Family in Berlin

We got a real pre-Christmas treat this year when some of Brad's family came to visit for a week before Christmas!  Brad's nephew Isaac has been dying to come to Germany ever since his parents visited us last year.  So, Haley and Casey told him that if he could earn half the money for his plane ticket, they would let him go to Germany.  

Well, Brad's sister Becky is a big travel buff, and she loved the idea of Isaac coming to Berlin, so she volunteered to accompany him.  Then, Brad's mom Lois decided she wanted to come to, and so we ended up with the three of them here for a whole week!  Yay!  Since Isaac had worked for months to pay for this trip, I felt some pressure to make sure it was fun for him.  I know I enjoyed every minute of their visit, so I hope Isaac went home feeling like he'd gotten his money's worth!

They arrived on a Saturday, and spent that evening and the next day in a jet-lagged daze.  Pepper was very excited for Isaac to see him pass the sacrament at church, so they all roused themselves from a deep, dark sleep to come to church with us on Sunday morning.  Afterward, we all napped, then had a roclette dinner.  I think Isaac liked the Nutella on rolls more than anything.  

The next day, Isaac got to go to school with Pepper and Adam.  They were SSSSOOOO excited to show Isaac their lives at school, and Isaac was a good sport about spending a day of his vacation at school. Lois, Becky, and I took the train into downtown Berlin and did the requisite shopping.  That night, we all played Werewolf over and over and over and over. . .

On Tuesday, I let the boys skip school so they could spend the day with Isaac.  We all went to Lego Land and spent a few hours enjoying all things Lego.

 

They had this little miniature Berlin all made from Legos.

The best part was this: when  you pushed a button, a little Lego version of the Berlin Wall would fall, and then a bit of David Hasselhoff's "Freedom" would play on these little speakers.  Ah, the German love affair with The Hoff continues. . .

Lego Land is just outside the Sony Center, where there is a movie theater that plays all movies in their original language.  That afternoon, we saw a crowd waiting and a big red carpet leading to the theater.  When we asked a guard, he told us that the German premiere of "The Tourist" was that night, and Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie were going to be there in a couple of hours.  If it hadn't been so cold, we might have considered waiting around.

We left the Sony Center and walked to Potsdamer Platz and saw this little bit of the Berlin Wall.

We also walked to the Holocaust Memorial. 

We braved the blizzard and made it to the Brandenburg Gate.

Yeah, it was freezing.

By now, most of us had lost our sense of humor about the weather, so we stopped at a Dunkin' Donuts for hot chocolate and donuts.  It was a well-timed stop.  From there, we headed home for dinner and more Werewolf playing.

Wednesday, Lois, Isaac, and Becky took the train downtown and did some more shopping.  That day was Lois' birthday, so we met Brad downtown for dinner at an Australian restaurant in the Sony Center.

 But, before dinner, Lois, Becky, and I went to this Christmas Market by the Charlottenburg Schloss.  We spent a delightful couple of hours wandering around the booths, eating crepes, and buying little German Christmasy things.

 After dinner, we came home to the kids and played more Werewolf.  Are you sensing a rut?

Thursday, we drove down to Rothenburg, probably my favorite little German town.  It should have been a 3-4 hour drive, but the weather was awful, so it took us a good five hours to get down there.  It was made even more fun when Brad's cell phone locked up, so we couldn't call each other (we were in two cars), and so the whole time I was worried that Becky and Lois would get lost somewhere along the autobahn and I'd never be able to find them.  I shouldn't have worried, because they actually beat me to the hotel near Rothenburg and all was well.

We spent all day Friday walking the cute, cute streets of Rothenburg.  We came here last year at Christmastime, and I was just enchanted!

This year, we made the dubious decision to go to the Crime Museum in Rothenburg.

The Crime Museum is advertised as a museum depicting the progression of laws and the legal system since medieval times.  We found, however, that the Crime Museum is really just a place where they have displayed all types of medieval torture devices.  It was kind of icky.

 We couldn't ignore the irony of pregnant Becky by the old chastity belts. 

By the time we left, we were all ready to go!  I kept thinking to myself, "Why did I bring children here?" But, the lady at the desk didn't think anything of it, and even gave us stickers for all the kids.

After the Crime Museum, we mustered back our appetites and had a traditional German lunch at a little inn.

From there, we headed to the Christmas Museum. 

This was a much happier place than the Crime Museum!

We finished our day in Rothenburg by visiting the little shops and the Christmas market in the square.

So fun!

Early the next morning, Lois, Becky, and Isaac flew home from Stuttgart.  The kids and I glumly climbed in our car and drove the 7ish hours home to Berlin.  Luckily the weather was clear, so we made it home in good time.  I am also happy to report that unlike my first trip on the autobahn, I actually made it home in less time than our GPS predicted.

So, *sigh*, our visitors are gone.  But we enjoyed every minute that they were there, and have some great memories of their visit!