Although we all miss Maine and Christmas far away from friends and family can be hard, we all agree that December is a great time to be in Germany. This year we tried to make the most of it and I think we did pretty well. We made it to 4 Christmas markets and just generally tried to soak up as much holiday cheer as the city provided. Wishing all of our friends and family near and far a Happy New Year.
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This year we travelled to Mallorca for Thanksgiving and I loved it. Known as a German hot spot and not always in a good way, we were so pleasantly surprised. We headed to the mountains in the off season and settled in to a lovely house with family for the holiday. We spent time at the beach and the mountains, enjoyed lots of food and even had a day exploring Palma. What a lovely time with lovely people. I would love to go back and explore some more.
HelsinkiIt is a two hour ferry ride from Tallinn, Estonia to Helsinki, Finland- so the kids and I decided to hop over for the day. I am really glad we did. Like the rest of the trip- the weather was terrible, but I really liked the little bit of Finland that we saw. It was a lot like Stockholm, but cozier and less expensive. Helsinki has unusual and interesting architecture and Fins swimming in heated pools at the edge of the sea. The ferry itself was also an experience, with a small arcade, a supermarket, a burger king and several other restaurants it was destination onto itself and I was fascinated.
EstoniaWe arrived to snow in Tallinn but once we geared up, we really enjoyed it. We spent a lot of time in the medieval old town with its friendly shop keepers and a bit cheesy but still really charming medieval themed restaurants and legend museum. And on our last morning in the biting wind, we ventured into the residential area which was like nothing I have ever seen. Wooden apartment houses which looked like they could have been in Portland, Maine but then again not.
The kiddos have October holiday for two weeks and for one of those weeks we headed to Stockholm, Tallinn and even spent a day in Helsinki. It was just the kids and me- Lars was at a conference- but we had a great time. We had terrible weather. It was grey and rainy and windy and then really cold. But we channeled the German saying- there is no bad weather, just bad clothing. We had to upgrade our footwear and add some gloves and hats once we arrived in Estonia. And we sometimes still froze and sadly had to abandon a very interesting walking tour of Tallinn when our toes froze. But for the most part we didn't let the weather stop us. The kids were troopers and all in all it was a great week. And on our last full day we jumped on a Ferry and rode over to Helsinki- where it was also freezing, wet and windy but was still enjoyable. I took so many photos along the way that I am splitting them up. First up- Stockholm, SwedenTwo gorgeous Sundays in a row- one almost like a summer day. Mauer park Berlin two weeks in a row, public karaoke and park atmosphere. The flea market is the least interesting thing in this park. We wish we had known earlier.
We recently rented a car and took a road trip to Belgium and Holland. We had a long weekend and decided to drive to Bruges in Belgium and also spent a night in Utrecht in the Netherlands. It was a lot of driving and I did it all. After a tough first leg- dark, rainy conditions, an accident which caused stand still traffic for 30 minutes, and kilometer long stretches of construction- I got into a groove and learned a few things- and I think I enjoy driving on the German Autobahn (the Dutch and Belgian highways were OK.) . Bruges was very charming and touristy! We were surprised at how many people were there although summer is over. We stayed at a well located but mediocre hotel right in the center and spent our days walking around and of course eating local delicacies (waffles and french fries.) A highlight was a canal tour with a characteristic captain who spoke four languages fluently and told slightly off color jokes to the blond from Kansas sitting at the front. We also enjoyed a chocolate expo where all sorts of things were done with chocolate. All in all we enjoyed Bruges, but were ready to leave after 2 nights and so planned a last minute stop in Utrecht, Netherlands on our way back to Berlin. I think we all agreed that we actually enjoyed Utrecht more. We really only had one day there, but we spent it walking around the canals in the city and I fantasized about visiting F and B when they attend Utrecht University- which looked lovely. BrugesUtrecht It seems that since we have been back I've been to more museums/exhibits than all of last year. Some of them don't qualify as traditional museums but all of them involved a nice outing. We had a trip to Teufelsberg, an abandoned NSA spy station atop a hill in the lovely Grunewald (forest) in west Berlin, that has been turned into a graffiti paradise. And you have to pay 8 euro to get in so- I am calling it a museum. To get to Teufelsberg you have to walk through a bit of the forest and climb a hill which provides a lovely view of Berlin. It seems like a very popular spot day and night based on the families flying kites and the heaps of trash from parties the night before, (I will never understand how Germans can be so serious about recycling but such litter bugs.) We went to the Kennedy Museum which I really enjoyed. A small, empty (I loved that part) museum dedicated to the Kennedy's and currently showing an exhibit of Steve Shapiro photographs on civil rights. Only B was dragged on that outing as F was with friends. But even he was mildly interested in some of the photos and seemed happy with all of the places to sit. And finally I chaperoned F's class to the Olympus Playground Perspective exhibit. An interactive exhibit with cool stuff to take pictures of. I found my daughter to be cooler than most of the other things.
We are back in Berlin and after settling in and getting everyone back to their routines I was able to look back at all of the photos that I made on our vacation. And what a vacation it was. L.A. beaches, Universal Studios , family pools, Olympia National park and of course Maine. Thanks to all of the friends and family who hosted us along the way. We miss you already.
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