Thanksgiving in Berlin

Along with Thanksgiving comes a very attractive four-day weekend.   So, instead of the traditional Thanksgiving festivities, we decided to take advantage of the long weekend and check out Berlin.   To make up for missing the big turkey dinner, we decided to invite Silke (our German ex-neighbor) and her family over on the Sunday prior to Thanksgiving for a mini-Thanksgiving meal.  They were very touched that we included them in on such a big American holiday.  I found it interesting that Silke’s 11 year-old daughter, Sarah, had never eaten turkey before.  Fortunately, she loved it!    Apparently, turkey is not eaten very often over here.  Instead, the Germans eat duck or goose.   A reason for this may be the cost.  A turkey (if you can find one) in a German grocery store or Metzgerei (butcher shop) will run you over 50 Euros (about $71!!). 

Since the thought of a 6-hour drive to Berlin on the autobahn still had me hyperventilating, we decided to take the Deutsche Bahn (German train).  We left the Heidelberg train station and had 5 minutes to change trains in Mannheim.  Throw in 2 small kids, luggage, a very crowded train station, and broken escalators and something was bound to go wrong.  Sure enough, we reached our connecting train to Berlin and I had the doors literally close shut in my face as I was running toward them.  I frantically pressed the button to have the doors re-open with no success.  So, we all stood there with our faces inches from the train and watched as it pulled away.  This left us with an hour to kill in Mannheim.  Guess it could have been worse.  I made sure that we were on our platform with a lot of time to spare before the next train.  That process was a lot smoother and we made it to Berlin 5 hours later. 

The girls at the Heidelberg train station in awe over the number of bikes! 

At the Heidelberg train station waiting for our first train!

Once in Berlin, we had to take the S-Bahn (street train) and the U-Bahn (subway) to get to our hotel and the girls had a lot of fun with that.  The exciting part came when I jumped on the U-Bahn and then had the door s close on me.  I was inside the U-Bahn and my backpack (which was on my back!) was outside the U-Bahn.  It took longer than you would have thought to get the doors open again.  Thank goodness for all the good Samaritans on the train who managed to get the doors to open again.  Lesson learned – pay attention to the door-closing warning signals!  They don’t give much warning or forgiveness!  Another thing about the trains (and all public German transportation for that matter) – they all run on the honor system.  Occasionally, you may run into someone checking for tickets and if you get caught without one, there is a very steep fine.  I wonder if the public transportation in America could run the same way.  I doubt it.

Leena hanging out in the U-Bahn station in Berlin

After we survived all the trains, we were ready for dinner.  We grabbed some pizza in a small pizza joint and decided to check out our first Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market).  Christmas markets are very popular and you can find one in almost any decent size city in Germany starting in late November.  Berlin was no exception with over a dozen Christmas markets to choose from.  We took a recommendation from a native Berliner on the train ride over and headed to Alexander Platz.  The Christmas market there was very festive with lights strung everywhere, an ice skating rink, and a few rides for the kids.  There were also dozens of vendors and plenty of food and drinks flowing with the drink of choice being Glühwein which is very popular this time of year and prepared from red wine, served hot and spiced with cinnamon sticks, vanilla, citrus and sugar.  You can drink it pure or "mit Schuss", which means there is a shot of either rum or liqueur added.  We ended up attending a different Weihnachtsmarkt on each of the three nights we were in Berlin.  What a great way to get in the Christmas spirit!

The girls and I at our first Weihnachtsmarkt in Berlin.

The girls enjoy an old, old carousel at the Alexander Platz Weihnachtsmarkt.

Our second Weihnachtsmarkt at Schloss Charlotenburg.

 Our third Weihnachtsmarkt at Gendarmen Platz.

Greg and the girls listening to Christmas carols at the Gendarmen Platz Weihnachtsmarkt

While I was admiring some items at one of the Christmas booths, we struck up a conversation with the vendor.  Turns out he was from Frankfurt (close to Heidelberg).  He started asking us about where we were from and what we were doing in Germany.  When Greg mentioned that he was in the Navy, the vendor told us that he remembered all the American GI’s being around when he was growing up and how much he appreciated what they were doing.  As a token of his thanks, he gave the girls a beautiful glass snow globe with an angel inside.  How wonderful and unexpected for Greg to be thanked for his service from someone outside of the U.S.!

When we were not at a Weihnachtsmarkt, we were checking out the many sites and learning the interesting history of Berlin.  We quickly discovered that we could spend a week in this city and not see everything.  So we tried to hit the highlights.

Greg and the girls pose where the Berlin Wall used to stand.  Taryn on the east side and Leena on the west side.
 

The girls and I in a grid of concrete pillars with a concrete maze at the center.  They are part of the Holocaust Memorial.  Some pillars stand more than 10 feet tall.

Family pic in front of the Brandenburger Tor.  It is the only remaining gate of a series through which Berlin was once entered.

Greg stands on the street that shares the same name as his birthday!  The street is named Straße des 17 Juni to commemorate the uprising of the East Berliners on June 17, 1953.

The girls and I in front of the Siegessäule (Victory Column), a 60 meters high (about 18 stories) historic monument with panoramic view in the very center of the city.  We climbed all 285 steps to the top!

