Saturday, February 20, 2010

Berlin

On the side of my Facebook page there was an ad for Urban Apartments Berlin.  After looking at the website I am longing for an adventure!!

Brendan and I got engaged in Germany.  Our trip was awesome--we met a friend in Cologne, stayed with him and his family in Duesseldorf for a night, then we all drove to some small town where they were getting married.  After that we took the train to Berlin, where we stayed in a friend of a friend's apartment.  It was amazing--everything was so close by, we had an S-Bahn station right around the corner, and it was free.  We offered to pay money but were told a bottle of wine and a thank you would suffice.  After that we went to Prague and stayed at a hostel (we were definitely too old to enjoy it properly...) and then we went to Munich and stayed at another friend of a friend. 

The whole trip was amazing because, although I'd been to Germany a couple times before that, Brendan never had.  So we got to travel together and see things together.  And the other times I'd been there I didn't do much, just hung out with my friend Heike and her friends.  Not a lot of sightseeing was done!  This time we got to go to museums and churches and parks.  And it was so great that people that didn't even know us would let us stay at their apartments.  I thought that was the most amazing thing--they just opened up their houses to us.  And at the place in Munich we met some neighbors.  The woman was German and the man was from none other than Madison, Wisconsin!  It really is a small world!! 

Anyway, back to the apartments in Berlin.  I looked at some of them and recognized where some of them were.  And they aren't that expensive.  Suddenly the daydream of just jumping on a plane to Berlin and staying with Ingrid and Brendan in a little flat was in my head.  We'd suddenly remember our never used German skills, we'd get coffee and pastries for breakfast.  We'd buy cute German things for Ingrid.  We'd hop on and off the trams and trains like old pros.  We'd show Ingrid a different place and have a great time as a little family. 

Ahhhh, sounds awesome! 

But, alas, we have no money and have to think about moving soon.  I should be saving all our money instead of daydreaming away our savings on imaginary plane tickets and cute Berlin apartments.  Blah.  It's not fun being responsible sometimes...

5 comments:

ringmaster said...

one can dream

Mommy, Papa and the 'Nuts said...

Thats funny. I've been sitting here tonight thinking a move back to Italy might be nice for our little (growing) family.
*sigh*

MaryAnne said...

I can so identify with this - I'm always having daydreams of returning to Europe and living in a tiny apartment with no car...

I was surprised how well I could speak my never-used German in Vienna - but my comprehension had dropped horribly! I would say something, they would respond, and I would stare at them blankly...

Fiona said...

Ohh, being responsible IS indeed boring, be irresponsible and come to Gemnay. Switzerland is right next door! Come visit us - we have a spare room and like wine....
The kids could play and go skiing and do kid stuff, and we could eat chocolate and drink wine.
Come to Europe.

Anonymous said...

(unschooling in Germany is VERY illegal - which is a very good reason to stay away from that place! We're leaving Germany soon - as soon as possible. The schools are miserably bad, and there are no alternatives. )