Granny in Berlin

Granny arrived on her 75th birthday! I had been stressing out about what to do to mark the occasion but decided it was probably best to be flexible and keep things open depending on how she felt after her trans-Atlantic flight. She seemed pretty good - a bit tired, but otherwise ready to venture out into Berlin. She remarked a few days later that she had seen more of Berlin underground than above ground.. probably so. I probably should have made more detailed plans of what to do each day so that we weren't always on trains! But I just love the metro there and we certainly needed to get our moneys worth from our day passes :)

Our first stop was Checkpoint Charlie. And Granny immediately bought stuff! She's good at that - not indecisive like me. I always think - oh that would be nice to get, but I'll wait until later and see if I see it somewhere else. Of course you don't always see it later, which also means I usually don't end up buying anything! We didn't do the museum, but probably should have. It didn't look too busy, but I was afraid if we stopped for long that Granny would start passing out from the jetlag!!

From CC we walked on to one remnant of the wall. Mostly Granny and I were just catching up. And she was telling me about Walt (Gramps's brother in law) who was honored in a small town in Germany for saving their town during WWII. I was so amazed to hear this story. I think that is what was great about travelling with Granny - stories that I would never hear otherwise came up to the surface. So I have a family member who has a statue dedicated to them in Freidberg Germany! How cool is that.

After walking for a while more, we decided to stop for coffee to give us a pick me up. After the coffee, we had enough energy to walk through Potsdamer Platz and on to the Memorial to Murdered Jews. I just love this memorial. I think I could go a million times and take a million photos. It's just a really moving and cool memorial. I know there was a lot of controversy about it being put on prime real estate, but I think it is important for Berlin to really come to grips with what happened and put memorials in prominent locations so that people don't forget the atrocities of WWII.

And then we came up to the Brandenburg Gate. I'm not a very good tour guide since I don't specifically know the history of all of the sights in Berlin.. I just know my way around :p It was getting a little late in the afternoon and Granny was starting to fade. She had decided she wanted schnitzel for her bday dinner. I messaged all the people I know in Berlin and of course the wonderful Anja gave us a great recommendation. On the train we went and to the cafe. It was an adorable cafe and had excellent food. Granny got her schnitzel and I got a yummy pesto/goat cheese pizza. yum.

And then off to the apartment. Granny actually ended up staying up quite late considering. I think we finally went to bed around 10:30 or so! And she even slept in the next day as well. It was good that she was able to get on schedule so quickly.

Our second day in Berlin started off with a walk to Bergmanstrasse near the apartment. We sat out at a sidewalk cafe having a little breakfast and people watching. The sun was out and it just felt like it was going to be a great day. Of course we did a little shopping too! I found a cute black dress that I just loved and Granny got it for me as a gift. So sweet! Then we decided to head to the other side of town to a cute little cafe I had gone to with Andy & Anja. Anna Blooms. They had amazing food. I got a spinach quiche and granny got fish soup and as an extra we got some cold savory pancakes that were excellent. I am constantly surprised by the quality of vegetarian food that I get in Berlin these days. I remember 8 years ago all I ate was bread and cheese and french fries!

Spent some more time walking around Prenzlaurberg before heading back towards the apartment. I don't think we did much that day other than eat and just relax! But it was a great day by my standards!

Our last full day in Berlin started out with a trip out to the Berlin Wall Memorial. I had never been to that memorial before, so it was cool to visit. We could see the no mans land area that existed between the two walls as well as the spot where a church stood in that area that was destroyed by the Russians. After spending the morning there, we headed a cafe to have brunch - all you can eat for 3 euro! Bargain. Granny tried all the local favorites and love it all. I just ate up the eggs, bread and cheese as usual! After a little stroll we headed to Potsdamer Platz to check out an art exhibit that we read about in the paper. It wasn't so great, but we met Andy & Anja there which was nice. We headed over to a little coffee shop and then did a little shopping in the mall's bookstore! The one thing I didn't need to lug around for 2 weeks was 3 more books, but I just couldn't resist!!

After our little coffee, Granny I took the bus to Andy & Anja's place. I got lured in at the sock shop and ended up buying two awesome pairs of tights (which later turned out to not fit me!). Then hung out with A&A for a while before heading to dinner and getting Granny her last schnitzel in Germany!

It was a great night to end the beginning of our trip! I was so glad to be able to show Granny the Berlin that I love. I really do want to move there and now even Granny wants me to move there so she can come visit and hang out at cafes all day!!