OH, how I wish we had more time in London!!! 

My first time at this airport, and wow, very impressed with the place.  Awesome shopping, lots of variety, and the signage, oh the signage -- unlike some terminals in  Toronto, where even the natives are lost upon international arrival home, Heathrow is almost idiot-proof:  We exited our plane in great haste from one terminal to make a connecting flight to YYZ departing from another terminal, and were funnelled visually with colour (purple) and large, simple text and numbers to where we needed to go (we had 53 minutes to get from the seats in our aircraft which had landed at Terminal 1, to Terminal 3, including another security check, and into the connecting flight. )

And it was EASY!

Although the gate was closing as we arrived, we managed so squeeze on with 9 minutes to spare before take-off (darn, I coulda’ gone shopping!!!)

We wisely had a few of our rects printed out a-la-tourist fashion, which meant we got a hefty tax refund at the airport, in euros.  A little visit to the duty-free shop in Tegel turned into an Easter delight as I discovered all manner of typical German sweets and Easter eggs, which one can’t really get in Toronto, or only at a premium.  I loaded up my cart, so this year, the boys will have a real “German” Easter, even back home in Toronto!!!

I also happened upon die “echten” Salzburger Mozartkugeln, a favourite of my mother’s, which I sometimes get sent to me from my relatives in Germany.  Into the bag went a package of those, too!, as well as some treats for my colleagues at school.  (My students already have a stash of mini gummi-bears tucked away in a suitcase somewhere!)

Sitting on the plane leaving Berlin-Tegel for London Heathrow back to Toronto, I reflected on my travel observations as a tourist in Germany, and especially Berlin, this past week.

As in Paris (and NOT as in Toronto), you can pretty much get anywhere by train. (S or U-bahn). If you’re traveling as a group, consider the family day pass, travel as much as you like, for up to 5 people, including some kids.

Speaking of kids, there aren’t many.  Not sure who these people think is going to pay their old age pension when they retire, but they are not replenishing the German stock, that’s for sure!

If yer lookin’ for salad, bring yer own veggies. This town, and the country that surrounds it, don’t eat no salad, unless  it’s potato salad!

Beer is cheap: About 75 cents can get you a big bottle at the grocery store.

I enjoyed using my German, but many folks speak English, especially in tourist areas of the city, so don’t panic if all you know how to do in German is swear or ask for “ein Bier, bitte”!

Beware of pickpockets on the Alex and at Checkpoint Charlie – we were (aware, I mean), and it saved us having our wallets stolen more than once.

Unless you want pop-like water, ask for “Stilles Wasser”; I’d forgotten the German obsession with bubbly water… it’s nearly impossible to find normal water there, as even when asking for “stilles wasser”, one sometimes gets “Medium” instead, which means just a few bubbles instead of a whole bunch!!  (The truth is that most people drink beer, anyway—see #4 above.)

Haribo gummi bears are not supposed to be rock hard (as one finds them in Toronto!!!) Pick up a fresh bag or 12 while Berlin; they (the gummies, not the bags) are soft, chewy and fruity.  Yum!

Germans make well-engineered luggage: I splurged at the airport, and purchased a new suitcase and carry-on bag from the Lufthansa store; light as a feather, and corners on a dime.

Speaking of dimes, be sure to carry change at all times – you’ll need it for the public washrooms. Unlike in Toronto, most places don’t have washrooms, and even if they do, one is often still expected to pay at least 50 cents!!!

Letter carriers often move the mail by bike, even when there is snow on the ground.  Large baskets adorn these yellow bikes, and make carting the mail around the city more “green”.  Cool!

This morning we made our way to Friedrich Str., to visit a unique little historical and human rights museum dedicated to telling "the stories of those escapees who risked their lives to win their freedom", and those who helped them escape the GDR.

The "Haus am Checkpoint Charlie" is located at the point where my mother and I used to cross from West to East when visiting relatives before the wall came down in 1989.

I remember being very impressed with the replica hiding spots under the engines of cars, and in specially made suitcases; my barrage of questions must have driven my mother nuts when we went to visit the museum so many years ago.  But at least I had some schema; I had stood at the wall with my mother's friends from West Berlin, and had crossed the border both ways when visiting family in the former East Germany... my own boys know only the stories.

