Week 3 in Germany

We are back a full month now, so I figured, it is time to finish telling our travel tales. Paula, Karla and Einar left Thursday morning for their tour along the Rhine to Cologne and we got ready to head for Berlin. It had gotten much warmer over night and the snow was melting at a rapid speed (did I mention there were flood warnings everywhere because of that). It the last moment I through a few lighter cloths for the kids in the suitcase. The drive to Berlin was very uneventful. No traffic jams etc. The warm air and the cold ground made sure we saw nothing of the beautiful countryside, because the melting/evaporating snow produced a thick layer of fog. The fog lasted until we entered Thuringia, when we got hit by a new cold front moving in from Russia. Oh yah, it started snowing again. By the time we reached Berlin, about a foot of snow had accumulated. My mother had rented a vacation house at the outskirts of the city, between Charlottenburg and Tegel. That forced us to always use the car, because public transportation with the children in the snow, would have been very difficult. I was surprised, how easy driving in Berlin was. I think it might had something to do with the fact, that Berliners did not drive in the snow, so we had the streets nearly to ourselves. The next morning we headed out to visit Schloss Charlottenburg, where I had never been before. Everything looked so peaceful in the white snowcover, it had something timeless. There are many different parts you can visit in this palace, but it was recommended to us to just view the upper rooms which contained a lot of gold and treasure. Museums are difficult places with little children, since often you are not allowed to bring in the stroller (insurance reasons). My mother and I kept switching carrying Amelia, because even the lightest baby get's heavy after a while. Marlene loved seeing the chambers were real kings, queens, princes, and princesses had lived. I would have loved to see more, but time was running out with the girls patience. We left Charlottenburg and headed for the Kurfuerstendamm to have lunch at the KaDeWe, the best/biggest department store in Germany. They have several restaurants inside, among which on the top floor, is a kind of "garden" bistro self service cafeteria with a beautiful view over Gendarmenmarkt. Before we got there, thou, Amelia had fallen asleep in the car and so we decided to drive around the city and view the important sites from the car. We drove along Kurfuerstendamm, then Bahnhof Zoo, down "Strasse des 17. Juni", past Siegessaeule to the Reichstag and Brandenburg Gate. We continued along "Unter den Linden" to the Deutscher Dom and Alexanderplatz. This is where Amelia woke up and we drove back to Gendarmenmarkt to go for lunch. After eating and resting, we walked down Kurfuerstendamm, probably the most famous and expensive shopping street in all of Germany (5th Avenue/Oxford Street). Oh what fun it was to fight the snowdrifts and try to stay warm in the wind. It was a very trying walk for Marlene which ended in tears (quite justified). The next day (Saturday) we meat with my brother Klaus st the Red Townhall to visit the Nikolaiviertel, which contained the oldest church in Berlin. It had snowed even more over night and temperatures never got above 30F. Bundled up we walked around (being pretty much the only people). Everything had shades of grey and brown. We decided to walk along the Spree to the Pergamon Museum. The Pergamon Museum is on the so called Museum Island, where there are at least 10 Museums, ranging from Art, Science, History etc. The Pergamon Museum is famous for the Pergamon Altar, the Citygate of Milet and the grand Ishtar gate of Babylon. While Amelia was quite excited to see the blue tiles of the gate, Marlene was done visiting places. In the afternoon we drove to Klaus' place and had dinner with Denise and Antonia. Marlene loved playing with Antonia and her barbies. Since my mother and Denise wanted to see the exhibit "Genius and insanity in Art" in Haus der Kunst, that was our destination for Sunday morning. As interesting as it sounded to me, I knew that a baby and a 4-year old would be very partial to that, so the girls and I went to the "Kunstgewerbemuseum" which is part of a large museum complex not far away. There we so craftsmen and everyday Products from the last 1000 years. Some clothes, glass, porcelain, furniture, and jewelry. Since I love fashion I am always fascinated by clothes that are 800 years old. How do they survive? I could have spent hours there, but again, with children time is short and we headed for the cafeteria and lunch. We were joined by the rest of the family and after they ate we walked over to the Potsdammer Platz. This is the area, which was for decades "no man's land", were the wall went through. Today it tries to be a buzzing, shopping and business center, but since the rents are so high, a lot of companies have left, to go to cheap business parks outside the city. It seems you find more tourists here than people from Berlin. We had a coffee at Starbucks and then Marlene got to take the underground with Denise and Antonia, while Klaus, Amelia, my mother and I took the car to their place. After a nice afternoon of talking and photos we said our goodbye. The drive back on Monday was easy because the sun was shining and the roads dry. Tuesday was spent, doing last minute shopping, packing and, preparing for Amelia's birthday (see separate blog). In the evening i visited my friends Thomas and Rainer in Schwetzingen. I love spending time with them and it is so sad that we can not meet more often. Wednesday we celebrated Amelia's birthday and finished packing, because early Thursday morning it was travel time again. The f;night back was more difficult since the girls slept less, so by the time we reached Seattle everyone was very happy to see Jason again. Overall it was a great trip and I hope we will go back soon. It is funny; Flying with children is like childbirth, you keep forgetting all the horrors.