and after all that.....

So we arrived back in Berlin around 6 pm last night (see Hamburg, Leipzig, and Ludwigslust posts below), and went straight to the Marine House Halloween party and haunted house, where we both got put to work helping with the ring toss (the goal-get the ring around one of the inflatable spider's legs). After the kids dispersed we enjoyed a beer and the leftover cookies before heading down town for the "Long Night of Shopping".

In Germany, even in big cities like Berlin, most stores are only open until 6 or 8 pm at the latest, and often closed on Sundays, or even Saturdays. But, last night was a special night, and on Kurfuerstendamm Blvd. many of the shops were open until midnight. Better still, along the streets vendors had set up tents will all sorts of German street food, including sausages, fried veggies, baguettes, bean soup, and Christy's favorite-- the first Gluhwein of the season.

As you can see, we packed in a lot on Saturday. Sunday will be a day of relaxing, getting organized for the week, and moving furniture around to prepare for the long-awaited arrival of our sea freight on Tuesday. (yeah, dishes!)