A view of the city from the top of the Victory Column.  Tiergarten Park in the foreground with the Spree River on the left side.

The girls and I in front of Schloss Charlottenburg, the largest palace in Berlin.

In front of the sign at Checkpoint Charlie.

The guard building at Checkpoint Charlie.

We found out about this little candy factory from a Berliner on the train ride over.  We had a great time watching this man make the candy.  We got to eat hot samples too!  Yummy!

The girls in front of the Berlin Dom and the Spree River.

Soon after arriving in Berlin, we kept discovering these Berlin Bears scattered all over the city.  All together we found 7 bears over the course of the weekend.  This was one of the girl's favorites.

Another favorite bear in the Berlin train station.

One of the nice things about traveling within Germany was being familiar with the language and how things work.  It was amazing how much easier it made everything!  While having lunch one afternoon in a tiny family-run cafe, the owners (who did not speak any English) actually complimented Greg on his German! 

The girls enjoy a brezel and a movie on the train ride home.

St. Martin’s Day (Martinstag)

On November 11^th, the German’s celebrate St. Martin who was a Roman soldier and known for his kindness.  As the story goes, one winter night, St. Martin came across a beggar who was dying in the cold without a coat.  St. Martin took his sword and cut his cape in half and shared it with the beggar.  So every year, the children in Germany celebrate this kind saint by making small paper lanterns in their schools and having a lantern parade.  In our town, the children met at a playground and together with a marching band flanked with junior firefighters carrying torches, they walked and sang songs about St. Martin.  They walked about ½ mile from one playground to another playground.  At the second playground, there was a huge bonfire and they were selling hot drinks and bread.  And then it basically became a town social event.  The most interesting part of this event is that there are actually children carrying lit candles inside their paper lanterns.  I asked Taryn’s kindergarten teacher about this and she said, “if you feel that it’s too dangerous for her to have a candle in her lantern, then you are welcome to buy an electric light”.  Uh, yeah, she’s four.  I am envisioning that a four year-old, a candle, and a paper lantern do NOT make a good combination.  And I am somewhat concerned that the Germans do not see anything wrong with this!  Fortunately, every firefighter and junior firefighter in town were on hand to quickly extinguish any accidental fires.  We met up with one of Taryn’s friends from kindergarten and had a nice evening participating in this annual German event.

Before the lantern parade.  The girls with friend, Maddie.

The parade!

At the bonfire post parade.



Luisenpark - Mannheim

Today, Leena was out of school for a teacher planning day, so the girls and I decided to check out Luisenpark in Mannheim.  Mannheim is located just north of Heidelberg and about a 30 minute drive on the white-knuckle autobahn from our house.  Fortunately, the GPS took us straight to our desired location (always a bonus!).  Once in the park, we realized how enormous the park is.  Think Central Park big.  There were a few animals such as birds, penguins, flamingoes, etc and miles and miles of paths.  So much so, that they could not fit them all on the map and we found ourselves lost most of the time (well, that was my excuse anyway!).  At one point, we literally made a circle while trying to find a place to have lunch and ended up back at the same playground at which we started.  There were at least six large playgrounds that the girls really enjoyed.  Unfortunately, even though the weather was mild, many of the attractions were closed for the winter (mini golf, boat rides, trampoline, train ride, mini bumper cars, etc), so we will be making a return visit this summer.  To make up for this, we got to enjoy the most vibrant and beautiful fall colors that I have ever seen. 

The girls on the "castle" playground.  They climbed up this tower and went down the slide about 50 times!

Another awesome playground!

The girls take a little time out to relax.

Schloss Heidelberg

After 3 months of living in Heidelberg, we finally made it up to see the Heidelberg castle.  So, it was no surprise that this coincided with our first official visitors, Greg’s sister, Wendy and her family.  They drove in from Köln for the weekend and we decided to take them to see one of Heidelberg’s most famous sites.  We spent the day walking down the Heidelberg Haupstrasse (pedestrian only street in downtown), checking out the shops and then walking up to the castle.  As I am sure anyone would guess, there was a ton of interesting history associated with the castle.  But, I believe that everyone's favorite (well, at least the adults anyway) aspect of the castle was the wine barrel kept below the grand ball room.  Turns out, back in the day, not only did the king receive taxes from everyone, but he also received 10% of the crops, including wine.  So, the wine makers would bring their share by horse-drawn carriage up to the castle and deposit it in a huge, and I mean huge barrel that was kept under the ball room.  During parties, the wine would be pumped from the barrel below directly into wines glasses above.  When we went below to look at the barrel, we thought we found it and stopped to pose for pictures:

Big barrel, right?  This must be it.

However, when we rounded the corner, we unmistakably found what we were looking for....

Now that's a HUGE wine barrel!  That's us lined up on the stairs to the left.

Here are a few other pics of what I am sure will be the first of many visits to the castle over the next two years.

View from the castle with the Neckar River and Heidelberg Old Bridge behind us. 

The kids pose in the courtyard of the castle.

The kids play in a Kinderapotheke (pharmacy) in a museum on the castle grounds.

Leena and Taryn in the courtyard of the castle.

 The whole gang (well, almost) in the castle gardens with downtown Heidelberg and the Old Bridge behind us.