American in Berlin

Weekend Fun!

The tour of Berlin continued on Saturday with a visit to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. While certainly a somber way to start the morning, it is hard to visit the city without remembering this part of history. Visiting the memorial led to a discussion about Uncle Lynn's capture, which is a topic I am always interested to know more about. The memorial itself is both visual stunning and very moving. After spending some time there, we headed east to Friedrichshein and Kreuzberg where 1300 meters of the Berlin wall still remains in tack. Everyone was amazed that the Wall was not thicker, but it is also very impressive to see the Wall stretch as far as the eye can see. From The East Side Gallery, it was off to meet Matthias and have a Doner Kebab. My parents loved seeing Matthias again and my grandparents liked putting a face to the stories they have heard for so many years! Unfortunately, the end of the day meant it was time for mom, dad and Katie to start packing to go home. Their suitcases were not too much heavier with new purchases—all the more reason to come back in August to do some more damage!

The PA Taylors left early Sunday morning, so I did a load of laundry, cleaned the bathroom and then greeted Granny and Grandpa, who were moving in with me for the rest of their visit. After we all got resettled, we did weekend breakfast the German way and went to brunch at a typical West Berlin café. After being very “schicky micky” at breakfast, we headed to the flea market. We all found “treasures” and I worked on my flea market dickering skills auf Deutsch! After warming up with coffee and tea, (we were very into the German café culture on Sunday) we hopped the subway to the Berlin Cathedral and saw the sun setting over the TV Tower, Cathedral and yet another Christmas Market. We had a great dinner at Hamlet, a local restaurant near my apartment and then came home and played a couple of card games.

What will Monday bring… stay tuned for the complete report…

P.S. the pictures belows are a collection from the last couple of days: KaDeWe and the creepy Christmas Man; eatting wurst; Holocaust Memorial; Berlin Wall; Berlin Cathedral and TV Tower

posted by Erin @ 4:22 PM