Early in November, Danny and I tagged along on Josh's work trip. Josh took a week long brewing course at Versuchs- und Lehranstalt für Brauerei (VLB) in Berlin, which is one of the most famous brewing schools in the world. We were throwing around the idea of whether hanging out for a week in Germany alone with a baby would be fun for me or not. I mentioned this to my mom, and casually said, "you know you could come hang out with me if you wanted"..... and I was pleasantly surprised that her and my dad were both on board.
The itinerary in a span of 14 days was: Berlin, Leipzig, and Frankfurt.
We arrived Saturday evening very late, got to know our neighborhood on Sunday, and Monday Josh started the course.
When we left Shanghai, the weather was still pretty warm, barely "sweatshirt weather." I was so happy to see in Berlin it was full on fall, with Christmas right around the corner. We rented a nice little two bedroom apartment on a colorful block surrounded by Turkish restaurants.
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| He's so excited because he found Turkish baklava |
Mom, Dad, Danny, and I came up with a list of things to see while Josh was in class. We wanted to be realistic, since ultimately, Danny's the one that calls the shots. Throughout the week, we managed to go to the Berlin Zoo and the DDR Museum. The rest of the time was filled with playing, walking, napping, eating, and shopping. No complaints here.
Berlin Zoo
I'm not necessarily a zoo person. I could take it or leave it. Although, I've heard horror stories about the inhumanity of the Shanghai Zoo, so I'm glad that Danny's first experience to a zoo was in Berlin. I enjoyed the crisp clean air and the colorful leaves so much.
This is what fall is supposed to look like.
Our day at the zoo was extra pleasant because on a Tuesday, hardly anyone was there. Thank the Lord for so much personal space!
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| Daniel and the lions! |
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| This is a new experience for him |
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| Loving time with Grandpa and Grandma |
DDR Museum
DDR is the German acronym for
Deutsche Demokratische Republik (German) or
German Democratic Republic
The
museum was smaller than expected. I'm sure I would have appreciated it more if I knew my German history better. It was peek into life in East Germany (1949-1990) I had to cut my visit short due to a very inconsiderate screaming baby ;)
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| We ate in the museum's restaurant. Having no clue what to get, we asked the waitress for her recommendation. Hot dog and fries and spam and tomato sauce on pasta. We all decided that we don't care so much for East German food! |
This and That
Like I said before, we didn't want to pack too much in because of the baby. I was very apprehensive about this whole traveling with a baby thing because don't they tell you "wait to have kids so you can travel." I don't recall anyone telling me to "travel with kids." But having two full time helpers sure made it easier!
I felt like it was really hard to take a bad picture in Berlin. Everything was so pretty in its own way.
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| Berlin Cathedral |
Josh's course was Monday through Friday. We had all of Saturday to see all the things that he wanted, so it was busy, busy, busy.
Sightseeing Saturday
We visited the site of the Berlin Wall (reconstruction) 25 years (and one day) since it came down! When we were walking around the city, balloons marked the perimeter of where the wall once stood. There was a stage set up behind Brandenburg Gate where performers were preparing for a concert that evening.
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| I guess this one's obvious |
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| Brandenburg Gate |
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| Checkpoint Charlie |
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| Balloons marking the used-to-be Berlin Wall |
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| Concert Preparation |
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| Berlin Victory Column |
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| Charlottenburg Palace |
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| Berlin was a success! |
We felt good about the sights we saw in Berlin, though there is so much more to see! The city had a good vibe, and I hope we can visit again.
Not-so-early on Sunday morning, we packed up our bags, taxied to the train station, and took a train to Leipzig......
