L Rizzy's Adventures: Berlin with Uncle Curt and Aunt Hannah

Blogawkers:

When we returned from the States in November, the next thing we had to look forward to was a full 6 weeks away. Once the holidays had passed we knew that our first visitors would be arriving! Uncle Curt and Aunt Hannah, obligatory world travelers, had booked flights to our neck of the woods about 3 months previous. The only issue with that was the extended anticipation of their visit! They had set up their flight schedule to arrive in Berlin where we would meet them. After spending some time there we would travel to Leipzig for a few days. Next they would visit Dresden briefly before we all met in Prague for a few days. They would fly out of Prague and we would train it back. All in all it was a busy, but extremely fun, week.

A quick note should be made that the evening prior to traveling to Berlin we got tickets to Das Phantom Der Oper which was playing at our local Gewandhaus. We got a babysitter for L Rizzy, dressed up and walked downtown. It was quite an affair and we were excited. We expected it to be in German, naturally, but at the least we expected the same music. Nope. It wasn't. Not even close. Not even good... we headed for the exits at the first intermission. Thankfully the bar next door was having a special.. you give them Euros and they give you booze. We couldn't turn down a special...

So the next morning we caught a train to Berlin. When we arrived at the Main Station, L Mama, ever the savvy planer, was aware of a Dunkin' Donuts being present. We quickly found it, and with her caffeine fix satisfied we attempted to find a cab. One big problem though: no cab would take an infant. We were 3 KM from our hotel and fresh out of luck. So in the rain, we trudged all the way to the hotel. Thankfully L Rizzy was in remarkable spirits. Once there, we settled in and at around 6 pm Uncle Curt and Aunt Hannah arrived! We were obviously more than excited to see them.

We asked the hotel for a restaurant suggestion and they pointed us toward a wonderful German restaurant. After a few Gluhwein in the bar downstairs we rested up for the long day ahead. The following day, after getting the opinions of several people, we elected to do a 6 hour walking tour of Berlin. The weather was not pretty but the real rain did not set in until the very end. L Rizzy was happy to sleep in the stroller and we were able to see some amazing sites (Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, Brandenberg Gate, Museum Island, Potsdamer Platz, and Holocaust Memorial among many, many more). After a quick rest in the hotel room to dry off we headed back out in the dark to see the Topography of Terror which was quite amazing. (Be sure to see the post of Curt and Hannah's pictures- there is a picture of Curt walking in the museum on metal faces symbolizing those who were murdered). For dinner we ate at "Good Morning Vietnam" (no joke) which was amazing food and super girly drinks. After a few more Gluhwein we got some well deserved sleep.

The next morning we decided to see the Jewish Museum. We took the subway over to the area and had breakfast at an amazing deli-cafe. We were running a bit short on time so L Mama, L Rizzy and I had to hustle through the museum. We then caught the subway back to the hotel, checked out, caught the bus to the Haupbahnhof, and then our train to Leipzig. Curt and Hannah stayed in Berlin a few extra hours to see some more sites then caught a train to Leipzig around 5pm.

Berlin was an amazing city to see. We were ecstatic with L Rizzy- he was quite the trooper. While our time there was short, we packed a lot of living into 48 hours. While it was great to see all of the sights that we had only previously read about, it was doubly nice to share it with L Rizzy's Uncle Curt and Aunt Hannah!