Berlin, Germany

Checkpoint Charlie

We have lived in Germany over three years and finally made a trip to Berlin.  I have to say, I liked Berlin a lot more than I thought I would.  Berlin is the capital of Germany and Germany's largest city.  We took an ICE train to Berlin and it took about 5 hours.  This was our second train trip to take.  Our first was to Paris last Thanksgiving.  If you're not traveling very far, the train is a great way to get there.  It was nice because we could take turns walking Blue Rock around.  There's a cafe on board where we bought coffee and actually ate dinner on our way back.  Also, everyone could enjoy looking at the scenery outside the windows and we didn't have to worry about getting stuck in traffic.  My parents were in town and having them travel with us, made things so much easier.

We stayed at a hotel called Hotel Berlin, Berlin.  At first they put my parents in the modern side of the hotel and us in the older side.  Once my husband and I saw our room we requested to change rooms.  They didn't have any rooms available in the modern side with a couch bed, but that was fine with us.  The older room smelled like old cigarette smoke and I'm allergic to cigarettes so that was not going to work.  Blue Rock could sleep in our bed for two nights.  Overall, we really liked the hotel.  The bus line was very close to the hotel, the breakfast was top of the line, and the bed was comfortable.  It's a 4 star hotel, which is more like a 3 star in the U.S.

Going to our hotel - Hotel Berlin, Berlin

 

My favorite 2-year old

About a year ago, our neighbor brought us a piece of the Berlin Wall and a book about it from when he and his family went.  They go about once a year.  I never knew the full history of the Berlin Wall and how horrible it was.  It divided families and they built it to keep people in East Berlin from getting out so they could keep them under communist control.  We visited the remaining part of the Berlin Wall and went in the museum and saw videos of people jumping out windows.  We also read old news stories and looked at pictures.  Our hearts sunk and went out to those people who lived on the wrong side of town.  When the wall went up you were unable to communicate with those on the other side.  It was really neat to see such a recent historical place.  The Berlin Wall went down in November of 1989.

Berlin Wall - where tunnels were dug

Actual part of the wall that remains, it was tall and made of cement

Inside the cement were those metal bars - nobody was breaking through

Some of the subway lines we road on were ghost lines, meaning they stopped running them, during the Cold War because they connected to East to the West.

If you went inside the ghost tunnel, you'd see this where it was blocked off

We went to Checkpoint Charlie, the best-known crossing point of the Berlin Wall between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War.  

Checkpoint Charlie

 We also went to a Jewish Memorial.  The museum was not recommended for people under 14 so we didn't go inside the museum.  But the memorial was very impressive.

Jewish Memorial

Line to go inside the museum

 

Some of the structures were very tall

Berlin is a very clean city, much like most of Germany.  We enjoyed delicious food, saw most of the city by either foot, riding on the second level of the double-decker bus, and subway.  I would like to go back one day and I don't say that about every place we've traveled.  If Berlin is on your list of maybes, I suggest going.  I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it.

In the front on the double-decker bus

President Christian Wulff's residence

The Fernsehturm (television tower)

Brandenburg Gate at night

The only problem we encountered was on our way home.  There was a terrorist attack at the train station.  Our train was delayed a little over 2 hours.  There was a potential arson attack. "Federal police said they found several bottles of flammable liquid that could have been used to carry out an arson attack. The material was discovered some 200 meters (about 650 feet) from the main station building, along with what they called "incendiary objects."  According to this article.  Thankfully they found it and nobody was injured from it.

ICE train in Berlin

London, UK - Tower of London

My parents have been in town the past two weeks and we have LOVED having them here!  Blue Rock loves and adores them and we do too!  We have been able to take some really nice trips while they are here.  Two weekends ago we went to Berlin, which we loved!  I'll blog about that later.  This past week/weekend we spent in London.  We left last Thursday morning and returned on Tuesday.  This was our son's 19th country to visit.  My husband and I went there three years ago for a trip.  We had a wonderful time in London! 

I did separate blog posts for each day of our vacation in London.