One thing I really like about the museum is that they have a long history of using it as a tool to educate first the "west" school kids and now all students who visit... the art of children hangs throughout the museum, and one sees the impressions made on the kids who produced the pieces.

At one point, as we were reading a story about a family who had been separated because the father escaped with one child first, and then had to wait for over a year before being reunified with the other child and the mother, Alex asked me, “if we were escaping, which of us would go first?”  This lead to a long and interesting discussion about if and under what conditions one might leave one’s home country, and how and why one might make the decision to leave separately as opposed to altogether.

I'm glad I got to share this museum visit with Alex and Simon -- although they don't really understand everything, it was neat to see them so engaged, eyes full of wonder as the wheels turned upstairs, and they asked questions to fill in the many gaps that were forming as quickly as new connections and understandings were being made!

After our border visit, it was off to lunch, where I was very happy to get some Algauer Kasespaetzle though I will confess they were not as good as I had hoped--a little dried out, and the onions not caramalized.  But nevertheless, it was a decent meal (there was even a real salad; don't get me started on the lack of fresh vegetables around here... could be a whole other blog post, lol!)

After lunch, it was off to the Berliner Zoo. 

I am no zoo expert, but it seemed to me that the enclosures were rather small, and as there were few pavilions, many animals were outside or off display.  The zoo itself was lovely to walk through as a visitor, but as an animal, I think I'd choose the Toronto Zoo any day!

I will say this, though, the Berlin zoo has some pretty neat animals:  In the short time we were there, we saw three species of procupine, some pink flamingos and even few giraffes. 

The aquarium was also pretty neat; sharks, stingrays and all manner of fish.

We began our day with a tasty breakfast of broetchen, cold cuts and an assortment of muesli. It was also a chance to meet the youngest member of the Eisenach clan, a beautiful and cheerful 10-month-old, since we had spent the night at his dad’s house!

Then it was off to the Thuringia countryside, to the village where another arm of the family lives.

After a brisk walk with the kids, we enjoyed a typical Thuringia meal of knoedel and “meatballs”; even the boys ate some!

Next, we headed out to visit the dairy farm where most of the family members work.  We got to see 2-week-old calves, and the nearly 400 cows there, as well as the plant where the milk is collected and made ready for transport. (click any photo below to enlarge)

This farm, we learned, produces 13 000 litres of raw milk per day!

After our dairy farm adventure, it was time to head back to Eisenach, to the train station, to catch our train back to Berlin.

Enroute home tonight, I asked the boys if they were enjoying their Germany trip, and if anything surprised them.  Alex noted that he had not known that he was part of such a big family, with so many Germans!

As there were 8 of us on the go, my cousin's family stayed with her mother last night, while we stayed at her brother's. Sleeping in strange beds often leads to restless sleep.  This can result in some rather unusual dreams, as I experienced last night.

One such dream involved the Pope and an assassination attempt:  In our travels, we met one of the contenders for the papacy, a very open-minded, progressive character (that should have been my first clue!) who seemed very aware of the need to balance change with tradition.

As we were chatting with him in my relatives’ living room here in Eisenach (which, oddly enough, resembled my classroom back home in Toronto!), my former boss from Tyndale asked a provocative question, to which the papal contender responded by showing a ppt that was on-message, as he remained silent, as if to indicate that he personally was open to other interpretations.

Suddenly, several body guards came into the room, turned off the lights, and walked quickly but silently towards us. The pope guy immediately ran to the back of my classroom and hid behind a door.  One guard moved towards and hid Alex, the other whispered in my ear calmly that I should go and hide, which I did, in the coat closet in my classroom; he moved Simon towards me to hide together with me.

At this point I realised I was dreaming, and woke up to find myself safely in a bed in Eisenach!

Wednesday morning bright and early it was off to Eisenach by train to visit more family, and to see the Wartburg.

Getting four adults and four kids, with all our gear, out the door and onto an 8:30 a.m. train at the main station in Berlin was no easy task!  But, we managed to make the train on time, and even had a few minutes leftover to find some tea and Mohnkuchen before embarking.

