Saturday, March 22, 2008

Our Trip

Allen told me that I didn't give enough clues, because what I mentioned could have been ANYWHERE in Europe. While that isn't really true, it could have been many, many places.
So, we also saw this:

Does that help?


If not, no need to wait, we were in Berlin (with a side trip to Potsdam.)

I chose our hotel because we were able to get a decent price for a suite, it had a pool, and it was near a u-bahn stop. The evening we arrived, a strike closed all u-bahns. The s-bahns were in service at least, but that left us 2 miles from our hotel. That was a long walk with all of our luggage. (oh, and we never used the pool.) Ashlyn did declare that "oh, this hotel is fancy," when we walked into the lobby, though. (It was not fancy.)

Fortunately, the strike was over by the next day, so we were able to take advantage of the u-bahn. We went to the Berlin zoo for the morning. Ashlyn had a good time looking at the animals for the most part. She said her favorite was the seal. Here she is laughing at a fossa (a small cat from Madagascar,) which was running around in circles.

Ashlyn is so set to a clock, though. Almost exactly at 1, her normal nap time, she became extremely cranky. About 45 minutes later, she just burst into tears. She got into her stroller and took a nap at the zoo. We would not have visited the zoo by ourselves, this was for her.
We walked around while she napped (and Christopher, who napped the whole morning at the zoo as well.) That evening we saw Schloss Charlottenburg (just from the outside, though.)

The next day we went to the Gemaldegalerie in the morning (no pictures, we could have at least taken one from the outside.) In the afternoon, we walked to the Brandenburg Gate (notice that again we have a napping toddler.) While we were planning on walking to a few more things, it was cold, we were tired, so we headed back to our hotel.

The next day we went to Potsdam, where we visited Schloss Sans Souci.
Christopher napping outside the palace. (notice the self-inflicted gash on his forehead)

We also went to Cecilienhof Palace, where the Potsdam Conference was held. Apparently, part of it is now a hotel. How fun would that be? To get to stay in a palace. Ashlyn would have been in heaven, though it really looks more like a large country house than a palace.


Of course, with our timing, Ashlyn totally missed this palace, because, yes, she was asleep!
We discovered while we were in Berlin that Christopher much prefers this set up for the stroller. I guess he likes to be able to look around. He preferred the carrier above all else, though.

The weather turned COLD while we were in Berlin. Not the best time to be walking around outside. It was actually weird weather, especially while we were in Potsdam. It would warm up, the sun would come out, and with the sun shining, snow would fall.

Here's a photo of our children sleeping through the snow. (They were bundled, but I could tell other parents were judging us for not having a stroller cover. Hey, I was judging us, too.)

7 comments:

The Dunns said...

Wow! Berlin! How fun!

Next time we make it to Delta Junction or Esther, I'll have to take pics of the zoos and castles. Oh, yeah. No zoos. No castles. Just a couple moose and a bunch of trees. (sigh)

Anonymous said...

I love that you are getting out and seeing so much, even with two little ones. You are much more brave and adventuresome in that sense than I am. I'm proud of you.

Unknown said...

Wow, great pics. I'm so jealous your kids nap in strollers. Liv won't. But, she did nap in the Ergo this trip. You look like you had a good, easy time with the kids!

Anonymous said...

How nice of them to nap so much for you! That does make looking and browsing so much easier! It was COLD when we were in Berlin too! Snowing just the same! Oh well, you got to see the animals at least!

Andrea and Ben said...

Berlin is such a cool city!! Fun!

Ok, because I have baby stuff on the brain, is that the Phil & Teds? I think I am sold on that stoller now.

Angie said...

That is the p&t. I definitely like it.

Anonymous said...

Ed guessed that you guys were headed to Berlin -- I just didn't have anytime to respond.

It looked like a lot of fun. Ed and I just returned from our trip to Norway -- we'll be updating the blog soon.

Kellie