It looks like a nice photo. Zoom in some. Why do I look like that?

Oh that is just me breaking the fountain at the exact moment DZ snapped our cute photo. Hope no one notices that the fountain is now a bit wobbly.

The Bebelplatz is known as the site of the Nazi book burning ceremony held on May 10, 1933. Around 20,000 books were burned that day. Today there is an underground memorial located in that spot. The memorial is of an empty library.

The Holocaust Memorial in Berlin looks more like a huge work of art than a traditional memorial. It is about 5 acres of land covered with 2,711 concrete slabs. According to Wikipedia, “The stelae are designed to produce an uneasy, confusing atmosphere, and the whole sculpture aims to represent a supposedly ordered system that has lost touch with human reason.” It is an interesting place. The girls liked running in between the slabs. They tried to lose us in the maze of rectangles.

We went to the Pergamon Museum. There we were able to see the Ishtar Gate from the city of Babylon, built by King Nebuchadnezzar II. When I read about cities in the Bible I always imagine a dull, dirty city, with drab colored buildings. That was not the case with Babylon. The gates are a bright blue color, with colorful accents all over them. They were very impressive, and tall! LittleZabba was very interested in learning about various things in the museum. We had hand held digital tour guides. She walked around finding different items and then pushing the numbers to learn about it. (I think she liked pushing the buttons more than anything else.)

In the same museum we were able to see the Pergamon Altar, which is spoken of in Corinthians. There are many sculptures depicting various Greek gods and goddesses. Seeing both the Ishtar gate and the altar makes me want to read those sections of the Bible again.

We walked past the wall into “No man’s land”. It is sobering to think of what that land used to stand for. Around 5,000 people tried to escape over the wall and 136 people were killed.

Throughout Berlin there are stone pavers that mark where the Berlin Wall used to stand. It makes you think about how different their lives were before they could cross what is now a simple little line on the ground. Even tonight as we were walking to dinner we had to cross the line. We mentioned that if the wall were there we wouldn’t be able to go to this particular restaurant.

Not far from the East Side Gallery is Checkpoint Charlie, the best known crossing point between East and West Germany during the Cold War.

It is pretty much a tourist attraction now, with costumed people standing in front who charge for a picture with them, peddlers selling various American and Soviet patches, military hats..etc. But it is still interesting to see where it was and imagine what it was like with the wall still intact.

It has been interesting to attempt to explain all of this history to the girls. BZ understands most of it, but LZ doesn’t. When we walked through “no man’s land” she was concerned that we would get in trouble, or that someone would try and hurt us because we were there. They both asked a lot of questions about what happened to the people who had friends or family that lived on the other side of the wall. It has been a learning trip for all of us.

The girls had banana and chocolate crepes. We all knew that would be fantastic!

The most amazing part of the whole experience was the hot chocolate. Who needs coffee when you can order something as amazing as a mug of chocolate. It was delicious. You can add flavors if you’d like; orange, ginger, red pepper or chili. DZ chose chili and he said it was fantastic. I kinda think he ruined it, but to each his own.

There is also a chocolate shop, lucky for me! Around the shop they have chocolate sculptures, the Titanic, a bear, and the parliament building.

We loved it so much we went back again today and just ordered the hot chocolate. So rich and delicious and yummy!

This morning the girls and I attended a German church with a new friend, an American woman we met here in Berlin, and her parents. The church meets in a movie theater, the Kino Babylon. DZ was unable to attend as he had to be at the conference to do his presentation. The girls were very excited to go to church to hear the German music, and they have become quite attached to our new friend.

The church service was like any other, singing, announcements, preaching, & socializing. However there was one moment where I felt completely overwhelmed and in awe of the body of Christ. We were singing Hallelujah, by Hillsong.

The congregation was singing,
Engel rings um deinen Thron rufen: “Heilig.”
Dem, der kommt, dem Gottessohn, singen wir: “Halleluja”

As they were singing in German I was singing:
And the angels round Your throne cry out holy
To the One who is to come hear us sing, Hallelujah

Then as I started to sing the next part I realized all of us were singing the same words, our English and German were coming together to praise God.
(English) Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah
(German) Halleluja, Halleluja, Halleluja, Halleluja

It was such a simple thing but it made me get quite emotional. I know that God can understand all our languages, but in that moment I saw all of us singing at the throne together.

It was a wonderful morning.

This isn’t the exact Bier Bike we saw since I didn’t think to take a photo, but you get the idea. The boys on the Bier Bike were laughing and having what looked like a party. All of them were sitting on their bike seat, beer in hand pedaling along. There was music blaring. It was like a club on wheels.

