Of course while in London, we had an obligatory pub crawl, which was fun and resulted in us getting free t-shirts (I think KC could have just gone on home at that point, he was so happy). Mom and KC took Caden to the Eye of London and got some great visuals of London. It is such a beautiful city. It is giant and spread out but never lacking anything interesting to see no matter where you might be standing. Our next stop was Berlin. The city was far more interesting that I thought it would be. Between seeing checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin Wall, riding our bikes inbetween the "no-man's land" of the Wall, and seeing various beautiful buildings, we also had time to eat some great food and the kids of course were excited about the indoor swimming pool. Michelle was kind enough to take the kids swimming while the four of us took a bicycle tour. The information the local gave us was fascinating. For example, Hitler only won the election by 35% of the popular vote. The aristrocrats gave him the votes to bump him to a minimum of 50% so that he could be in power. I was also unaware that the same group (Hitler plus the aristocrats) took the poor and labourers and put them in "labor camps". Hitler was smart enough to know he didn't need to outright kill them, because the conditions they were living in were sufficient to insure the people would live no more than 3-4 years. Millions of Germans died in the manner according to our local guide. Another gem I learned: outside of the large Berlin public library is a hole in the ground with a covered window that you can look into and see basically a cellar-style library with only empty shelves. The quote next to it remarks something along the lines of "first they burn the books [of the Jews], next they burn the people". Hmmmmm.... Seems to be good food for thought for our country...
We also happened to be there for the Festival of Lights. The night shows were amazing! Berlin turned out to be a favorite for Scott and I.
After Berlin, we went to Budapest. What a beautiful city! It certainly made us adjust our rankings of favorite European cities as it bumped its way into the top three. With the towering palaces, the castles, the 4100 caves (under all of Hungary), the thermal baths, the open city squares, and the cheap food, we were in heaven! The kids had a blast, which means the adults had a blast. A must see for any one touring through Europe.
We decided to go through Vienna (our favorite European city) for the night so that Mom and KC could see it. It was cold there, but again we think there may not be a more beautiful city in Europe...
Finally the highlight was Dubrovnik. We spent four days sunning on the beach, touring the old world city center, and generally drinking too much beer. The city is incredible as it sits on rocks and cliffs up the side of the mountain. Just a few miles away is the country border with Bosnia. Dubrovnik was warm, the people were kind, and the beer was cold. (-: The only down side we experienced was the flight back to London from Dubrovnik. Scott and I fly an often silly amount, but neither of us had ever experienced continuous and extremely turbulent flight for 2-plus hours. The flight attendants were even a bit ill from the incredible bumpiness. Mom and KC's bags neither one made it back to London on the return trip, but we're hopeful they have received all their baggage by now! All in all, an incredible adventure for all of us as well as the children. We're looking forward to the next one!
Here's the video highlights:
And of course the honorable mentions!
Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin...
The somewhat angry king and queen?!?
The very cool memorial to the Holocaust victims in Berlin...
The purple man sunbathing in Dubrovnik?
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