Life is too Short to Learn German

My thoughts exactly!

A few weeks ago, I finally cashed in my Christmas gift from TJ and we made it to Berlin!  I have only been to Germany once before and it was a very long time ago!  1987 to be exact...I was practically a baby, hehehe!   I went on a business trip to Cologne with TJ and spent a few days getting lost on my own while he worked.  I remember being overwhelmed by my inability to understand anything in the German language.  The most lost I have ever been was in Cologne while wandering the streets alone.  I did not even know the name of my hotel, or the address...rookie mistake!  That was the day I learned to always carry a matchbook or business card from my hotel with me!  This was back in the dark ages before cell phones and a paper map was my only GPS.

In 1987, before the Berlin wall came down, it was much harder to find anyone who spoke English in a restaurant or shop.  The language barrier in addition to my novice traveler status on my lost day resulted in an unadventurous lunch of pizza because I could just point and nod to place my order.  I sat alone eating my pizza, calmed myself down and tried to figure out how to find my way back to my hotel.  The next day I went on a half day river cruise just to be in a safe place, see some of the countryside and not get lost!  I even found some other English speaking tourists on the boat which made my day.  With my hotel address in hand and a clear path back to my hotel I patted myself on the back for not getting lost that day!

Back in 1987 when I had 3 children, short hair and no clue!

My safe zone in Cologne for a few hours!

Fast forward 32.5 years and I am a much more experienced traveler who remains intimidated by the German language.  No worries though, we had our own personal German speaking guide in our son-in-law!  My daughter (the 4th child who wasn't even born in 1987) can also communicate in German now thanks to her recent German classes.  All I had to do was follow along!  No escape river cruise needed.  Berlin is a far cry from 1987 Cologne...about as far as I am from 1987 Lisa.

I was awed by the history in Berlin.  To think of everything that city has seen throughout history is daunting.  I only touched the surface during my visit and I was still overwhelmed.  The city has done a great job of acknowledging and preserving its past.  The day we arrived, while trying to stay awake until a proper bedtime, we put one foot in front of another and saw many of the city's highlights.  It may have been the only sunny day of our trip and in hindsight, which is 20/20,  we were so glad we powered through our jet lag!

Crossing the river to Museum island
enjoying the "sunshine"

Berlin Cathedral

Neue Wache
Central Memorial to the Federal Republic of Germany for
the Victims of War and Dictatorship
Sculpture of a mother and her dead son

Brandenberg Gate

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Inside the memorial

The Memorial to Murdered Jews of Europe was a fascinating sight.  Each block is a different size and set at a slightly different angle.  They go from the lowest to the highest in the center of the memorial.  A person could definitely get lost among them.  Another interesting aspect of the memorial is that if you look closely the surface seems to be crying which almost moved me to tears.  There seems to be so many interpretations of the memorial, in my mind, and I could not help but wonder exactly what the creator had in mind.

Tears

Berlin is also full of street art!  Walking the streets, which we did a lot of, is never boring!  At first, I was a bit put off by the "graffiti" but after a while I started to appreciate it.  I still am not a fan of the random unfocused spray painted words or lines but there really is some interesting and creative art on the walls of Berlin.  We walked along the East Side Gallery but were unable to fully enjoy it because it was pouring rain at the time.  I would have liked to visit it again in fair weather.  I think seeing the street art on what was the wall between east and west puts it all in perspective.

Berlin, between New York and Tokyo

Not our Airbnb....and not my favorite street art

This one is iconic!  

This takes commitment! 
A bright spot on a gray day.

It is everywhere.  This is Berlin.

Five days is not enough time to spend in Berlin.  Especially when you are cramming in all the visiting with your daughter and her husband for the past and next several months, dodging raindrops, trying to see the many historical sights, and eat at as many interesting and delicious restaurants as possible.  Maybe I will just have to go back one day.  I will say that as far as Christmas gifts go, this one is right there at the top!

Here are a few more of my favorite photos to close.

Aren't they adorable?!

One of many...prost!

Pigeon graffiti

Best and most unique lunch spot!
Rogacki

That is TJ outside....was it something we said?

We would have been drenched without it!

Finally.....all the food!
Auf Wiedersehen

The Gift That Keeps on Giving

My husband did something he has never done before.  For Christmas he surprised me with an airline ticket.  He has never made travel plans for me without my input and I was happily surprised!  Since our daughter moved to Berlin, we both knew that we would visit her at some point in the year.  I had no idea it would be so soon!  The trip was scheduled for January 23, 2020, almost one month after Christmas.  It was the perfect thing to look forward to in a month that really needs a silver lining.

The time flew by and as I packed my bag on the 22nd my excitement grew!  I got a text message from my husband and it said he could not check me in for the flight and I would have to check myself in or call the magic hotline.  (personal disclaimer, I usually take care of my own travel details. Control issues...what control issues?)  I sat down at my computer, brought my flight up and clicked "check-in".  It said I would have to check in at the airport. Hmm.  Luckily, due to his many travels, we have access to the "super-special-we-love-you-because-you-are-never-home" line.  I called and even they could not check me in.  She said I would just have to check in at the airport.  Meanwhile, I got an email from the airline with an attachment that said, the country I was visiting required a valid passport (check) and the passport had to be valid for at least 3 months past my travel dates (hmm, let me look).  Travel dates Jan. 23-29, passport expiration date April 21, 2020.  Missed it by that much!  Let the scrambling begin!

