Its been a week since we got home from Berlin, but I jotted down some notes earlier in the week so I wouldn't forget the details of our trip! The European Adventure continues!
Sidenote: You may be wondering how we picked the places we've been traveling to and whether we are flat broke by now. Even if you're not wondering these things, I will share how we've been planning these adventures. We knew we absolutely wanted to hit Ireland and Spain. Those were the first trips we booked and we used hotel points (the only good thing that comes from Serg traveling all the time when we're in Dallas) to stay at a nice place in Barcelona, and tried to be pretty smart about traveling around Ireland. To book other trips, we used this really cool feature on kayak.com that shows great fares that other users have found. They are date specific, so you have to be very flexible on when you travel, which thankfully we are. We found tickets to Berlin for super cheap and although we knew little about the city, we thought why not and went for it. So glad we did! Another couple of huge factors that are allowing us to travel while we're here are 1) we stuck to a budget for a while before we came to London and finished paying off debt (except our house) and 2) the style of living here makes it hard to spend in places I did back in Dallas; I can't just hop in the car and drive to Target... if I want something I think about having to walk, take a bus, etc. and by that time I realize whatever I wanted isn't worth the hassle! So we are living quite modestly here day to day and spending the difference on traveling.
So Berlin... I am not feeling like writing out everything in detail so how about I just give the notes this time and write more at a later date. And I'll throw in some pictures too.
Nate pukes in taxi to the airport.
Flight good, boys stayed awake.
Taxi to apartment, Andrew and Mommy go explore and find food while Daddy and Nate stay to wait for lady to let us in.
Walk around Tiergarten, find a playground, see a couple statues, starts raining. Feeling beat so let the boys watch Toy Story and order pizza. Serg tries to order pepperoni pizza but something got lost in translation and we get pepperoncinis (green peppers) instead. Hehe.
Boys do not sleep well, andrew coughing, wake up at5 am (6 am local).
We came across these pretty Christmas type trees while walking through the Tiergarten
'
Playgrounds here all seemed to have lots of sand and wood
Day 2
New day, ahh, try to have positive attitude on little sleep.
Take overground, S-Bahn, to Brandenberg Gate.
Bratwurst from a stand for lunch. YUM
Home to apartment for family nap time.
Still rainy, so in the afternoon we go to ZaDeWe, huge department store with great toy area.
Asian food from train station for dinner, actually quite good.
Fun day/night.
Better night's sleep.
In the plaza area just inside of the Brandenburg gate
Brandenburg Gate. So much history here.
There were several weird things in the plaza
Just inside the Tiergarten across from the BG
They could have played here for hours
Day 3
Zoo and aquarium.
Take turns jogging in the afternoon.
Walked to Bellevue Palace, stopped at playground, kept walking to Reichstag. Nate falls asleep as we head home, so we grab dinner (train station food) and go home to sort things out. Nate is a party animal and stays up late since he had a late nap.
Good day.
Bellevue Palace, where the President resides
Another playground...
Reichstag
Andrew peed on the grounds here... gotta love traveling with little kiddos.
Day 4
Take turns with the boys while we see sights. Serg goes to see Pergamon but line is too long, so he walks around city for a bit, then meets us for lunch at ZaDeWe, crazy lunch place with really good food. Nat goes shopping, walking around, and takes train to holocaust memorial, very interesting. Boys ride trains. Rains again that night so Serg goes and gets yummy Croation food for dinner.
Good day.
Museum Island, long lines on a Saturday
Nice view of the River Spree
Day 5
Wake up, taxi to airport, head home. Feels so good to get home.
These last few pictures are from Andrew having control of the camera
And just because...
Stay tuned for Part 2 which will include more coherent thoughts and reflections about this amazing city.
1. Your boys are ADORABLE. I always thought I'd have dark-haired, dark-eyed boys, and then I married someone who looks just like me. Oops!
ReplyDelete2. I know you understand the gravity of what you are doing or you wouldn't be doing it, but I just want to say I applaud you for taking on something a lot of people would never even try (especially with small children). If we weren't married to the Air Force, our life would look a lot more like this, I think. (We DID take Will to West Africa when he was two, and we have a *tentative* trip planned to India this spring with both boys, but we don't travel nearly as much as I would like!) Your kids will be better people for you giving them these opportunities--really!
Leia, thank you! I was thinking the other day how your life a couple years ago was probably similar to mine now and you would understand the craziness! I am so glad you are back to blogging, by the way, love reading about ya'lls experiences and your cute boys.
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