Berlin! We are not jelly donuts JFK!

On Saturday 30th April, we went to Berlin with our friend Peter (who is a postgrad student that Chris is supervising).

We got up early and took the train to Berlin.  First, the wall!

Although the Berlin Wall was dismantled in 1989, parts of the wall are still standing so that people can see where it was and what it looks like.  There is also special paving in the streets so that people can see where it used to be.  There was lots of information at this park which told about what the wall was like, and the people that died trying to cross it.  Here are some pictures Amelie and Oliver at the wall....

And another picture of the wall:

After we saw the wall, we took the train and walked for a bit to the Museum Island.  We had some yummy lunch, and then went on a boat tour, there were so many beautiful buildings ... we saw lots of things.

We saw a man with a strap on BBQ ...

And we went to a museum called the GDR (or DDR) museum.  In this museum we saw all sorts of East German things, like a Trabi (which is a little car) and East German soldiers .... oops, thats just Ollie!

After that, we went for a walk to the Brandenburg Gate .... this is an old city gate for Berlin, it is near their parliament building.

Ollie did not want to be in this picture.  At the gate, there were people giving out free hugs!  Amelie loved the hugs, and had about 5, all from different people....

We went and saw the German parliament building, called the Reichstag.  You can see Peter in this picture with us.  The words on the building mean "to the German People".

From here we took a 7 seater bike (perfect for the Collis family) on a little tour ... we saw the holocaust memorial, the place where the bunker was where Hitler comitted suicide, Checkpoint Charlie and a memorial to the books that were burned by the Nazi's outside the Humbolt University Library.  Here is a picture of us on the bike at Checkpoint Charlie - McDonalds is very well placed here don't you think?

After we finished the bike tour, we thought we would get dinner and then catch the train back to Magdeburg.  We went to a nice beer garden where after about 1/2 hour, I got a really bad migraine, I couldn't move and was really sick ... I was taken to hospital, given some medicine and then felt much better ... I had never experienced anything like it!  While the others were waiting for me in the hospital, Oliver rested his head on a chair that was steel with little holes in it .... he got spots on his head, that stayed on his head for days and days!  He looks very tired here, and has a VERY messy face!

It was such a big day, the kids slept all the way home on the train, which was probably a good thing, as there were many people partying (and feeling sick) as the next day was a public holiday for "May Day".  The next day, we all slept in until 11am.

On the Sunday, "May Day", we went to the park with Andre and his two girls (Charlotte and Hendrika) and Peter.  We had a lovely afternoon, we all rode our bikes. We had pony / horse rides, and went on the toboggan ride, it was so much fun!

Here is a photo of Peter and Charlotte on the toboggan ....

and Andre and Hendrika ... this is Andre's speedy face!

it is very funny!

As I said, before, Amelie and Oliver have started school in Germany, they had their first day on the 2nd May.  They are both in the same class for now, so they can help each other.  It is a trilingual private school, speaking french, german and english.  They have learnt a few german words now, and are having a great time at the school!  Only one girl in their class speaks fluent english, all the others are learning.  The school is very happy to have our "native" english speakers to help the other kids.

Cheers for now,
Megan.