All packed and nowhere to go!

Our evening of scrambling determined, between the passport office website, the "super special one gazillion mile" airline help line and our better judgment that the only place I was going on January 23 was to get a new passport photo taken at the drug store.  I made an appointment at the (expedited) passport office, determined that our daughter and her husband were home the next weekend, rescheduled our flights for exactly one week later, cancelled our sweet Airbnb and sent up a wish and a prayer.

Older and slightly frustrated Lisa on the left is saying,
"I was supposed to be on a flight to Berlin right now". 
At least I hope I don't end up with the same greenish-orange hair 
I've had for the last 10 years!

The price of having an almost valid passport:
-My "crack of dawn" passport appointment on Tuesday, Jan. 28 went smoothly and expensively. 
-Add to the expedited fee the $20 I unwittingly donated the the parking lot "attendant" who I credit with a smooth scam technique that caught me way off guard.  I guess he needed it more than I did.
-I was initially told I would only get $28 back from my original Airbnb booking unless he was able to re-book after my last minute cancellation.  Thank you to the person/people who enjoyed Berlin last weekend and got me half of my money refunded! 
-I booked a new place, near my daughter, with a generous cancellation policy!  I am learning!
-Finally getting to visit your daughter and her husband in their new home...priceless.
TJ and I have had more than one laugh that this has been the Christmas gift that keeps on giving.

Today, one week later, I picked up my brand new, shiny passport. I STILL can't check-in for my flight online but am confident they will do it at the airport when they see my valid documentation!  If all goes well, I will be on a flight to Berlin tomorrow, the 29th, only one week later than originally scheduled.

My passport expiration date always seemed so far off.  I mean it was all the way in 2020!  I took a walk down memory lane when I looked back over all of those pages and all of those stamps.  I only had 2 clean pages left...life goals!   Ten years ago I got that passport in April 2010, right after we moved back to Houston from Toronto.  It has been a very active 10 years on the travel front.  I am so thankful for all of it!  My hope is that I run out of pages to stamp before January 2030!  Can someone remind me in September of 2029 I need to get a new passport?  I will be a bit more forgetful by then I imagine!

I also realized that I may not have checked my passport before our annual migration to Canada in May and would have been up sh*t's creek with an expired passport if this had not happened.  So, thank you for the Christmas gift, honey... and the new passport!

A Short Surprising Stop

We spent less than 24 hours in Nuremberg on our way from Prague to Passau, where our cruise was beginning.  I did not do my usual researching ahead of time, and arrived with no expectations.  It was just a city we were spending the night in on the way to our cruise.  I should have done a better job!  Nuremberg turned out to be a pleasant surprise!

Welcome to Bavaria!

We took a four hour bus ride to Nuremberg and arrived at 3 p.m. wondering if we were at the right station, where our hotel was, and how were we going to get there.  Our trusty smart phones told us we were less than a 10 minute walk from our hotel.  Our phones did not tell us that the walk would be over mostly cobblestones (ugh!).  We clickety clacked our way, dragging our bags behind us, to our lovely hotel.  It really wasn't very far, it just seemed like it with those bags and those cobblestones.  We only had a few hours before dark so we went out to explore the old town.

Turned out, old town was very close to our hotel!

Pedestrian streets and outdoor markets!

We wandered the streets and loved the markets, the Bavarian architecture, the manageable number of people (compared to Prague) and the numerous Christmas shops.  It was just what we needed after four hours on a bus.  The farther into the town we got, the more we liked it.  We found the Nuremberg castle, not hard....just look for the biggest and highest building in the Old Town.  We are such geniuses!  I think we managed to hit all of the high points on our walk....you know...church, castle, pub.

I wanted to bring them all home!  

Since our lunch had consisted of the random snacks TJ bought in the store before we left Prague, an early dinner was in order.  We found a nice place, near the church and sat outside for dinner.  We embraced Bavaria and ordered the "tower of sausage"!  The air was crisp and clear, the leaves were turning fall colors and we were in Bavaria drinking local beer and eating sausages!  Our own private Oktoberfest without the oompah band!  

Cheers St. Lorenz!

Tower of sausage!
Complete with mustard, horseradish,
sauerkraut, potato salad and yummy bread!

Feeling fortified, we walked to the river.  I am a sucker for arched bridges and reflections in the water.  Who needs an ancient castle or a Gothic church when you can just stand on a bridge and watch the river flow?  I looked at the houses along the river and wondered what it would be like to live in such a lovely spot.  I wondered what it would be like to live in a city with such a dark history full of wars, religious turmoil, destruction and human tragedy.  How many different feet have walked on those same cobblestones?  The stories they could tell!

The Beautiful Fountain

The 40 colorful figures that adorn the fountain represent the world view of the Holy Roman Empire. They are philosophy, the seven liberal arts, the four Evangelists, the four Church Fathers, the seven Prince-electors, the Nine Worthies, Moses and seven Prophets (Hosea, Daniel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, Isaiah and Joel).

Hospice of the Holy Spirit
Truth:  when I took this I thought it was just a lovely scene.
It was only after I got home that I discovered what it was.

Life along the river

Our time with our daughter ended in Nuremberg as she headed "home" to Berlin the next morning and we took the train to meet our cruise.  Who knew a year ago that we would be drinking beer and eating sausages with her in Germany?  What a treat it was to have this time together!  I think we were all pleasantly surprised by our short time in Nuremberg.