Thursday, the day we arrived we went to the Tower of London.  When my husband and I went to London three years ago we were on a very tight budget (which is hard to be on since London is very expensive).  We didn't do many attractions, except for the London Eye and the Hop on Hop off bus which included a river tour.  Other than that we didn't go in anything but rather enjoyed the parks and memorials.  So this time around we were looking forward to visiting more things.  The Tower of London was amazing.  It's where the Crown Jewels are held.  You can't take any pictures of them but it was neat to see.  I didn't realize it was so big.  It's basically it's own little city within London.

Outside the Tower of London

Blue Rock pretending to be a lion in the animal area of the Tower of London

London - St. Paul's Cathedral, River Cruise, and Wimbledon

Friday, we went to St. Paul's Cathedral, took a river cruise down the Thames, and then to Wimbledon.  Like our last visit to London, it took a long time to get to Wimbledon.  Sadly we missed the last tour and only got to the see a few of the courts and the gift shop.  But it's worth going to if you're a tennis fan, which we are.

St. Paul's Cathedral

St. Paul's Cathedral

                                                               

View from river cruise

River Cruise

Blue Rock with his Granddad with Big Ben behind them

My parents near the London Eye

Wimbledon

Pointing at their favorite player's names

Wimbledon

Us at Wimbledon 

London - Shakespeare Globe Theatre, Rose Theatre, St. Paul's Cathedral, and Harrods

Saturday we decided to do our own things as my parents wanted to attempt going to Wimbledon again (but sadly did not make it.) Lots of the subways were shut down over the weekend as London is preparing for the Olympics. Also there was a protest Saturday and Sunday which caused lots of the buses to not be able to run. My family of 3 took a ride in our first black taxi. It was really cool! First, we went to the Shakespeare Globe Theatre and did the tour. Blue Rock is not much for tours and we are quickly realizing anything that requires standing or sitting for more than 2 minutes will require one of us to miss what ever it is we were wanting to see/hear. Then we went to the archaelogical excavation/recontruction of the Rose Theatre nearby. It was open for a free showing and we listened to a man speak about it for a while but Blue Rock started getting frustrated and we were getting hungry so we left before seeing the video. We ate at a cute and yummy French restaurant right next to St. Paul's Cathedral while TV crews, police, and protesters moved around outside. Then we went to Harrods. We had always heard of Harrods and were glad we finally made it. Everything was expensive and Blue Rock had fallen asleep on the way. We were supposed to meet my parents for dinner so they could watch Blue Rock while my husband and I went to dinner. That didn't happen. We were too tired once we go to Harrods to make it back across town. It was so crowded it took us almost 45 minutes to get to Harrods while it should have only taken about 10-15 minutes. We ate dinner at a pub across the street from Liverpool Train Station.  They had very good food that wasn't very expensive for London.

First Black Taxi Ride

Shakespeare Globe Theatre

Outside the Shakespeare Globe Theatre

On stage at the Rose Theatre - it's a small stage!

The first kind of piggy bank - it was started at the theatre

French restaurant we ate lunch at, protestors outside

Awesome doll house at Harrods

London - Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Princess Diana's Memorial, and Kensington Palace

Sunday we went took another Black Taxi Ride, went to Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Princess Diana's Memorial, walked along the parks, and had high tea at Kensington Palace.  My husband and I also took a tour of Kensington Palace, which was the official residence of Princess Diana until her death.  We really liked High Tea.  If you're in London, high tea is something to consider doing.  If you're traveling with your children, there was a nice playground near Kensington Palace that my parents took Blue Rock to while we took a tour of the palace, which was very nice of them.

Buckingham Palace

Military Parade next to Buckingham Palace

View from our walk in the park

Westminster Abbey

High Tea at Kensington Palace

2nd Black Taxi Ride

2nd Black Taxi Ride

Princess Diana's Memorial Fountain

London - Nottinghill

Last Full Day in London

Monday was more of a relaxing day without any set plans except to see more of London.  My sweet husband got sick so Monday he stayed at the hotel so he could get better before he went back to work.  He probably caught a cold from this coughing lady on the bus.  We all hated that he felt so terrible.  Blue Rock and I went to London with my parents and took the 45 minute train ride back to our hotel a little early.  We mainly road the buses and subway around checking out the city.  My favorite stop we made that day was Nottinghill.  It was a beautiful little city and we ate a tasty restaurant called The Giraffe for lunch.

