Dear Mom,

I love the way you... 

always take me to practice
make me pizza on Wednesday
never give up on my dreams
always tell me I'm special
make me believe I can accomplish my dreams

Happy Mother's Day!
Love,
Rick

Home Again, Home Again Jiggity Jig!

One of the best parts about taking any trip is coming home again. We certainly had an amazing time in ways we'll be appreciating for the rest of our lives. 

Thanks again to the Rainbow Connection for making this trip a reality. Thanks to the Yde Family for taking such good care of us in Denmark. It was so wonderful to see Chris again and to meet and get to know the rest of the family. Thanks, too, to the Bernard Family who made us feel so welcome in their home in Berlin.

We are, indeed, a family blessed!

 Waiting to board  the flight from Copenhagen to Amsterdam

Our chauffeur waiting for us at Metro Airport!

Back "Home" to Copenhagen

Today we flew from Berlin back to Copenhagen, where we were picked up by Christian and Phillip at the airport. We went back to the Yde's house where Petra had prepared an exquisite lunch of baked salmon with pesto, roasted potatoes, tossed salad, poppyseed green beans, focaccia and homemade garlic sauce. Delicious! 

We took a walk around the village of Kulerup and then hung out and talked before heading to our hotel for our last night in Europe before returning to Detroit via Amsterdam tomorrow.

Wen asked what the best part of our trip has been, there's no doubt that the time we spent with the Yde Family and the Bernard Family is what we will treasure the most. We are so incredibly fortunate to have received so much love, kindness and generosity from these thoughtful people. We sure hope to see you again soon!

Saying hello to the "neigh"- bors... 

On the trail close to the Yde's house 

Petra, MB and Fiona 

The boys 

The boys, part II 

Danish turtles - part of an amazing dessert tray 

Smiles all around! 

How blessed are we! 

Giving Fiona some love 

 Hanging out

 Always connected

Best part of Berlin...the Bernard's!

Today was our last day in Berlin and what a lovely day it was! The sun was shining and the air was balmy. We started off with a boat tour of the city- it was great to see the city from a different perspective and it was a perfect day to be on the water.

Afterwards we met up with some new friends by the fountain in Alexanderplatz. René and Stephanie Bernard, along with their two delightful boys, who took us on a walking tour of the city to sights that are often overlooked by tourists. We discovered that Stephanie baby-sat for my niece Michelle back in the early '90's!

One of our first stops was to see several monuments built to commemorate the Rosenstrasse Protest that happened in 1943 in the old Marienviertel neighborhood. Very interesting and moving. Nothing like a group of brave and strong women to make things happen! 

We then wound our way through this neighborhood taking in the architecture, sampling local ice cream, and checking out this unique passage way filled with street art by a community of artists. We also finally saw some of the embedded markers that show where a Jewish family once lived before they were forced from their homes and sent to camps. 

It was very powerful to hear about the wall coming down from Rene - someone who was born and raised in East Germany and to hear how this changed his life, his parents and everyone in his community. 

We then got to take a ride on a street car. The Bernard's took us to their community garden, which is a cross between a summer family cottage and community center where urban apartment dwellers can spend some time in nature. We saw the boy's school and then walked home with the Bernard's to have dinner at their beautiful home. The whole Bernard family were such gracious hosts and my boys declared dinner the "best meal" they'd had during our stay in Germany. 

How lucky we were to meet these amazing, hospitable people who so readily welcomed us into their home! And I cannot think of a better way to of spent our last day in this country! Danke schoen, Bernard Family!

In front of our hotel 

Cruising the River Spree 

The Photographer 

Our boat 

The Berliner Dom in the background, Berlin's cathedral 

Gorgeous day 

This Doner Kebab would make Uncle Tom Joseph proud! 

The Ampelman - a (relatively) new Berlin institution! 

Neptune's Fountain in Alexanderplatz 

Old and new Architecture in Alexanderplatz 

Rene, Stephanie, Lukas and Kurt with Zack and Nick at the Rosenstrasse Protest 

 All smiles

Fast friends 

Everything goes better with ice cream 

Very cool street art 

Golden blocks commemorating murdered Jews and the homes where they lived  

Rene showing Zack a Trabant like the one he used to have 

Waiting for the tram 

Heading into the Kleingarten 

In front of the boys' school

Home sweet home at the Bernard's in Berlin

Kurt just got a new bike!

Lukas and Nick 

Chatting in the kitchen

Rene broke out the BBQ for the first time this season

Our delicious German feast thanks to the wonderful Bernard's!

Berlin is Certainly Big

Like so many large cities, there is so much to see and do in Berlin. Even more, since reunification.

We started our day at the Berliner Dom, the city's cathedral. From there we took a hop on-hop off bus back to the Holocaust Memorial to finish the tour from the previous day. We shopped on the Ku-Dam, the main avenue in West Berlin and then hopped back on the bus to continue a guided tour of the city. 

Happy at the Berliner Dom

Back at the...

...Holocaust Memorial

The undulating stelae at the Holocaust Memorial speak to the systematic yet arbitrary nature of the extermination of the Jews of Europe

The Buddy Bear of Friendship at the American Embassy

Brandenburg Gate in the center of Berlin

Weiner Schnitzel at a Greek restaurant in Berlin!

MB before an old bridge over the River Spree

Berlin Walls to Genocide

Today was a very sobering day as we explored the historical reality and political past here in Berlin and Germany.

The memorials to the Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie are a meaningful reminder of why we need more bridges and less walls in all societies throughout the world.

The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is a powerful place of information and remembrance to the families destroyed by Nazi genocide.

Berlin Wall monument 

Actual Wall sections as art

Checkpoint Charlie - The fam is on the right side of the picture

 The view from the other direction

Italian food abounds in Berlin 

The site of Hitler's bunker 

The legendary East German Trabant 

Two sections of the Wall repurposed

The iconic American Sector sign 

Below ground entrance to The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe