Bremen and the Trip Home

Tuesday morning we packed to leave for Bremen. We got on ab S-bahn to go, but Mama didn't pay attention and got off on the wrong stop, so we had to get back on the S-bahn going the other way to catch the ICE (inter city express). After we got in (luckily it was late) we realized it would have stopped at that first station anyway.

We were supposed to transfer to another ICE but missed it because our train was late and that one was on time. So we had to take a regional train - boring! We got out stop too early so we had to take a streetcar in Bremen to the main station. We didn't spend much time in Bremen but we got to see the statue of the musicians of Bremen and kiss a pig statue. We also went inside a church. One of the people in church showed us an 800 year old mouse. She represented the devil and was in the door frame to tell everyone that only nice people come in and mean people stay out.

Then we got on a bus to Hamburg, then the overnight to Copenhagen. In the middle of the night we had a ferry crossing and could really feel the waves. Then we had a three planes and two passport controls before we finally got home!

Because of the time change, I woke up really early yesterday and today. It's not even 5:30 and I've already had breakfast and played Legos!

Kiara and Berlin Mitte

On Sunday we went to meet Kiara at the Tiergarten. We played at the beach and in a puddle. We climbed up a fake volcano that shot hot air. Then we ate ice cream. Buy when it came time to say goodbye we kept trying to run away and grip each other tight so we didn't have to let go. I cried on the way home. But we'll visit each other again. Mama and Papa want to visit Florida so we can see her then.

Monday we visited the Reichstag. The audioguide sang and had a narrator, a sheep, and a bush. We saw the Brandenburg gate and the memorial to the Jews in the Holocaust. Then we went to the Ritter sport chocolate store. Yum yum! You could buy a mini meter - a whole meter of chocolate! But it wouldn't fit in our bags. Last we saw Checkpoint Charlie. That separated East and West Berlin. Then we went home to start to pack.

Wittenberg and more Berlin

Friday we started at Treptower park. It had a lot of flowers, and a river with lots of passenger boats. I got my picture next to a jaguar statue. Then we went to the victory tower. To get there we went through a tunnel. It had a movement-detected light so you could dance in front of it and make shapes with your hands. The tower was very tall. It took 285 steps to get up. We could see the Brandenburg gate from the top. It was rainy but after we got down it was sunny again. Last we saw the Gedächtniskirche. It was bombed and only the middle survived. My sister and I lit candles to represent prayer for peace. Outside the church we jumped from circle to circle and pretended that the rest was lava. At the eiscafe we ordered ice cream like a bee - Biene Maja (pronounced Maya). At the fountain by the church I took some underwater pictures.

Saturday we went to Wittenberg. It's important because Martin Luther nailed 95 theses to change the Catholic church. We got to see Martin Luther's house and what it looked like when he was there. We went to church in the town church and sang his most famous hymn "A Mighty Fortress is Our God."

Dresden and Berlin

Tuesday we went to Dresden. We rode in a compartment on the train with exactly six seats and was totally comfy. We had four tables so people could draw if they wanted to. That's what I did most of the ride. In Dresden we went to Altstadt and saw buildings with old and dirty bricks. Mama and Papa told me it got firebombed in WWII. The church we saw got destroyed five times by fire or bombing! I don't know why anyone would do that to a church. We walked up to the top of a church too and could see really far.

Then we walked through the garden along the river and bought some Frozen and Minion books in German! Then we stopped in a plaza and heard porcelain bells. They were neat.

The next day we went to Schloss Charlottenburg. I got to have my own headphones to listen to the tour. The rooms were so pretty! I wish I could live in a castle like that.

Then we went to see Kiara. We played at her house all afternoon. I even got to go shopping and get kinder eggs with Kiara all by ourselves! We played Indians and aliens and other things.

Today we saw Kiara again and played Egyptians on a playground. We made our own tombs. Then we went to dinner for Papa's birthday.

Berlin and Kiara

Yesterday we walked along a painted wall. I took lots of pictures and pretended I was part of the wall. The wall divided East Germany from West Germany in Berlin. Mama said the Russians wanted to keep them separate. Then we walked along a green space with a pond with fountains and found a wooden playground to play the lava game on.

Then we got on a bus to meet Kiara. Kiara couldn't hold her excitement and was jumping up and down when we got off the bus. We played hunters and jaguars on the way to the play area in the park. When it came time to come home Kiara and I wanted to stay together so we stopped at every single little play area, even the small play toys and didn't want to leave unless we went to Kiara's house. So we ate snack together at the bus stop and Mama told me we can see her later.

Today we went to Rathenow. We got to ride a double-decker train there and back. We went to a cemetery to see where Oma's ancestors lived. We didn't find a grave stone with the last name on it, but we did find the church they would have worshiped in. We went up the tower and saw the bell. It was really really really high and we could see lots of towns. We tried to see the optik park but it was closed because the bad weather from a few days ago damaged things.

Instead we came back to Berlin and saw the Olympic Stadium. It was boring except for watching the pool which was awesome because we saw divers and one went to a high platform really high up. If I went up there I would just fall backwards off of it!

First days in Berlin

Yesterday morning we got off the bus in Berlin. We ate a quick breakfast at the train station. We went to our apartment and then we finally changed clothes for the first time in more than two days bcause we couldn't change on the bus or plane.

After lunch we went to the park but Mama had a failure and went the wrong way on the train so we went back and went to a different park that Papa had seen. It had a lot of wet sand and toys and a little wooden house for me to make cone cakes. We went to bed early because we were so tired.

This morning we were still tired and slept late. We went to Peacock Island and it started showering and then raining and then it started downpouring! It was Mama's big failure again. On the island we saw a castle and a peacock up in a tree. For dessert we had ice cream.

First plane ride and new country!

On Wednesday I went on the airplane for the first time. I was so amazed when I looked out the plane window. Everything looked so tiny, like a toy! The first flight was short but the second flight was overnight. When we woke up, we were on the other side of the ocean. We had to do passport control in Amsterdam. I got my first stamp there. I am ten years younger than my mom was when she got her first passport stamp.

Then we flew a short flight to Copenhagen. We were there for twelve hours before the overnight bus to Berlin. We went to the National Museum. It had a fun kids museum but I couldn't make any friends because I couldn't understand them. Kjirsten slept on mom's lap and missed the museum. After that we saw horses in front of the government center and went up the tall tower. Then it was lunchtime.

Kjirsten and I were so tired in Copenhagen that I slept at the restaurant while my grandparents and parents ate, so I had to eat it as a picnic in the park where the little mermaid statue was. It was just a girl with fins. We fed the birds the end of the bread that was too crunchy. Then we walked through the star-shaped island that had a little village (mom says it was an old fort) and an echo rock. We walked through the woods to find Oma and Opa.

Then we went to the castle gardens and saw ducks and walked through the plants and trees there. We were so tired that we just went to the train station and walked around and saw the train model that ran when kids put kroners in. Then we got on the bus. We had to wake up in the middle of the night to ride the ferry. Then we slept again and woke up this morning in Berlin.

So excited!

There is only one more day before the day we leave for Germany! Yesterday my grandma and grandpa came to see us before we left. Tomorrow my other grandparents will come and spend the night so we can go to the airport together. I won't be able to be able to sleep, it will be so much fun!!

Almost Germany!

It is almost Germany time!!! There are only eight more days!! I can't wait to see the peacocks on Peacock Island and the castles. I can't wait to fly on the plane either. Yay!