I think I read 2 of 30... Good reason to plan a return trip I guess! |
We had originally planned to go to the Prague Castle, but the line to get in was endless, so we shifted gears and headed towards Petrin Hill. The hill is roughly a half-hour walk up paths and gardens... great exercise, particularly when carrying girls on your back! While walking Loralye screamed…
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| In front of the Eiffel Tower... aka Petřínská rozhledna. Built in 1891 it is used as an observation and transmission tower. |
“Look Mommy, there’s the Eiffel Tower… sure enough, a structure which looked very much like a mini-Eiffel tower stood before us. Later after doing some research, we found that the structure was designed to look like the Eiffel Tower in Paris. We made the long journey, including 229 steps to the top for incredible views of the city. Our reward after the trip up and down the tower was one of those Tredlnik!!
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| Taking a break in one of the little nooks on the way to the top! |
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| The girls were troopers... |
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| For as much as they are carried... they didn't ask once! |
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| Half Way! They were thoughtful in the fact that you not only needed a break, but inspiration to keep going! |
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| We made it!! I love that this was enclosed with locks... just our style! |
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| The view... those 229 steps were worth it! |
After Petrin Tower, we headed over to the Mirror Maze which is always good for a laugh and then made the journey back down the mountain via the Petrin Funicular! Second trip in a row we made the mistake of taking the transportation down the hill instead of up the hill. Oh well, at least we got some exercise!
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| Long legs! |
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| Making our way down the hill on the Petrin Funicular! |
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| Lovely view on the ride down from Petrin! |
The next day we headed back to the Prague Castle grounds (earlier this time and with a concrete, well researched plan! Success! We were in and no one was crying or lost a toe to frost bite! The castle dates back to the 9th century and is currently the official residence of the President of the Czech Republic. The castle was a seat of power for kings of Bohemia, Holy Roman emperors and presidents of Czechoslovakia.
According to the Guinness Book of Records, Prague Castle is the largest ancient castle in the world, occupying an area of almost 70,000 m2, at about 570 meters in length and an average of about 130 meters wide. We confirmed this fact by spending the better part of an entire day meandering around the castle grounds!!
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| Lots of steps to get here too!!! Looking up! |
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| Looking where we came from... |
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| Harassing the guards... Lo wanted NO part of this activity! |
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| On our way in... |
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| Hanging out in an open space where we can run and even found a fountain... |
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| Any standing water is typically identifed as a fountain. In this case, the girls decided it was a wishing well. Whether or not it was, they chucked in some Koruna and made wishes. My guess is they were wishing to do anything but we had planned to do! |
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| St. Vitus Cathedral. Not open until noon... so while we were on the grounds, no dice on getting in the building. Good thing we are getting better at keeping ourselves entertained! |
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| One way to keep ourselves busy, try on the goods in the gift shop. Likely not appreciated by the Manager of the gift shop, however sort of to be expected when you open the boring attractions at 10 and the main attractions at noon. |
Lots of lovebirds on the grounds... why not try to emulate them?!?
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| Or pretend to shoot your parents with cannon balls! |
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| Many of houses were refurbished to look like the past. |
Luckily, we found a place that suited us perfectly and was OPEN! Golden Lane is a street situated on the Prague Castle grounds. The lane was originally known as Zlatnická ulička (Goldsmith's Lane), due to the many goldsmiths residing in the houses. Today, Golden Lane looks like a tidy row of tiny colored house full of little shops. We also stumbled upon the medieval museum of armory which was great fun and very interesting.
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| The armory... Lo thought these sets of armor looked like feathers... |
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| So many cool helmets |
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| Walking down Golden Lane |
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| Every freakin' country... of course we couldn't pass by this one without a story! About 2 minutes before I took this picture, there were several men standing around this statue laughing and carrying on. Lots of pictures were being taken and good fun had. Seeing that there was such a large group of them, the girls didn't notice the statue as much as the activity. They eventually, dispersed. Moments later, a larger group of women were swarmed around the statue, exhibiting the same behavior, incessant, loud, laughter. At this point the girls put two and two together and set out to see what the big deal was with this statue. That is when they discovered his "golden member" Too many questions followed which sought to understand why the majority of the statue was one color but a certain part was not. Luckily they didn't recall the same discoloring was noted on the statue of John of Nepomuk where everyone kept rubbing... |
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| My Loves! |
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| "Hey Mom... take my picture!" |
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| Fighting over who's half of the window was who's... don't mind that view out there! |
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| We couldn't take pictures of the Crown Jewels, but did manage to have a great time using this mirror to do everything and anything but admire the painting on the ceiling high above. The jewels were a sight to see though... The crown is made from 22 carat-gold and a set of 19 sapphires, 30 emeralds, 44 splines, 20 pearls, 1 ruby, 1 rubellite and 1 aquamarine. At the top of the crown is the cross, which reportedly stores a thorn from Christ's crown of thorns. |
Just before noon, we made our way back to St. Vitus for the tour of the cathedral. Because we were still early, we decided to make our way up the bell-tower of the cathedral. A completely unexpected highlight of the day was being in the tower when the noon bells chimed. The tower has 287 narrow, winding steps, and is more than 90 meters high. Less than half way up, we heard the first GONG! Immediately, I thought, holy crap... how did I not realize this would be happening right now. Both girls stopped and put their hands over their ears... after continuing to walk slowly up the stairs, we got to a point, where we could see the bell ringers, pulling the ropes to make the bells chime!
Such a cool thing to watch. All I could think of was the scene in the Sound of Music, where they are pulling the bells and the boys are being hoisted off the ground... while that wasn't exactly what we saw, the girls were enamored with the synchronization of all the people and how many bells were up there!
