Fall Break; Part 2 (Germany)

After 2 full days on the road & 2 days in Polish cities, we went to Berlin. We've spent significant time traveling in Germany, but most of it has been in the western half of the country since that's where our friend, Sabine, and her parents live. Sabine lived with Kim's family in Michigan during our senior year of high school (1991-1992)when she was an exchange student (wish I had an electronic photo to show you of those days). We've stayed in close touch ever since, including me going to Sabine's family's home to visit in 1994 & again in 1997 in their tiny village of Lamersdorf, near Koln. Sabine's wonderful parents, Hedweg & Josef, have adopted me as their American daughter, much like my parents have done with Sabine. Our families have a wonderful bond.

Our original plans were to drive all the way to Lamersdorf to visit, since it's been since 2004 since we have been there. But since it would require another 7-hour day of driving, we asked if Sabine & her parents would be willing to come & meet us in Berlin instead. They happily agreed.
In March, Sabine had her 1st baby, a daughter: Antonia, who we were excited to meet. They were also excited to meet Isak. We spent a wonderful 2 days with them: the first exploring Berlin & the 2nd at the Berlin Zoo. Berlin is an amazing city with an extraordinarily dramatic & very recent history. In fact tomorrow (Nov. 9) is the 20 year celebration of the fall of the Berlin wall & Germany's unification. Only 20 years ago!!! That was just a couple years before Sabine came to live in the States with us. Being there to see what has developed in the last 20 years was fantastic. We'd love to go back & spend more time.

At the Brandenburg Gates: which used to be a check point to go from East to West

This brick path runs through the city to show where the Berlin wall used to stand.

In front of the Parliment building - we got to go in the globe on top & had an audio tour of what we could see of the city: an impressive view!

Sabine, Hedwig & Josef in the Holocaust Memorial

The Berlin Zoo was also a great experience. They claim to have the highest number of species than any zoo in the world! It was certainly an impresseive zoo & very fun for Ieva.

Such a great time with such great friends!