Traveling with a one-year-old and a precocious 4-year-old  makes me realise how “easy” life with nearly-9-year-olds is…  (And thank goodness for iPads!)

The baby and his sister kept us hopping, the former climbing on tables and pulling at this and that while his sister nattered away and complained about not having the right paper to draw on, or wanting Trevor to help make pipe cleaner animals from the craft book that I wisely had purchased in advance for the long journey across the country.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the opportunity to spend some uninterrupted time with my "cousin" and her kids, getting to know them a little better. 

In Naumburg, it was time to transfer trains; with four minutes between trains, we had to hustle, but luckily, it was just the next track over we had to get to.

My cousin's mother met us at the Eisenach train station to collect our bags, so that we could venture up to the Wartburg unencumbered.  We elected to send dad and their two kids along with them, as both baby and older sister desperately needed a nap, and we, a break!

So, Trevor, my cousin, the boys and I were supposed to throw our bags into her mother's car, and run off to catch a bus departing in 9 minutes, to the foot of the hill on which the Wartburg is built.  From there it was to be a bit of a long walk uphill in snow (without snow boots, we having prepared for European spring!)

Usually, one can go up to the castle by donkey, but no donkeys were traveling through 40 cm of snow!!!

But a wonderful and unexpected thing happened:  Another aunt, from a nearby village, was also there to meet us at the train station -- with flowers, no less! -- and insisted she drive us up to the Wartburg, and join us for our tour there. 

What a delightful surprise!

The Wartburg is famous primarily for housing Martin Luther after the publication of his 95 Thesis in 1517 for 10 months during which time he was widely believed dead, but during which time he actually was translating the New Testament of the Bible in a tiny room of the castle, now known as the “Luther Stube”.

The castle houses historical treasures from across the middle ages, and is now a UNESCO historical site, undergoing considerable renovations at any given time to preserve the heritage on display there.

The young St Elizabeth (famed for the miracle of the bread and roses among other things) also lived there for a time, and a whole host of monuments to her now decorate the walls of several rooms in the castle.

After our walk through the old, unheated site, we were frozen stiff, and still had over an hour to kill before meeting the others for dinner, so off we went to enjoy some tea and cake at a nearby cafe to warm up. 

Then we bought Alex some shoes, as his feet were completely soaked, and his shoes, too, were at the end of their useful life.  (I must say the prices in Eisenach are considerably more reasonable than those in Berlin, where we bought Simon's shoes earlier in the week, and I would very much have liked to stay on a bit to do some shopping of my own!)

After a brief stop at an impromptu "rummel" for a bumper car ride, we headed off to dinner, atop the "Storchenturm", a nearby restaurant with a private dining room on the top floor.

That's when things REALLY got fun!!!

Among those in attendance were my cousin's mom, as well as her aunt and uncle, and the uncle's daughter, too, who is suddenly a hip 24-year-old!  Even her dad showed up.

I hadn't seen most of these people in over ten years, before I became a mother!  And they had never met Alex and Simon, of course.

Despite the fact that we were in some sense strangers, there was enough common history between us all that we enjoyed many laughs together, and a great number of stories, both mundane and fascinating.   The children were relatively well-behaved, too, so we were able to enjoy much uninterrupted adult conversation.

At one point, the uncle, a historian who has been researching in depth a branch of the family tree, came over to me to tell me personally how much he appreciated our having made this trip.  While researching family documents, he came across a collection of letters between my mother and his mother, who were cousins, as well as some letters written between my grandmother and his, who were sisters, and the only two of five siblings to have had children (which ultimately led to this evening's family feast).  Letters, he noted, provide an invaluable historical insight into relationships and times; he encouraged me to find my half of the letters, which I recall having tucked away in a box somewhere after my mother died -- I wonder, now, if that box survived unscathed from the water damage our storage locker endured some time ago... I immediately made a note to myself to check upon my return home to Toronto.

Sometime during the evening, we took a group photo, which did not turn out super well, due to crappy camera, lighting and not everyone smiling at the same time.  Nevertheless, it was neat to watch throughout the evening, as the boys got a sense of themselves within their larger German connection.

