July 2008 Trip to Berlin and Munich (continued)

After five days in Berlin, we flew to Munich for a four day stay. In Munich, the hotel was right in the center of the City near the train station. At first, we were worried (ok, very worried) that the hotel location would be too hectic and crowded and after the amazing experience at the Ritz Carlton in Berlin, it was hard to find anything that was as nice. But it turned out to be a great hotel and the location was perfect. Our first full day in Munich, we started the day with a walking tour (also arranged through Milk and Honey tours) of the City. Our guide (Chaim) was great -- a professor of history in Munich but also a very worldly man (was a citizen of Germany, Italy, and Israel). I won't list all of the sites he took us to but it was a very powerful and informative view. The next morning, we met up with Chaim early and he drove us to the Dachau concentration camp. That was difficult and moving but something we had to see. It was particularly touching visiting together with Jennifer.

For our last full day before returning home, we took a 1.5 hour train ride from Munich to Salzburg, Austria and spent the day walking around and seeing the sights. It was well worth the trip and Jennifer loved it as well. We were all tired when we flew home yesterday but felt like the trip was special for all of us. Although Jennifer may not remember a lot of it when she gets older, we think she got a lot out of the trip and she certainly made it wonderful for us. Yesterday, as we cleared customs at the Dulles airport, we were both reminded of how happy we felt almost one year ago when we walked through those same doors with Jennifer on the way home from China.

J.

July 2008 Trip to Berlin and Munich

We just returned yesterday from an amazing trip to Berlin and Munich and it was our first trip to Europe with Jennifer. We were so happy with how everything worked out and Jennifer was an absolute joy to travel with. It's hard to even describe the trip since we had so many amazing memories and sights - so I'll just do a quick rundown now of where we went and I'll post some photos - first of Berlin and then in a second post for Munich. We started in Berlin and stayed in a really amazing part of town -- near Potsdamer Platz -- an area that is being completely rebuilt and has a lot of impressive and really beautiful modern architecture. The Ritz Carlton in Berlin was fantastic and that made the trip start on such a positive note. The staff there just loved Jennifer and we had a good time interacting with them. We did a lot of walking which was good because the food was not light (can you say "snawsauge"?). On the first full day we were in Berlin, we walked to the Holocaust Memorial -- a very impressive and moving memorial that takes up an entire city block and is made up of blocks of stone of differing sizes that you can walk between. You walk down into the memorial so that you can no longer see the outside and the path between the stones reminded me of narrow streets in the old neighborhoods. I have posted a photo of the memorial. We then walked to the Brandenburg Gate and had lunch in a cafe near the Gate.

The next day, we did a lot of walking on our own -- including spending a lot of time (I think more then 6 hours!) in the new Jewish museum. The building itself is a piece of art - a modern building designed by the same architect that is designing the New York September 11 Memorial. And the exhibits (both the permanent collection and the special exhibit) were really well done and thought provoking. Jennifer did really well -- she slept in the stroller for part of the time and then when she was awake we took turns walking with her and/or carrying her. Having her there really made the experience special for both of us. She was her typical outgoing self at the cafe and she sat with a group of French high school girls who just adored her and took turns having her sit on their laps! She also met another little girl her age and they played in the big atrium of the cafe.

The next day, we met our tour guide from Milk and Honey tours - a group that specializes in touring Jewish sites. The tour was a really interesting experience and well worth it since we saw a number of sites that we would have never found on our own. The guide (Robert) was a young guy from Brooklyn, NY who was studying in Berlin and was planning to get a Masters and/or PhD in German political history. He was a really nice guy and it was great hearing his perspective on what we were seeing. He took us on the train from Potsdamer Platz to Alexanderplatz -- on the East side of the former wall -- and we saw a number of memorials. One of the most moving was the site of the shop of a non-Jewish German man who helped save many blind Jewish workers by giving them jobs in his factory (the workshop made brushes) and also helped a number of families hide and escape. We ended the tour with a visit to the New Synagogue in Berlin that was significantly destroyed in the war but has been partially rebuilt. It is such an impressive structure (see photo). We ended the day with dinner in the kosher restaurant next to the synagogue and had just a wonderful time with Jennifer.

One of the days we were in Berlin, we worked with the Ritz Carlton concierge to get tickets to a classical music concert in the same location that the Berlin Philharmonic plays. We had originally worked with the concierge to arrange for a babysitter to come to the hotel to take care of Jennifer but we weren't feeling comfortable about doing that. We mentioned this to one of the managers at the hotel who loved playing with Jennifer and she offered to babysit for us. It turned out to be great - Jennifer had a great time and we were able to enjoy a night out. The concert was really beautiful -- a baroque program of Bach chamber music performed on period instruments. It was such an elegant setting being in the modern concert hall listening to the beautiful music. More later - and pictures/description of our Munich visit.

J.