Reichstag and Graffenwoehr

No pictures to share, unfortunately, because we forgot our camera, but we did get to tour the German parliament building, the Reichstag, on Saturday. It has a huge glass dome on top that one can go up inside. We saw some great views of the city, including the new embassy, and a one-legged pigeon. After the tour we immediately got on the road to head to Graffenwoehr, home of the nearest military base. On the way there we encountered the first snow of the season. We did take a rest stop which David attempted to turn into the scene of a snowball fight, but fortunately for me only one snowball was thrown. The base was great--cosmic bowling, hamburgers and fries, taco bell, and a huge grocery store as well as a huge Target-like Px. We shopped most of the day on Sunday, stocking up on Campbell's soup, Heinz ketchup, and other American products, as well as picking up a few fun things like a Christmas tree stand, adaptor plugs, and Christmas lights (with German plugs). Our first Christmas in Berlin will be a festive one, at least! Coming home we again had snow--this time actually coming down while we were driving, but fortunately this didn't slow down the cars on the Autobahn too much so we made it home in a decent amount of time. (Unlike in Washington DC where this would have warranted a snow emergency).

This weekend Ohio State plays that-place-up-north, so we'll be rooting for the Bucks!

Potsdam

Potsdam is actually closer to our apartment than downtown Berlin, so this was an easy Sunday afternoon. We cam intending to see the castles at Park Sanssouci but we were drawn in to the shopping next to to the tourist center. No worries, though--it's only 15 minutes away, so we'll be back. And they have Christmas markets!!!

Potsdam

Marine Ball

Happy Birthday, Marines! Saturday night we got dressed up and headed to the annual Marine Corps Ball--this year at the Ritz Carlton.

Our HHE arrived!

the amount of paper used to pack one box of dishes and glasses....
Moe enjoying the recliner as we unpack

Happy Halloween!

the results of our first party--pumpkin carving! ours is the middle one :)

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!)