was incredible and big, very big.
i am extremely exhausted and lethargic so this post won't be too long.
lyndsay, the kids, and I headed to illesheim (local base) at 2:15am saturday. our bus was scheduled to leave at 3:00am sharp. emma sat with me, while mason lounged on lyndsay :) it was a long, but nice bus ride to berlin. im pretty sure it was the same amount of time to amsterdam, but it totally felt longer. after stopping in katterbach (another base) to pick up more people, we headed to berlin. we arrived around 10am to a surprisingly brisk wind. lets just say i almost considered buying gloves and ear warmers. once we started walking around we warmed up. i purposely carried the giant backpack to keep myself warm. its crazy to think that last weekend we were burning up in amsterdam and this weekend we were buying sweatshirts!
we really didn't have a 'plan' for the day, 2 things i wanted to see were the berlin wall and checkpoint charlie. while walking to these 2 places we stumbled upon a fantastic pizza place. seriously, it was amazing and cheap! after visiting the wall and checkpoint charlie we headed back through the city to the holocaust memorial, which was absolutely breathtaking! after walking for about 7 hours we decided to sit down for dinner. we ate an american-ish steak house. it was good :) finally, we headed back to the bus around 8:30pm and departed berlin at 9:00pm. the ride back was quiet and dark.
i will have to say i was a little emotional as we left berlin. i was just staring out the window, people watching, but it was a completely different type of people watching. i am in a completely different part of the world. then i started crying because i realized that there are people who will never get the opportunity to travel the world or visit europe, and see how different life is compared to ours. and that just makes me sad and grateful at the same time (thanks again mom and dad). i honestly didn't expect this trip to be so life changing. crazy.
3am. she was a trooper :)
9am!
lyndsay was basically a celebrity in berlin. everyone was staring at her and the stroller. we had been checking the weather prior to the trip and there was a good chance for rain. lyn went ahead and bought a cover for the stroller just in case. apparently berliners don't see double jogger strollers with a plastic cover over them very often. we joked that we were going to start charging people. anyway, this lady stopped lyndsay to look at the children. it was funny.
the berlin tv tower.
and again.
the berlin bear! they are alll over berlin :)
see! yes, that's a starbucks drink :)
an astronaut sticker!!
the ampelmann
The East German pedestrian traffic light symbols,
or‚ ampel men’ are Berlin born and bred. They came into being on October 13th 1961 when,
in response to the growing threat of road traffic accidents, the traffic psychologist,
Karl Peglau , introduced the first pedestrian
signals to the GDR capital. And so the vehicle traffic light, which had directed traffic
alone up to that point, was joined by the pedestrian traffic light. Its design was psychologically
conceived, because road-users react more quickly to appealing symbols.
thanks to http://ampelmann.de/html/geschichte_english.html
touching history.
best photobomb ever!
bush sr.
i had to.
checkpoint charlie!
checkpoint charlie!
the holocaust memorial.
the hotdog man.
the bradenburg gate, the symbol of the reunification of the two sides of berlin.
you really can't tell, but there was an intense protest going on down there. i really wanted to check it out, but lyndsay said no.
usa!
mason :)
only in berlin.
freeezing!!!
now onto the randomness that has nothing to do with berlin.
i made this.
ever since i can remember my mom has made the BEST fried egg sandwiches! i have always asked her "whats the secret?" and shes always said "cook the bacon first!"
so i tried it, and she is right! it was like having my mom in germany! lyndsay loved it as well :)
next weekend lyndsay has class, so i will be watching the kids! our next trip is LONDON!!
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