What a delightful gathering it was!

This afternoon’s excursion to Spandau and then Kladow was like something from another world.

We took public transit across the city to meet my mother’s childhood friend and her husband, both retired, for lunch in Spandau, followed by tea and cake back at their house in an old, tree-lined suburb of west Berlin.

Waltraud and Dieter grow tonnes of fruit, which they freeze and make stuff with.  They also keep bees, which is pretty neat.  The boys got to learn a bit about bee-keeping, among other things…

After the bee-keeping lesson, the boys went upstairs to be be-gifted by Waltraud, who is as close to their “other grandma” (as they refer to my deceased mother) as they’re going to meet, German-wise.  I, meanwhile, got a tour of the “wine cellar” – with 3- freezers full of fruit each fall (and that doesn’t include the fresh and dried fruit they keep!) something has to be done, so Dieter brews wine, and lots of it!

There are flasks all over the house:  Currant wine, raspberry wine, apple wine, and -- this year -- honey mead, which he made with all the extra honey after the loss of his bees last winter.  We had a little taste after the tea and cake:  It was incredible!!!

I jokingly suggested they market exclusive tours to wealthy tourists from the middle east:  “German Bee and Wine Tour”, including a small wine sample and beeswax candle at the end.  But they were not interested in such grand business proposals.

I’m glad we got to go out there; it was quite the trek (over two hours to get home afterwards), but well worth it to see these incredible people again, and introduce them to my kids.  I feel so blessed to know them.

As Simon said tonight when I was tucking him in, “Mommy, I hope we get to see them again sometime!”

A tourist tradition exists in Berlin, namely taking ones photo next to a "Berliner Baer" in front of the Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate).

I have a photo of myself next to such a bear when I was about 10 years old, at the gate at the end of "Under den Linden", and I wanted the same for Alex and Simon.

Alas, when we arrived, we were witness to what appeared to be the tail end of a major battle between two bears!

At first, we thought it was some sort of show, put on for the tourists.  But then one of them pulled off his bear head, and fully started socking the other bear in the arms, chest and head!!!  It was a full-on bear brawl, while terrified tourists stood by in shock, some filming the bizarre event as it unfolded.

Needless to say, the boys were somewhat wary of having their photo taken, even once both bears calmed down (it seems anyone can dress up and hang out there, asking for tips in exchange for a photo opp, and these two were infringing on one another's territory or something to that effect).

Luckily, we found a third bear a little closer to the actual gate, and convinced Simon to have his picture taken with the nice, calm bear and with Mommy!!!

Aiports are interesting places; it's fascinating to see how various major urban centres choose to welcome the world to their city.

Charles de Gaulle is no exception.  With 10 terminals (including 1, 2a, 2b, 2c, etc. and 3!), it is one of the biggest airports in the world. Our terminal this morning led us through plexiglass escalators, and up and down various hills via esci-ramps of sorts.  Pretty neat place; the boys were duly impressed.

Flying Lufthansa has its advantages:  We got a really decent, wholesome snack, even though it was just a short flight.  (The little Berlin bear comprised some the tastiest chocolate I've had in a long time -- as a sidenote, apparently there is a policy in the EU regarding the quality of what can be considered "chocolate" as a product!)

We were NOT happy to see the snow upon approach to Berlin - Tegel... althought we'd been warned of the lousy weather, after our two sunshiney days in Paris, we somehow couldn't believe that spring would make such a drastic and sudden exit!!!

After unpacking and settling in a bit at my cousin's in Pankau (in the former East Berlin), we decided to avail ourselves of the day pass they had gotten us, and journeyed with the boys back out onto the subway to the Alexanderplatz, where we enjoyed a little shopping (including a new pair of shoes for poor Simon, who had been wearing plastic bags inside his shoes to keep hs feet dry!!!), and a German meal at a nearby cafe: Wursten mit senf, Kartoffelsalat (not as good as mine!) and some ice cream.

I didn't take many photos, but here are the few I snapped en-route...

Tomorrow, it's off to Spandau (in the former West Berlin), to lunch with my mother's childhood friends, whom we haven't seen since Trev.