Long weekend trip to Berlin

Ella Rose with Pinky, her favorite Bear from Gran

Last weekend we bee-bopped up to Berlin and had a wonderful time. Mapquest says it's a 6 hour drive from where we live, but we know better because any time you are traveling by car in Europe, you just need to go ahead and tag on about 2-3 hours because of traffic jams, construction, etc. We stopped half way up there to spend the night which was a great idea, but coming back it took us a good 8 hours to get home. Yikes...not easy with a very active 13 month old who now knows what FREEDOM is all about, but hey Ian and I were a bit uncomfortable being in the car that long too...we had a great time but were glad to get back home too.

Ella Rose waving to cars at the hotel

Saying goodbye to the nice man at the hotel

Walking from our hotel to The Berlin Zoo

The Berlin Zoo is a zoo with the world's largest number of species so we had to go and check it out. Ella Rose especially enjoyed the petting zoo area...she is very much like her Daddy and LOVES all kinds of animals. And to top it off, the weather was GLORIOUS...around 55-60 degrees with the sun shining and that is amazing in Germany...the sun doesn't usually shine all day, but it did last Saturday and Sunday for our whole trip to Berlin. But when we arrived back home, it was raining, cold and overcast.

Ella Rose's 1st visit to The Zoo and she turned 13 months old

Ella Rose sees her first deer at the Zoo

Bear taking a nap

Wow this is gonna be fun!

Ella Rose pets the goats with her Daddy

The white coat didn't stay on long...it was a bit muddy in the petting area and it warmed up so the coat came off before mud was all over it.

Ella Rose trying to figure out how to get over the fence

Does she look like a big girl or what?

I feel as big as this elephant looks

Ella Rose woke up from her nap just in time to visit The Aquarium

Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche (Memorial Church) in background was bombed during Allied bombing in WWII in 1943...the top of the church was blown off

Ian and Ella Rose in front of The Wall

Ian saw Tony Roma's (ribs) and we just had to go and get a taste of some American food

Ian proudly displaying the rib sauce on his white shirt

And yeah Berlin had a Dunkin Donuts...sorry Aunt Toni and Uncle Bubba, we did not get a cup of coffee

Daddy and his girl leaving the hotel...gotta make sure we have Pinky

The Holocaust Memorial

Brandenburg Gate

We walked through this gate to the other side to what used to be East Berlin. Ian visited here back in 1987 as a foreign exchange student back before the Wall was torn down and was amazed at how different the city was.

Some of the Wall still standing

Checkpoint Charlie was designated as the single crossing point by foot or by car for foreigners and members of the Allied forces

Checkpoint Charlie