Last night in Germany

This will be our last night in Germany and I am very happy to be headed home. This has been a wonderful trip in many ways. We were able to see family we haven't seen in awhile, and we got to experience a whole new part of the world. Traveling while sick is hard. Traveling with a five year old is hard. Add those two together (along with jet lag that won't go away) makes for a very grumpy me. I wish I could just "get over it" as C would say, but I nearly fell asleep in my salad during dinner. How can one be bubbly and bright with dressing on their forehead?

So keep all this in mind while I recount our adventures.

We took an overnight trip to Berlin. It took a long 8 hours to get there. Our hotel room had a bunk bed and not much else. It took us a few minutes to find the restroom which we originally thought was a closet. And what we thought was the toilet was actually a shower. That night grandma watched the tot as the rest of us walked down to the Brandenburg Gate. It was all inspiring.

The next day we had breakfast and walked the whole family down to the gate, passing by the Holocaust Memorial. B couldn't get enough of running up and down the stone pillars. Then the grandparents suggested something ingenious...taking a bus tour of the city! So for 15 Euro a piece we sat in a warm Double Decker for two hours hitting all the major spots. This included the Victory Column, the Parliament building, the Emperor William Memorial Church, the Berlin Wall memorial and check point charlie. We got some great shots, got a feel of Berlin and did it all without taxing ourselves too much.

The drive back was much shorter (5.5 hrs). Exhaustion won, we went straight to bed.

Today we drove to Strasbourg France and walked all along the city center. We saw a huge Gothic style church and shopped the Christmas market. The squares were packed full of people and if it wasn't for our guides (the grandparents), would have easily gotten lost.

We've checked our flight (make sure it wasn't cancelled or anything) and packed our bags. I'm ready for bed and ready to go back to the states. B and I will be spending two days in Vegas before heading back to Portland. I've been watching the weather updates on CNN. Can't believe the amount of snow and ice! Kind of happy we'll be in Vegas for a bit. I hope the airports are up and running by the end of the week!