Europe Day 16: Berlin Day 2

Friday, July 6, 2018

• Smoking outside our window at night; ash tray RIGHT BELOW our window. Some guy talking on his cell phone down there at 3 AM. Grrrrr.
• Reichstag was our first stop - special speedy treatment since we had a stroller with us
• Listened to an audiotour as we walked to the top of the dome
• When we came back down read about the history of the Reichstag - it was the perfect amount of reading.
• Spent way too much time searching for Claire's Germany shirt (it had to say Germany on it in English - we mostly found shirts that said "Berlin" or "Deutschland")
• Finally settled on one that was super cute that said Berlin and got her a Germany pen to make up for it
• Visited the Berlin Zoo and Aquarium for Hugo
• Liz was surprised how close you could get to some of the animals
• Lots of monkey species
• Elephants were a highlight
• Ate a mediocre overpriced lunch there
• Went back to the Rittersport cafe for some delicious desserts - a lemon buttermilk cake (it was okay) and and chocolate brownie sundae
• Sundae included a scoop of cacao sorbet - super dark and added a nice contrast
• Doners again for dinner at the same place. Liz got a doner platter instead which had way too much meat.
• Mark explored a bit on his own in the evening. Nice to go around without a stroller or baby.
• Walked by the Harnack House, where the family stayed for about a week after arriving in Berlin in 1989
• Also went by the Duck Pond neighborhood (Dreipfuhl), which Mark knows best as the neighborhood where he first saw and played Super Mario Bros. 3.
• Packed everything up to head out early the next morning on the bus to the airport

Outside the Reichstag

Looky touristy at the top of the Reichstag

Top balcony of the Reichstag. It was a bit windy.

Rittersport stairs in the Hauptbanhof

Elephants at the zoo - they were so close!

Liz's 2nd ever panda sighting (1st was in Hong Kong last year)

Drool. 

Doner platter and doner

Hertha is the biggest local soccer team, and Mark's favorite outside the US

U-Bahn train along the U3

Mark's first U-Bahn ride at age 9 started here, kicking off a lifetime of loving transit

The Harnack House, where Mark's family stayed for a week upon moving to Berlin

The "duck pond" neighborhood

And the pond itself

This U-Bahn station, Oskar Helene Heim, was the hub of the American community in Berlin (though Mark's family lived further down the line, by Krumme Lanke)

Europe Day 15: Berlin

Thursday, July 5, 2018

• Went to get tickets to go to the Reichstag tomorrow - the girls working at the TI really loved Hugo
• Wandered around a bit - walked by the Brandenburg gate (can't walk under because closed for World Cup viewing area)
• souvenir shops, Ampelmann store
• Rittersport store
• made custom bars for Claire and Greta
• Bought a surprise 2 kg bag for cheap and a few others
• Got lunch at the Rittersport cafe - hot chocolate with melted Rittersport chocolate
• Too full for dessert so we decided we'd come back tomorrow for dessert
• Afternoon at the pool for Hugo
• HUGE complex with 5 or 6 pools
• Small wading pool that Hugo LOVED
• It was mostly locals there, not many tourists
• There was a bilingual Spanish-German preschool group at the wading pool with us which was fun to listen to
• Got doners for dinner then headed to the KuDamm area by bus
• walked around, went to the Hertha store, watched the water clock in the Europa center
• Explored a bit in the KaDeWe
• Came back and got eis on the way back - EXHAUSTED

Wait...it's a photo in front of the Brandenburg Gate with NO ONE ELSE IN IT!

Say what?!

I didn't do a very good job mimicking the ampelmann

Lady at the Rittersport store making a custom chocolate bar

Rittersport hot chocolate!

Yeah...I don't have that strength

This was the best part of the whole trip for Hugo.

Eating a Berliner in Berlin! It was a pretty terrible one from the grocery store but at least I got it done!
No regrets like not eating a hamburger in Hamburg. 