Lunch at the Giraffe restaurant

Walking down the street in Nottinghill

10 Money-Saving Travel Tips

Pisa, Italy - April 2011

My family loves to travel.  We take a vacation almost every month.  My son just turned 2 and has already been to 17 countries.  Obviously in order to travel as much as we do we have to be wise in how we spend our travel budget.  Here are ways we save money while traveling so we can take more vacations.
 

1. Look for free things to do.  Websites such as Free-Attractions.com make finding free things to do in every state easy.  You can easily find free museums, zoos, parks, concerts, and more.  If you live in Europe or are planning a trip here, check out http://www.freetodo-europe.net/.

2. Take a cruise.  Believe it or not cruising is one of the more economical ways to travel.  If your plans are flexible, book a last minute cruise to save even more.  My travel cruise agent has always helped me save money on cruises.

3. Go camping.  Camping is a cheap way to travel.  Most campsites cost less than $20 a night.  See my camping article for lots of tips.

4. Share a hotel room.  If you have two or three kids you can generally share a hotel room.  Get one room with double beds and add a roll-away bed if you need to.  Or if you are really adventurous you could try something like CouchSurfing, where you stay on someones couch for free.  Couch surfing probably works out better if you are not traveling with children.

5. Consider flying.  If you have to spend more than one night in a hotel to reach your destination it may be worth it to fly, especially if you only have one kid.  Remember, if you spend two nights in a hotel on the way there, you’ll have to spend two nights in a hotel on the way home.

6. Join Priority Hotel Clubs.  Most hotel chains have a hotel priority club.  Members get points for every night they stay that go toward free nights and upgrades.  Also don’t be afraid to call a hotel directly and ask if you can get a discount if you stay more than one or two nights.  A cheaper hotel chain in the Europe is Ibis.  We have stayed at Ibis Hotels in Germany, London, and France.

7. Look for a package deal.  Package deals can save you money, especially if you are traveling last minute.  Book a hotel, flight, and rental car together and save.

8. Travel during the off-season.  Spring, fall, and winter are generally cheaper times of year to travel than summer.  Traveling during the off-season can save you a lot of money.

9. Stay at a bed and breakfast.  Many bed and breakfasts are cheaper than hotels.  Plus they usually include a nice breakfast.  We spent a week in Ireland and only booked our first and last night.  You can read about our Ireland vacation here.  You can find many bed and breakfasts here.

10. Rent an apartment or condo.  If you are going to stay somewhere for a week or longer sometimes it’s less expensive to rent an apartment or condo.  Not only will you save money sleeping but you can cook some of your own meals and save money by not eating out every meal.  Homeaway.com has a great list of apartments and condos for rent.  We rented an apartment in Cinque Terre, Italy, and in Florence, Italy.

How does your family save money when traveling?

Deluxe Veranda Suite on Holland America

A few of our friends and family have asked to see pictures of the suite we stayed in on Holland America's ship the Ryndam.  Our cabin was on the 10th deck and we were room 004.  Our cabin type was called Deluxe Veranda Suite on Holland America Cruise Line.  We had an amazing time.  When you have a young child you tend to spend a little more time in your room, at least we do.  Staying in a suite made things a lot more easy and relaxing.  We had a lot of space, extra services - including laundry and dry cleaning, a special breakfast just for suite guests, special parties, lunches, and other perks.  If you are able to save a little more and splurge on a suite then do it.  This was our second suite to stay in, first on Holland America.  We stayed in a penthouse suite last year on Norwegian Cruise Lines and that was really nice too.  We feel extremely spoiled when we stay in a suite.  Cruise ship suites are special and so are the services, I highly recommend getting a suite if you can.  If you are unable to get a suite then I recommend splurging on the laundry service.  We used it almost daily and it was so nice to have most of our clothes clean when we returned home from our vacation.  A HUGE plus for someone who lives in Germany where it takes 3-4 hours to wash and dry one load of laundry. Ugh! We also have an amazing travel agent.  If you are looking for one, contact Cathy, she is wonderful!!

Here are some pictures of our cabin and balcony. 

Nice and comfortable king size bed

Living area

Awesome balcony!

Dressing room and where we put our son's bed at night

Bathroom

Jetted Tub!

Picture I took on the balcony with reflection of the size