European Adventure – Berlin Days 1-3

When we arrived in Berlin (you can read about traveling there HERE) we were tired but after a rest we headed out for some fresh air.

We were so happy that our phones worked so we could use google maps (although the data was very slow). We found a park near our hotel so the kids could run and play after such a long time traveling.

It’s always fun (and necessary) to see what local parks are like when we travel. We then found a cute little Mexican restaurant near our hotel before heading back and to bed early.

DAY 2

On our second day in Berlin we decided to do a “hop on hop off” bus tour of Berlin.

We walked from our hotel to where the busses were parked and we etertained ourselves checking out the square in front of Fernsehturm (Berlin’s historic TV tower).

Once on the tour we saw many sites around Berlin including the Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag, Tiergarten, President’s house and lots more.

Cannon enjoyed the ride and Emmy enjoyed a nap. We rode on the top of a double decker bus. Too bad it was raining otherwise you get to ride with the top open. We got to see parts of the Berlin wall and Checkpoint Charlie. We didn’t do much World War II history touring while we were in there because I felt it wasn’t appropriate for the kids but it’s still very present in Berlin and I can’t believe the wall only came down so recently. This year is the 30th anniversary of the wall coming down!

After the tour we took a rainy stroll to a local brewery called Brewdog

The pizza and beer were delicious and the kids made some local friends to play with.

After dinner we found a grocery store to pick up some supplies. The big thing I forgot to pack was the kids’ toothbrushes and toothpaste. I don’t know why but I get a kick out of this German toothpaste.

Our hotel room had a mini-fridge so we were able to get some milk for the kids and of corse chocolate, diapers and snacks.

DAY 3

Our third day in Berlin started nice and early, we had reservations to tour Reichstag . We decided to walk over from our hotel and it was a beautiful way to see the city.

Reichstag is a glass dome on top of the German Parliament building. The tour includes an audio portion that describes the views from the dome and the city’s interesting history.

We enjoyed the tour and the beautiful views of the city from the dome.

By the end the kids were very over being in their strollers so we walked back to the hotel for lunch. We grabbed sandwiches from a sweet little shop to eat in our hotel room. There is only so many times we can ask these kids to be quiet and sit in a restaurant so we tried to give them opportunities to eat and play. We then ran back out to take a boat tour of the Spree River.

There are many options for boat tours, we decided on an hour tour of the Spree. Cory and I would have loved a longer tour but the kids’ attention span can’t last that long.

It was really fun to see so much of the city from the water and hear about the city’s past. After we got off the boat we walked to the Tiergarten (think central park) to let the kids run around and get some energy out.

There are many beautiful statues in the park including a memorial to the Russian soldiers who dies in WWII.

Our third day in Berlin was my birthday so I got to choose the restaurant. I wanted something very authentically German and we found just that.

After dinner we found a little bakery around the corner from our hotel to get some cake to celebrate.

After cake we went back to our hotel, we stayed at Hotel Augustinenhof it was in a cute old building that definitely didn’t feel like a chain hotel.

We had the perfect room for the four of us with a separate bedroom. The hotel offered breakfast every morning, that made things much easier to get the day going!