Berlin and Back
We started our road trip around 8:30am on Friday morning with hopes of arriving in Berlin around 2:30pm. According to Mapquest the route should have taken about 6 hours including stops for gas and such. The "and such" doesn't include plows, accidents, and snow. We arrived safely in Berlin a mere 8 hours later. Surprisingly, the drive went well. The kids were occupied by movie after movie, and enough snacks to entertain their tongues and fill their bellies. Matt, his mom and I listened to a book on an ipod. It wasn't the best book I've listened too, but we made it entertaining by adding our own actions and sound effects to spruce it up a little.
When we got to Berlin it was cold. There are no words in the English language to express just how cold it was but this should sum it up: while walking from the Metro to the Reichstag the water in the bottle Matt was holding managed to form little ice cubes. I'm not kidding. We were in double layers of socks and long johns and were still cold. The outside temperature was about -10 c/14 f not factoring in the windchill.
We ventured out the first night for a few hours and then we spent two more full days exploring the city. Berlin is huge. It is an extremely large city made up of about 30 neighborhoods and there is so much to see. We barely scratched the surface.
Matt did such a great job driving. He didn't let the snow, icy conditions, and traffic bother him one bit! He also lead us through the city via metro and on foot with only a few wrong turns here or there, that is fabulous considering I accidentally picked up a Spanish map of Berlin.
We left by 9am Monday morning hoping to get home by dark. Snow was still in the forecast and if we had to be stuck on the road for another 8+ hours, we wanted it to be in the light of day. Thankfully, our trip home was uneventful and we made it in the much more reasonable 6 hours.
In the next few days we'll finish up last minute Christmas shopping, grocery shopping and wrapping gifts. We'll read our last few days of our Advent book and attend a Christmas eve service at church.
When we got to Berlin it was cold. There are no words in the English language to express just how cold it was but this should sum it up: while walking from the Metro to the Reichstag the water in the bottle Matt was holding managed to form little ice cubes. I'm not kidding. We were in double layers of socks and long johns and were still cold. The outside temperature was about -10 c/14 f not factoring in the windchill.
We ventured out the first night for a few hours and then we spent two more full days exploring the city. Berlin is huge. It is an extremely large city made up of about 30 neighborhoods and there is so much to see. We barely scratched the surface.
Matt did such a great job driving. He didn't let the snow, icy conditions, and traffic bother him one bit! He also lead us through the city via metro and on foot with only a few wrong turns here or there, that is fabulous considering I accidentally picked up a Spanish map of Berlin.
We left by 9am Monday morning hoping to get home by dark. Snow was still in the forecast and if we had to be stuck on the road for another 8+ hours, we wanted it to be in the light of day. Thankfully, our trip home was uneventful and we made it in the much more reasonable 6 hours.
In the next few days we'll finish up last minute Christmas shopping, grocery shopping and wrapping gifts. We'll read our last few days of our Advent book and attend a Christmas eve service at church.
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