Jokingly I said, “Oh look, you can have your beer and exercise at the same time.”

Without missing a beat, BigZabba says,

Do you think that is a convenience thing?

Immediately after Tower of Terror was over she was yelling,

Again! Again! I want to go again!

BigZabba had no hesitation at all about riding the Rockin’ Roller Coaster. She knew there were loops and cork screws in it. She didn’t flinch. She wanted to ride again and again. Me, on the other hand, had had enough after one ride.

This trip has brought out the dare devil in each of them. It was so fun to watch them want something and go for it, even if they were nervous, and then be so glad they tried. We had fun watching them have fun.

One of the highlights of the day, for me, was seeing “Finding Nemo, the musical”. It was a great small production. The cast did a great job, the costumes were phenomenal. We had heard such great things about the show, and they were all right. The kids loved it. I still have some of the little songs running through my head.

While there weren’t too many rides at this park, there is one crazy roller coaster that BigZabba couldn’t wait to try. It takes you forward and backward, and it can be pretty dis-orienting at times, but she loved it. I only rode it once. My weak stomach couldn’t take any more.

One of the main attractions in this park is the Animal Safari. You get in a truck and they take you out on a 15 minute safari tour. It was incredible to drive through the areas and not notice where one enclosure ended and the other began. They really make you feel like you are driving right through the animal’s habitat, like the lion could come across the zebra at any moment. It was a great tour.

The girls were mesmerized by all the animals. LittleZabba really liked all the birds we saw. There were cranes everywhere.

While we were walking around the girls tried to complete their kids activity card. There were 6 stations with fun activities that all had to do with the animals. They learned about how recycling helps animals, they identified items in nature by touch, how to make their backyard more animal friendly and other things. Once they had a few stamps on their card they were determined to finish. (They are just like their mother, very task and list minded.) The last hour of the day was spent running from station to station trying to finish up the card. With only minutes left, we did it!

It rained a lot the day we were there, but the workers said that during the rain is the best time to see the animals. So while we weren’t all that comfortable we were able to see so many animals. We loved it.

Oh look! The great ball of Epcot!

On our first day we got there just before the park opened so we were able to be there for the “rope drop”, when let everyone into the park to run toward their first ride. While we were waiting for the drop we saw the characters come out to greet everyone. A cast member came up to us and told us that we were picked as the Epcot fish family of the day. That means that we were able to be the first riders on the Nemo Ride and we have priority seating at the first Turtle Talk with Crush show. That was a special treat. At the rope drop we rushed to meet some characters and then headed over to the Nemo ride.

The Nemo ride was awesome. They have a huge fish tank and while on the ride you see the characters from the movie inside the fish tank. It was very well done.

Right after the Nemo ride we headed over to Turtle Talk with Crush. We were the first to enter the theater and had great seats. During the show Crush talked with some kids in the audience and LittleZabba had a chance to talk with Crush too. She was a little shy, but liked talking to him. He asked her where she was from and who brought her to Epcot. Then he asked to talk with her Dad, “the dad dude” as Crush called him. The girls thought it was so funny that their Daddy was talking to Crush. After the show the cast members asked us to stay for a bit. When the audience left we, as the fish family of the day, were able to have a private talk with Crush and got our photo taken with him. It was a great time!

We had a surprise planned for the girls. We headed over to the World Showcase for a late lunch. We went to Norway and dined at the Storybook Princess luncheon. They were so excited to be there. All the princesses were there and came around to each table to talk with the kids and take photos. Everyone was so nice and took time to talk with each child. LittleZabba had a hard time eating her food she was having so much fun watching all the princesses.

Many times during the day we all felt pretty tired and wilted. These were the times we stopped for water or one of those yummy frozen lemonades.

Test Track, a ride that simulates car testing with crash test dummies, was crazy. However, my dare devil children loved it!

Soarin’ was a family favorite. It was a fun ride, and it was in a cold building, a perfect combination.

Daddy wanted to try out a Segway. Of course he was a natural at it.

The girls were each able to choose one souvenir from our time at Walk Disney World. BigZabba took her time and thought long and hard about what she wanted to buy. She finally chose to buy Stitch. She was very happy with her choice. She was even more excited when we saw Stitch at Epcot. BZ wanted to show Stitch her little Stitch to see what he thought. He was very funny. He hugged the little Stitch and ended up putting it on his head, which they thought was just hilarious.

Mary Poppins came out for some photos…

and the Aristocats did too!

2 days of Epcot. We had such a great time.