Easter in Berlin!

We spent Easter in Berlin this year.  The Slovak holidays for Brian were Good Friday and Holy Monday, so we were able to have a four day weekend together.

On Friday, we drove through Prague to Berlin.  We got there around 3:00 and found our Hotel (aletto Jugendhotels).  It was a Hostel/Hotel that was very nice!  It had bunk beds for the boys and a really nice breakfast included.  After unloading our stuff, we went to the underground train station and rode a few stops into the center of the city.

We walked down the street, had some ice cream and looked at "crap stands" (Hayden absolutely loves these), and then took pictures with Darth Vader in front of the Brandenburg Gate.  We walked through the gate and then walked on the line of bricks in the street that is the line of the old wall, until we reached the Holocaust Memorial.  This was one of the best memorials I have ever seen.  The ground undulates, the pillars undulate, it is mazelike, and it felt a little disorienting, yet peaceful.  

Next, we stopped for dinner at a little cafe.  Brian got to eat his first serving of currywurst (many others to follow - he would eat it for every meal if he could).  We then walked toward the hotel, stopping at the Gendarmenmarkt and Check Point Charlie.

In the morning, we took the boys to the Legoland Discovery Center.  It was a good half day adventure.  We saw a mini-land of Berlin made entirely of Legos, rode several rides, and got to make test cars.  We also got special souvenir bricks and one on a keychain that we had engraved with "Sapp" and "Berlin" for a Christmas Ornament.  

After that, we went to Duncan Donuts (these are all over Berlin) and had a donut to help us walk to lunch. We walked around a bit more and then went to lunch at Curry 36, a small stand near our hotel - but EXTREMELY popular.  The line was all the way down the sidewalk!  It was good - turns out that it is pretty famous.  Funny - on the LonelyPlanet web page, it is rated as #1 of 795 things to do in Berlin and #2 of 11791 restaurants in Europe.

After lunch, we bought tickets to ride the City Circle Sightseeing Tour.  We got on at the Jewish Museum and the bus was packed!  We had to stand until we got to another stop.  After trading busses, we got to have seats and headsets.  And, as it got closer to evening and there weren't many tourists still riding, we were able to ride on the top in the beautiful weather and not have the sun so hot!  We ended up doing the circle almost 2 times.  It was a nice way for us to see the city, hear a little about the history, and the boys have a break from walking (and we were able to buy the discounted 1/2 day tickets).  

We found a restaurant called Cancun for dinner.  It was really good (not to mention a good break from currywurst)!!  Authentic Mexican food, not EasternEuropean-"Mexican".  Even had some Margaritas - Brian had frozen, I ordered mine "on the rocks" but it came warm - I guess Ice isn't big in Germany either.  It'll be nice to have a fridge with an ice maker again!!

Overnight, the Easter Bunny came to our hotel room and there were Kinder Eggs and Lego Mini Figures for the boys.  After breakfast, we drove around the city a little more - had to see the hotel where Michael Jackson dangled his son out the window, an old giant pile of rubble from the war, and the wall!  Then we headed toward home.

For lunch, we stopped in Dresden which is just before crossing the border into the Czech Republic.  We could eat and use Euros to pay - a big plus!  The Czechs are still not on the Euro.   

Dresden was beautiful.  The city was mostly destroyed in the war and has recently been rebuilt.  We really liked this town and will definitely go back.  For lunch, we even ate at a Vietnamese restaurant that was excellent!

Then we drove through Prague and home.  Saw some hail and rain - dang Brian for jinxing it - he kept saying all weekend, "I can't remember the last time it rained in Bratislava."  

Click Here for the pics from the trip!

Paris-In-A-Day!

Brian had a trade show in Paris all week, so we flew in to join him for the weekend!

We got into the airport and then rode the train, transferred to the tram, and then walked the rest of the way to the hotel.  We all got to bed around 11:00pm - Brian, Owen, and me in the big bed and Hayden in a bed made of chairs right next to us.

Our adventure begins:

The boys always get up early, so we left the hotel and walked down the street to get some croissants and pastries at a local shop.  Unfortunately, since it was Saturday, the shop was closed.  So we went to the closest train station and bought 2 adult and 2 child Day Passes (19 euros) and rode the train down to the Eiffel Tower stop.  We walked down toward the Eiffel Tower and found a restaurant, Le Castel Cafe, to eat in a block from the tower.  We had 1 Cheese Omelet (came with fries), an American Breakfast Special (1 hot beverage + 1 cold beverage + fried eggs + croissant), and a Breakfast Special (hot beverage + cold beverage + rolls with butter + jam) all for a large price.  The prices in Paris were more than Bratislava or Vienna.  Drinks were even more than in Italy!!

We then walked over to the Eiffel Tower area.  It was gorgeous weather and all of the flowers and leaves are out.  It sure felt like walking around Washington DC though.....hmmmm.  The Mall was there, the capital, the monument.....was weird deja vu.  (Is that a French phrase, was it invented for those of us who copy them?).  It is a bit odd that spring seems to come to western Europe about a month before eastern Europe because of the sea.  Even northern Germany is way ahead of us.

After walking around and then under the tower, we went across the street to a stand on the river and bought a crepe with chocolate and bananas for a snack.  Then we walked across the bridge, stopped at the souvenir shop on the corner, then crossed the street and walked over the Trocadero/Palais de Chaillot.  We then hopped a train to the Arc de Triomphe.  This was similar to the arches we saw in Rome.  (I actually liked Rome better, but am glad we saw it.)  Then we waked down the Champ-Elysees and stopped in to have some overpriced crap pizza.  We then walked past the largest Louis Vouitton store I've ever seen - not that that is saying much - I really am not in to that.  There was lots of fashion around and many new movie posters - we didn't even know that some of these movies had even been made!!  It is a much more "current" city than Bratislava.  ;)

We were beginning to drag a bit at this point so we stopped at the Louvre and let Hayden take a nap.  He laid down on a bench between us and took about a 30 minute nap while we sat in the sun and watched the tourists.  Watching people take pictures at the pyramids at the Louvre was almost as much fun as the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  Once he woke up, we stopped in a cafe to refresh with some coffee and more crepes.  We did debate whether crepes in Breckenridge were better and we thought they were.  After Owen went into a sugar coma, we walked down to Notre Dame.

We met a nice lady there who was commanding a brood of pigeons who promptly sat upon us for some food.  We meandered around the local neighborhood and looked through the crap souvenir shops which Hayden loves and ended up at the park behind Notre Dame to sit down and relax.  After a bit of rest and Brian continuing to mutter something about a Fiesta Bowl snub, we left Notre Dame and walked across the river.

We ended up shopping a bit (found a really cool toy store) and stopping a couple of times for drinks before grabbing dinner at a local joint in the Latin section.  Owen had been looking forward to some quiche and our restaurant only had Quiche du jour (mmm, that sounds good).  We asked what it was for today and our waitress said "fish".  Owen wasnt up for trying fish quiche, so Brian ordered it and it was excellent.  By this time, it was 830 on a beautiful warm Saturday evening and the streets were packed with young people.  We noticed that we were one of the few people out with youngsters in tow.  We figured our day was rapidly ending so we hopped back on the train and went back to the Eiffel Tower and watched the lights come on (and twinkle on the hour).

We went back to the hotel and had a quiet Sunday morning and a rainy ride back to the airport for the flight home.  All in all, it was a good trip and we got to see all the touristy stuff.  We did notice how much more English you hear in Paris compared to Slovakia....our heads would turn every time we hear English as it is becoming more and more surprising to us.  Even the boys noticed...salut!


You can check out all of our pictures from the weekend here