Tschüss Dresden

The movers are here, and in a few days we will be on our way back home to America.
Bittersweet. That's the only word I have for it.
So I will try to update the blog on occasion over the next month. But please excuse my absences while we get settled into our new life. And I shop at Target. And drink tea with ice cubes. And drive my car places. And sit on top of an air conditioning vent. God Bless America.

"Ich bin ein Berliner"

And so in typical Taylor fashion we chose the weekend with the WORST weather in the history of the world to visit Berlin for our "relaxing weekend away". It was certainly relaxing, except for the gusts of wind that flipped my umbrella inside out and the torrential downpour that soaked my shoes. But the time we spent INSIDE was actually really nice. 

Obviously rain is no deterrent for drinking while pedaling.

At least for Germans.

This is Chris' "this weather blows" face.

This is how we get Austin through our city tour bus rides.

By my estimation here is the score:

Weather- 114

Umbrellas- 0

They almost drowned while I was making them stand there.

Berlin Buddy Bears are all over the city. This little fella was right by our hotel.

Don'tcha just wanna hug him?

Don'tcha just want to hug ME?

Ahhh. Dry in the room watching German cartoons.

Speaking of our room- check out the view!

It's the Berlin Cathedral.

Then we sent Daddy back out into the rain to get what every expat goes to Berlin for.

Burritos from Dolores. 

The next day we walked toward Checkpoint Charlie (which neither of us had seen on our previous trips to Berlin). But I was distracted by this golden opportunity. Alas, we had serious time restraints and had to forgo the Currywurst Museum. Insert sad face.

Ta Da! Checkpoint Charlie.

It was--- Checkpointy.

Where the Berlin Wall ran across the middle of a street.

And yes, I am lazy and neglected to rotate my photo. 

Just turn your computer screen sideways for this one.

I KNEW what Checkpoint Charlie was. 

I had SEEN other people's photos of the exact same thing.

I SHOULD have not been surprised at how anticlimactic the whole thing was.

There it is.

Yup.

This perked Chris up considerably.

It was a Bugatti Veyron. The Super Sport version.

And apparently it is the fastest street legal car in the world.

And the most expensive.

Next we decided to hit up a local cafe for lunch.

It was supposed to be our "Berlin experience". Where you venture outside of the touristy area to encounter local neighborhoods. And they treat you like crap because you ARE a tourist.

This place was perfect. And the guy only treated us like crap a little bit. Like when he looked us up and down between puffs of his cigarette while standing in the doorway of the restaurant and said in British English- "I suppose you'll be wanting menus in English then". Thus turning on his heel and grunting as he walked inside and flicking his cigarette butt onto the street. 

Chris' response?

"This place is awesome".

What made us choose this place you ask?

It was named Keyser Söze.

Like from the best movie ever.

The Usual Suspects.

 And reason #2 that American expats go to Berlin.

And this last donut is proof that I love Chris.

Because I would, under normal circumstances, fight someone to the death for the last donut.

But I let Chris have it.

Now THAT'S love.

Sea Life with Austin Cousteau

As our time here in Germany is coming to a close, our stress levels have skyrocketed due to moving issues and house buying concerns. So what better way to escape everyday stressors than to run away to Berlin for a weekend! We stayed in a gorgeous hotel that also held a huge aquarium elevator (called the Aquadom) that was part of a small aquarium next door. Since the weather was ridiculously bad (more about that in my next post), we spent an afternoon at Sea Life and swimming in the hotel pool. It was perfect.

Thar she blows. It was officially the coolest elevator I have ever been in.

While waiting for our regular hotel elevator we were able to watch the fish in the Aquadom elevator across from it.

Inside Sea Life they had different habitats recreated. This is supposed to be Hamburg Harbor. 

They even had trash on the bottom. 

The boys enjoying the view.

Austin was pretty excited about everything being down on his level.

This crab seemed kind of grumpy.

Some might say he was "crabby".

And I know that I have seen Finding Nemo too many times when I automatically think of the starfish character voiced by Allison Janney.

There's something fishy going on here...

Below this little fella they had a sign pretty much stating that if you used a camera flash and scared him into inking then they would take you out back and shoot you.

This REALLY made me want to go to the beach.

This manta ray was getting fresh with me.

Jelly fish. So beautiful. Unless you step on one on the beach.

A maze of mirrors. It kind of freaked me out.

And there were actually a few cracked mirrors where people had walked into them

Austin got to choose one souvenir. I held up a cute plush sea horse as my suggestion and he ran over with this shark and attacked it. I cried. Chris laughed.

Inside the Aquadom. Austin's shark was raising all sorts of heck.

Fish fleeing Austin's shark toy.

Do you see the hotel room windows behind the fish?

Coolest. Elevator. Ever.

Saurierpark

We recently went to what may be the coolest place ever for a 3 year old boy. A dinosaur park. Or, Sauerierpark to the Germans. Austin's best friend L had been once before and loved it, so we hopped a ride with L, her sister M, and their Mommy to the land of dinos. It was like Jurassic Park for kids. Without the eating of people of course.

 Getting the kiddos fueled up.

 Do not be alarmed. This is merely a painted piece of wood wherein the children place their tiny little heads through holes to simulate a scene in which they are about to be mauled by a T Rex. As to why the cartoon dinosaur is giving a thumbs up, for that I do not have an answer.

 Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

 Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

 Fight! Fight! Fight!

 Running for their lives.

 Awww. Like baby dinosaurs in a nest.

 Ewww.

These dino hatchlings aren't as cute as the human ones.

 Seriously, there were all sorts of dinosaurs to be seen.

Austin: "What's this dinosaur called?"

Me: "Ummmm. Nessie?"

 What better fun than to try to shake your friend out of a tall moveable climbing thingy.

 Now THIS is what Austin is all about.

He loves bouncin'.

 And spinning around REALLY fast.

Mommy likes to watch him try to walk afterwards.

 By far the coolest part of Saurierpark.

They have a huge sand pit where kids can dig for dinosaur claws and entire skeletons!

 This kept them busy for a good while.

It kept me busy as well.

M found 3 claws in the first 10 minutes we were there.

I found 0.

Schooled by a 6 year old.

 Well, I may have found one.

But I reburied it and directed Austin to the spot where he had his first official archeological find!

 Awesome fountain.

A bio- dome looking thing.

It reminded me of that movie with Pauley Shore.

 Asteroid abacus.

Who knew?

A very happy (and tired) crew.

Disclaimer: No one was eaten by dinosaurs on this trip.