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| It was really tight between the castle wall behind me and the cathedral ...hence why we had to do an EXTREME close-up! |
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| Watching the bell-ringers! |
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| "I'm Fine!!!" Everyone else is wearing ear protection... likely you should keep your ears covered!! |
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| If the bell experience wasn't enough, the view was great from here as well!! To the left you can see the Petrin Tower we climbed the day before. |
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| Finally inside... another incredible church!! This cathedral is full of Gothic architecture and full of tombs containing many Bohemian kings and Holy Roman Emperors... slightly creepy, but we just told them it was an inside cemetery! |
The windows and stained glass inside this place were absolutely incredible. The scenes and designs were so ornate and intricately done. Even the girls noticed how beautifully done they were. Lo even asked for my phone so she could take some pics! You know the stain glass is impressive when a 4 year old finds it worthy of a picture!
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| I've created a monster... |
We wrapped up the day with another traditional Czech treat! Here they were calling them "Chimney"... and they do sort of look like chimneys... except full of ice cream, whip cream, chocolate and strawberries! Boy where these things delicious! Like a crusty cinnamon roll full of all things wonderful!
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| "Lo smile"... This is what you get with a mouth full of whip cream!! |
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| Pretty much sums up this heavenly treat! |
Random Pictures:
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| Boy can she dish it out... |
But has a hard time taking it back...
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| Walking backwards in Berlin... initially it was because the wind was really whipping, but after a while we were just having fun! Also helped us forget about the wind! |
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| Being silly at the airport... they are such sweet sisters to one another.... most of the time!! |
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| Russ is in major need of a chiropractor... these ladies are growing like weeds, but their tolerance for walking doesn't seem to increasing commensurately. |
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| Sums up pretty much every day of our lives... |
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| I don't even want to know... |
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| Our road warrior! |
Whew... on the road for 19 days... (minus the one we came home to celebrate for Halloween)! Six flights, 4 countries, one train and endless trams, taxis and metro's later... we are home safe... and very, very happy to be sleeping in our own beds... for a few weeks anyway!
While this adventure is tiring and I sometimes find myself dragging, I remember the blessing that is this life and I wouldn't change any of it. To experience these places with my 3 musketeers knowing they likely won't remember much of it, I relish in the fact that we are all learning, growing and changing together. I know they have caught the travel bug and look forward to planning many more trips in the future when we not only visit new places, but return to some and reminisce of days past.
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While they squeeze every last drop of energy (and patience) out of me regulary they are worth every bit of it!
Snapchat wouldn't be nearly as fun without them ;) |
We stayed in a location that gave us access to many of the prominent sights and sounds Berlin is known for! Our first stop was Check Point Charlie. Checkpoint Charlie (or "Checkpoint C") was the name given by the Western Allies to the best-known Berlin wall-crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War. The brain-drain of professionals had become so damaging to the political credibility and economic viability of East Germany that securing of the Soviet frontier became imperative. 
After prying the children out of Christmas paradise, we headed down the road for Brandenburg Gate. Of course, the history, nostalgia and significance of the monument paled in comparison to the Dunkin Donuts that was on the corner. Brandenburg Gate is an 18th-century neoclassical monument and one of the best-known landmarks of Germany. It is built on the site of a former city gate that marked the start of the road from Berlin to the town of Brandenburg.
After the Reichstag, we headed for the East Side Gallery. The East Side Gallery is an international memorial for freedom. It is a 1316 m long section of the Berlin Wall located near the center of Berlin on Mühlenstraße in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg. The Gallery consists of 105 paintings by artists from all over the world, painted in 1990 on the east side of the Berlin Wall. The paintings at the East Side Gallery document a time of change and express the euphoria and great hopes for a better, more free future for all people of the world. Many of the paintings have been damaged due to graffiti, however are beautiful still given their history and meaning. 
After getting cleaned up we headed out for kids play café. Russ found this place and was convinced
it would be something we would want to recreate in the states, however upon
arrival, it was not quite what we expected. He was envisioning a place where the kids could play and he could veg... enclosed, safe, warm with boundaries... walls (not the same kind exactly from yesterday... but walls) and a moment's peace. 
Seeing that fall is upon us, the walk through the zoo was a
bit brisk with the animals retreating inside to stay warm. Some of the highlights at the zoo were
watching the elephants snap tree branches into bite size pieces. The girls got a kick out of watching them
hold the branch with their trunks then use their foot to snap the branch. The show from the seal was also a hit with
his superb talent of balancing the ball on his snout, along with the very
up-close and personal experience with the hippopotamus. Of course the highlight
was the poop chunks floating in the water.
Gross but funny! Lastly, the monkeys and house full of big cats
were full of good laughs. The girls were
able to get the big, black panther to growl which was pretty intimidating but
entertaining at the same time. 
The next morning we headed to Berlin Central Station and
caught the train to Prague! The train ride was stunning through the
mountains with the leaves changing and smoke billowing out of the cottage chimneys. The best part of the train
ride was having lunch in the dining car.
I don’t know what it was about it, but it was super cozy and made us not
want to leave. After a lovely authentic Czech
lunch that the girls devoured, we hopped off train and headed to the city.
Seeing that we had a long day traveling, we didn’t wander too far from the hotel on the first night. We headed to Old Town and took in the sights and smells complete with the lovely aroma of the Tredelnik... more on that lovely treat later! 
The first is vanity, represented by a figure admiring himself in a mirror. Next, the miser holding a bag of gold represents greed. 
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