Germany! Vinny has two classmates in his program from Germany (the 2 on the right, Caspar and Freddy) and they were very excited to show us their homeland so we booked our tickets and pretty much didn't do any other planning for the trip. It was awesome- they took care of everything and we loved it. The trip was beyond my expectations and (un)surprisingly Truman handled it like a champ. Honestly the kid is happier on-the-go than at home most of the time. 10 days, 5 cities, 4 different accommodations, 2 plane rides, 2 train trips, countless car/taxi/underground rides, 1 day of biking, lots of stroller time, and loads of strangers for Truman to charm. The first 2 days were in Berlin
Day One
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| Biking through Berlin! |
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| He conked so quick. And I don't know why I allowed Vinny's headwear all day. |
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| A chocolate reichstag? Awesome |
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| The American Sector- we went to a museum called "Checkpoint Charlie." It was an entire museum full of ways people escaped from east Berlin to west Berlin. It was incredible. People were smuggled in cars, built complex collapsible ladders, and even built their own airplanes. |
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| The real Reichstag (House of Parliament)- This is the core of the big dome. There are stairs going up around the outside and you get great views of the whole city. |
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| Brandenburg Gate |
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| Holocaust Memorial |
Day Two
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| Our Place, courtesy of AirBnB. Don't know what that graffiti means. It concerned me until I saw that pretty much all of Berlin is covered in graffiti |
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| Currywurst. I miss it. |
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| Hanging at a park watching people graffiti a wall. |
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| Wall Memorial. They had lots of information along the wall. Buildings along the wall were first boarded off and then eventually torn down to prevent people escaping through them. Before they were torn down lots of people jumped from the windows to the other side of the wall. The west-side Fire Brigade kept close to catch people on a net. One lady that jumped was 8 months pregnant! She made it safely. |
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| Stones marking where an escape tunnel was. Most tunnels were dug from west to east by people from the west trying to get family members from the east side. |
Maybe a bit too informative. and boring- sorry! I just don't want to forget. This actually happened back in mid-March so I just need to get it done.
I want to hear more! So fascinating! We watched a movie about two men who used a hot air balloon to take their families out of East Germany. It was very risky and when they landed they didn't actually know which side they were on until the guard that found them DIDN'T shoot them. I've never thought of visiting Germany before, but now I want to.
ReplyDeleteMan, Truman is awesome.
Love you!
Bean
Not boring in the least! I have lead a sheltered life. Makes me want to hop on a plane and go round the world. Anyone? Anyone?
ReplyDeleteGermany! How cool. I haven't given the Berlin Wall nearly enough thought, very interesting. And Truman is such a happy trooper! That's amazing
ReplyDeleteTruman is so awesome thru this, lucky kid, lucky parents. I'm on the sheltered path I'll go with you mom!
ReplyDeleteTruman is so awesome thru this, lucky kid, lucky parents. I'm on the sheltered path I'll go with you mom!
ReplyDelete