Europe Day 14: Quedlinburg and on to Berlin

Wednesday, July 4, 2018

• Most amazing breakfast at our castle hotel - breads, cheeses, meats, scrambled and fried eggs, chocolate cake, etc.
• We sat out on the patio together - best breakfast food was the coconut pudding although surely unhealthy
• Quick drive to Quedlinburg, a UNESCO world heritage site
• Explored castle and church grounds - VERY OLD 
• Mark and Dale G went into the church - it was very austere, not a lot of decorations
• The church made some big claims about their relics - vials with hairs for Mary and Mary Magadalene, urn from wedding at Cana
• The urn was legitimately very old and from that era, but probably not from the wedding at Cana
• Walked around the town - lots of cobblestone and quaint buildings
• Not many international tourists - shops and such catered to German old ladies
• Market square was very busy with food trucks, much more affordable than Switzerland
• After a nice long walk we drove to Berlin (about 2.5 hours)
• Met up with everyone and took photos in front of their old houses
• Got spaghetti eis at Mexicoplatz AND a passionfruit kugel (ice cream)
• Drove to the AirBnb, then all the rental cars were returned and we got transit passes instead - Mark felt FREEDOM!
• Went with Mark's parents to the Berlin Wall memorial - it was sobering
• Showed pictures of people killed crossing into the west, including kids aged 2 & 6
• Both inner & outer walls are intact, the memorial is built on the grounds of the old death strip
• Got dinner at an Asian place in one of the train stations - tasty and reasonably priced
• Was an exceedingly hot day so our AirBnb was hot and we had to leave our window open - a guy came out smoking right outside our window at 3 AM and also talking on his phone in Russian. Not cool.
• Our window is ridiculously long and awkward to open and close

Outside the city wall of Quedlinburg

Quedlinburg: home of cobblestone and quaint buildings

Inside the church

Stained glass in the church

The church is VERY OLD

Cute caterpillar

Restroom build into the wall

Fountain in the center of Quedlinburg

Cool building so we had to take a picture

Hugo's first encounter with Spaghetti Eis

Berlin Wall

This has been painted over, but it's pretty cool artwork

Memorial of those killed at the wall. Note the little kids. :(

Hugo likes public transit!

Europe Day 13: Rothenburg to Harz region

Tuesday, July 3, 2018

• After a mediocre breakfast in our hotel, went and shopped for gifts and Christmas decorations - Rothenburg is home to the biggest Kathe Wolfhart store.
• Afterward, we went to the torture museum. Not as tortuous as anticipated but had an iron maiden, many neck violins, and other torture devices. Was interesting to see how common torture used to be for very minor infractions (bread not weighing enough, small dishonesties in business practices, not playing music well, etc)
• Went on a long drive north to the Harz region and Stecklenberg, where our next hotel is located (Olivers and Nadeaus went a different route to stay the night in Dresden)
• Hugo slept for a lot of the journey because he had gotten so little sleep the night before
• Ate lunch at Subway because it was convenient. Liz did not approve of the workers, and there was no free water
• We had few traffic issues, but this time it was Dale G's car's turn to get stuck in a stau
• Our hotel is a castle, and we got the suite room. Much more comfortable and spacious than our lodging the night before.
• Went out for Hungarian food with everyone who went to Stecklenberg - we got a sampler platter that was a lot of meat and not much else. The sausage and pork were good, the poultry was tough.
• Mark unwittingly tried liver and didn't hate it (but didn't love it either)
• We were the only ones in the restaurant - a pretty sleepy town
• Hugo again was difficult to put to sleep but at least our suite was spacious.
• Heard an air raid siren close to 10:00 and then heard emergency vehicles. It was eerie. 

• 

  We spent the night here. Sorry can't get this one in the right order.



Outside the torture museum

This well at our castle hotel had a frog inside and a golden ball on the outside like the fairy tale.

Hugo enjoyed the expansive grassy lawn at our castle hotel.

Our Hungarian dinner sampler