So a couple of weeks ago we took a quick trip to Berlin.  Why you ask?  Well, at the end of this summer, we'll be packing up our things and moving to Berlin!  It'll be a big change for us but we're excited... or most of us are.  Will, who's older and fairly settled in his school now, is more than a little apprehensive about the move.  

This trip gave us the chance to see the city (first time for me and the kids!), check out a couple possible schools, get a feel for the various neighborhoods and even tour a few houses, but even more importantly, it gave us the opportunity to introduce Berlin to the kids in the most positive way possible.  This meant no boring museums, no long treks to crowded touristy sites, not one thing that could be construed as boring to the little ones.  So did we see the Brandenburg Gate?  Checkpoint Charlie?  The remnants of the Berlin Wall?  No, no and no.  We hit exactly zero of Berlin's must-see tourist destinations.  But we did manage to do some pretty cool things during our visit:

1. Walking on a frozen lake:  Berlin was cold.  Colder than any place I've ever been in my life!  While we were there it got down to -19 degrees Celsius (that's -2.2 F) with a wind that I swear swept straight in from Siberia.  Brrr!  Not such good weather for sightseeing but perfect for sliding around on one of Berlin's many frozen lakes.

I can't believe I'm smiling in this picture.  I literally could not feel my face.

2.  Visited the Berlin Aquarium  -- We'd intended to go to the zoo but then we decided it was just too cold.  Perfect weather for the polar bears but not so much for us.  So instead we stopped by the adjacent aquarium to check out the aquatic creatures.  It's not as impressive as the Monterey Bay Aquarium but the kids loved it anyway.

This is actually just outside the zoo.

3.   Stumbled upon a Carnival parade --  This had to be the highlight of the trip for the kids.  As we were walking back from the aquarium to our hotel, we happened upon this incredible parade:  

Tons of floats, marching bands, dancers and, best of all, people throwing CANDY and TOYS!  

Kate was literally stunned with joy.

Will was so overcome he even forgot to be annoyed when his sister hugged him.

The kids were in heaven.   They ran around like maniacs filling their pockets and ours with as much candy as they could scoop up.  We're still working our way through it two weeks later.

The best part of this was that, in preparation for our trip, I had bought a couple of children's books about Berlin, including this one about the Berlin Airlift.  It's a charming story about a little girl living in Berlin shortly after WWII when the city's supplies were cut off and American forces had to drop in goods by air to keep the people alive.  Much to the delight of local children, one pilot started dropping chocolate bars, each with its own little handkerchief parachute. It's a lovely book, very moving, so much so in fact that I kept getting choked up as I read it.  The kids loved it too.  Kate in particular was enthralled by this story, so when we found this parade and -- upon being hit in the head with a chocolate bar -- she actually shouted, "Mom, can you believe it?  They really do throw candy at you in Berlin!  I LOVE it here!"  :)

She may be in for a rude awakening when she realizes that candy doesn't actually fall out of the sky every day in Berlin.

But, all in all, it was a successful trip!

Two Years

So today marks the second anniversary of our arrival in Luxembourg.  Two years.  Can you believe it??  Here are some highlights from our second year here:

January:

Indoor skiing in Amneville, France.  Kate's first time on skis.

February:

Our trip to London

March:

Skiing in Austria

..and some hiking too

Springtime with friends in the park

April:

Someone got roller blades for his 7th birthday!

And Kate got her first bike.

May:

Making daisy chains in Echternach

And some trampolining

June:

Amsterdam!

National Day in Lux

July: Our trip back to the U.S.

Healthy American breakfast

Foggy beaches in San Francisco

August:

Schueberfouer here in Lux (after two years here I still can't spell that word!)

September:

Apple picking in Steinsel

The amazing castle, Burg Eltz, Germany

October:

Kate turned 5!

Will's arm ended up in a sling

Trick-or-treating!  (At least the sling went well with his mummy costume.)

November:  I was once again blown away by the fall foliage

And we went on a huge road trip through Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland:

Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany

A rare family photo in Venice

December:

Kate's Christmas play.  She was a doll. 

And we took another long road trip through France and Switzerland.

Somewhere in Switzerland

Snow angels in Chamonix, France

It snowed.  A LOT!!

And the kids enjoyed some excellent regional food:

Kate enjoying Tartiflette in Chamonix

Belgian waffles at the Brussels Christmas market

Whew!  What a year.  In total, we visited ten countries in our second year here, but we have so many more we want to see.  Don't worry, we have big plans for 2012...

Road Trip, Day 1: Neuschwanstein Castle

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On our first day, we left Luxembourg and headed across Germany to the little town of Schwangau, home to the famous Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles.  Because we were short on time, we chose only to visit one castle, Neuschwanstein, which was built by King Ludwig of Bavaria.  Kate was extra excited to see this one since we'd told her that it was the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty's castle at Disneyland.  That's all it took.

 The castle is perched on the top of a hill, about a mile up, and we had the choice of taking a bus, a horse and carriage, or walking to reach the castle.  Though the horse and carriage sounded like fun, we decided to walk up and then take the carriage down. (Unfortunately for us, our plan didn't work because we were too late to catch the carriage down and so we ended up walking both up and down the hill.  My knees were not happy!).

But it was a beautiful walk.

There was even a little waterfall halfway up the hill.

 We passed this beautiful restaurant right before reaching the castle.

 As we reached the top, we were rewarded with incredible views of the castle from different angles.

The view from the top of the hill was gorgeous, especially with the fall foliage in its full glory.  You can walk to this bridge directly across from the castle, which, I'm sure, would give a beautiful view of the castle.  Unfortunately, we didn't have time.  It gets dark so early these days!

But we did stop for a few pictures.

I even got a rare smiling one of Will!

The inside of the castle can only be seen on a guided tour, which we did, and it was worth the time.  This was by far the most ornate castle we've visited so far.  It's too bad they don't allow photos to be taken.

We spent the night in Schwangau and then got up early the next morning to head to Italy.  More soon!

Burg Eltz

A couple of weeks ago, during what was probably the last warm, sunny weekend for MONTHS, we took a little trip to Burg Eltz in Germany.



I can't explain how much I loved this place.  The castle was straight out of a fairy tale, and the setting? Spectacular!

I think fall must be the best time to go.  Those leaves!

We hiked down from the car park about a kilometer through the forest:

.. to get to the castle.

There's a nice restaurant...

And little windows for peeking out:

See Kate behind all the sunbeams?

Will's best picture face.

And an armory that impressed even Will (though he's still upset I wouldn't let him spend 30 Euros on a crossbow at the gift shop):

It was a gorgeous place, one of my favorites of all the castles we've seen so far.  Hot and tired after our day of exploring, we hiked back through the forest to find our car.  The kids were thirsty, so when we saw this little booth we thought we'd just buy them an apple juice before we hit the road:

Just one little problem:  They only served wine -- which, for some reason, they were giving away.  In the parking lot.  Before everyone got in their cars and drove home.  Europe -- gotta love it!