Berlin mit Oma and Opa!

We were very fortunate that my parents came to visit us again in Heinsberg a couple weeks ago.  They had just finished up travels in Spain and France and came to see us (ehem, Ellie?) at the end of their trip.  We spent a few nice days in Heinsberg and then flew to Berlin together.

We loved Berlin - we took in all the historical sites we could, but also made sure to enjoy the delicious food, some beers and a great Turkish market.  My dad had visited Berlin in 1971, so it was cool to hear about his visit through Checkpoint Charlie back then and his memories of what East Berlin was like.

Checkpoint Charlie then...

and Now...

Checkpoint Charlie is a must see site in Berlin, even though its very kitschy with these lame fake guards standing by. 

We all posed by this section of the wall, not realizing that we'd see a much bigger chunk of the wall the next day.

We then wandered into Gendarmenmarkt to check out the churches and try some chocolates at Germany's biggest chocolate store - Fassbender & Rausch - and then duck out of the rain and grab some beers at the Augustiner haus.  Not a bad day!

 

I saw the chocolate version of Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag before I saw the real ones.  Yum?

Oh, and Colin made me laugh when he asked me if I saw the Chocolate Ellie yet...

 
She does have some cherub-like rolls!

And of course, our beers.  Why does Ellie want beer so badly?!?  She really is a German baby...

Or maybe better explained as just her father's daughter.

The next day we did our heavy sightseeing, touring the German History Museum, and walking further into East Berlin to enjoy a delicious "California Burrito"!

In front of the Berliner Dom

Looking really cool with our museum passes still on, Rick Steves in hand, next to the Trabant cars that were manufactured in East Germany

In the afternoon, we checked out the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, Tiergarten, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe and the Topography of Terrors. 

Walking through Tiergarten

The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is really one of the best memorials I've seen.  The 2.711 grave stone like pillars form a labyrinth below.  When you walk through them, you feel a strange sort of isolation away from the rest of the city.  It was thought-provoking and very well done.

 

This was the most of the wall that we saw throughout the city.  It sat between Germany's Finance Ministry (the former headquarters of the Nazi Luftwaffe) and a site where the command center of Hitler's Gestapo and SS once were.  It was a bit eerie.

Our final day together in Berlin, we had a "culture day".  Basically, we walked the colorful Turkish Market in the Kreuzberg district and then went to a beer garden.  It might not surprise you that this was my favorite day.  It was just better quality time with my parents before we traveled back to Heinsberg and they flew back to the States.

In the Turkish market, my mom and I found great jewelry, some dresses, and of course, we all enjoyed some delicious food.  Falafels and baklava - yum!!

We then did a stop in Prenzlauer Berg at the Prater Biergarten.  It was awesome  - we enjoyed some brief sun outside there until it started pouring down rain!

 

What a great trip and visit with my parents!  The last few pics were of our time in Heinsberg, which I savored as it was our last family visitors in our house here in Germany.

Thanks, M&D, for visiting us and traveling with us!!  We treasure these memories so much.

Ellie 7 months

At 7 months, Ellie is busier than ever.  She is scooting around, mostly backward, and up on all fours looking like she might crawl, but usually face planting instead.  She is sitting up too, so she'd prefer that to the face planting business, so who knows when crawling will actually start?

She is still as smiley and giggly as ever, and her favorite things right now are playing outside (picking grass and leaves, eating grass and leaves, etc) and playing tug of war with Lola.  We've thought maybe she was teething but still no sign of teeth! 

Greece with the Whips Part II - Megalochori, Santorini!

We flew into Santorini at sunset and we could tell instantly that we'd love it.  At this time of year,Santorini's vineyards are in full bloom all over the island, with spools of green vines contrasting against the whitewashed buildings, bright blue roofs and the dark rock of the caldera.

Since its so hot, they grow the vineyards in these spools close to the ground

 We stayed in two parts of the island because we wanted to experience both the small village feel of Megalochori and the tourist sunset heaven of Oia.

We had an awesome cave house in the tiny village of Megalochori.  While we were there, we rented a car and checked out the ancient ruins at Akrotiri and did a day full of wine tasting.  We also did some driving around the island during which JC amused us by greeting all Greeks with an enthusiastic "Kalimeraaa!"  The Greeks were very receptive to this - they were such friendly, outgoing and relaxed people!

Entrance to the Cave House, which was a former school for the tiny village

It was not tough to relax in this patio every day...

Date night!  Erin and JC were nice enough to watch Ellie while we grabbed dinner together.

Yes, yes I did buy this scarf to color coordinate with Santorini...

Akrotiri was settled as early as 3000 BC, making it the oldest ruins we'd ever seen.  They'd been preserved by a volcanic eruption around 1500 BC, so it was neat to see all the layers of civilization they had.

We went to two Santorini wineries and enjoyed tastings and beautiful scenery.

Brotha/Sista wine tasting at Sigalos

Wine Tasting with a beautiful view at Santo Winery

Every morning we'd take a little walk around the village with Ellie in the carrier, which she loves.  It was fun to see the towns all quiet in the morning... the only other people we'd see were parents like us with babies, getting them out and about since they get up so early!

Next UP - beautiful Oia!

Greece with the Whips Part III: OIA!

After Megalochori, we moved to the tiny cliffside town of Oia, which is renown for its beautiful sunsets.  We had a small cave house with a little jacuzzi and upstairs and downstairs decks for watching the gorgeous view of the caldera all day long.  Our weather and location were perfect.

I have tons of pictures, so I'm just posting a bunch of them.  Its too hard to choose!

Bathing beauty lounging in a shady area we created for her.

Upper deck view

This church was literally right next door.

Not relaxing at all!

At the edge of town where everyone watches the sunset.

Ellie also took a dip in the water, but the real point of this pic is to show off those chubby thighs that we love!

Scooting backward is Ellie's big thing right now.

At the sunset viewpoint.  Unfortunately, we had a bit of cloud cover for the sunsets, but it was still just gorgeous!

 

Ellie loved Greece as much as we did!

And some panoramic scenic shots... I finally figured out this feature of my camera.