Pics from Berlin

Look what Chance found!





What a beautiful view of the city. Can you see it?
We are inside the Reichstag, aka the Parliament building. We froze our butts off waiting in this line. It was the burning of this building (by terrorists) that brought Hitler into power.








This is the Brandenburg Gate, the most visited site in all of Berlin. The Russians, Napolean, Hitler and many more marched through this gate after conquering the city.



The Berlin Dome - the most recognized structure in Berlin. The picture just does not do it justice.

This tv antenna is the second tallest structure in all of Europe. The first is in Moscow. Interesting, huh?




Does this say DECO?






Can anyone name ANY of these fruits?





Look at my little toe. That's from walking around all night in Amsterdam in what I THOUGHT were comfortable shoes.

Our first and best dinner in Berlin




This is the Holocaust Memorial.

Berlin

First, we are sorry we were unable to email Jace and wish him happy birthday, so Happy Belated Birthday from us! Also, Happy Birthday Chade. Hope you're all ready for your American Idol tryout. Most of the other people we have met that are traveling around Europe are your age - so you better get on it!
We woke up at about 8:30 yesterday morning. Yes, another 10 hours of sleep. It was needed. We went down to have our breakfast buffet (two for one because of some card Melissa signed up for when she booked the place) and ate like little piggies. It was quite wonderful. It was actually like a champagne brunch. It had all the breakfast goodies as well as fruit, lunch meats, salmon, cheese, and a variety of breads. Then we were off to our “free” walking tour of the city. It was great. We plan on doing them at the other cities that they are offered. We learned a lot about the history here and about the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall. We then went to a German restaurant for dinner where we had salad, steak, French fries, and a $10 bottle of water – yes, you read correctly. From here, we met other backpackers for a “pub crawl.” We had a really good time. We will post pictures when we can. We are having trouble getting internet at some places, so bear with us!

Still in Amsterdam

Yes, we are still alive in Amsterdam. One more day to go, and then off to Berlin. We would first like to thank you for the smart comments from some of you. And Jordon, yes we were completely sober on a boat with our new friends. Well, actually we were at the Heineken brewery. But, lets start at the beginning.
This place is unbelievable. The first day we walked around the city for 2 hours trying to find the shuttle that would take us to the beach. It's hard to explain what this place is like, but it's almost like a gigantic shopping mall with winding cobblestone streets and tons of alleys and canals. People get around by walking, riding in a boat on the canals, or by riding their bikes.
Ok, we finally figured out where we were supposed to go. After a 45 minute van ride with a crazy driver, we arrived. The guy that was supposed to check us in was too stoned to even tell us where our room was, as was everyone else in the "joint". So, we went for a walk on the beach and then retired early. The next day we found out that we were supposed to make reservations on the shuttle to get back into the city (another thing stoner boy did not tell us). Well, there were no seats on the shuttle, so much to Chance's dismay, we rode a bus into town for $20 and 1 1/2 hours of our time. Now it's about 2:00 in the afternoon, so we check into our new hotel - MUCH better than the beach hostel.
We went and enjoyed Holland's largest park and ate fresh salmon at one of the local resaurants. Then, off to the red light district. Everything they say about this place is true. There are actually prostitutes in windows soliciting business, and yes people actually use them! And, this is not just a bunch of men walking down the road. There are actually families with children walking around here. Another thing we got to experience is paying to use the "toilet" in public. Even McDonald's has someone in the basement collecting money before you can go.
Yesterday, we did all the touristy things. We decided we would do as the Dutch do, and rent a bike. Now, this is not a normal everyday bike, you see. It is a wicked witch of the west bike with a big basket on the front of it. It was a blast! The funnest thing we've done since we got here. I rode on the back of Chance's bike, and he only knocked me off once (I'm serious). Then, I practically had to drag Chance to Anne Frank's house. It wasn't as moving as we thought it would be, but we're glad we went. Next, back on the bike and off to the Heineken Brewerey (as you've already seen). Then, we went out to another nice dinner and were in bed before 9:00. Guess old fancy chance isn't as young as he thought he was! This morning we are going to do some laundary, do some shopping, then off to Berlin.

Amsterdam

City #2 on the list. This place is absolutely beautiful. Definitely unlike any city we've seen before. We are staying out on the beach tonight, and the next 2 nights we'll stay in the city. We keep trying to post pictures, but this website is written in Deutch at the moment, making it a little difficult to figure out how to do that.

Dublin,Ireland

WE MADE IT!!!!
We've been to Dublin Castle & Trinity College so far. We're at an internet cafe, so we can't post our pictures yet, but they will be coming. It's a little cold here (Chance is already complaining - "how come I'm the only person here wearing shorts?") ha ha.
Good to hear from you, we'll keep you updated.
We are quite tired from our overnite flight on a full airplane in the very back seat of the plane, so I think it's naptime for now.

OK, naps over, now the fun We went for a tour of the Guiness Brewery - the largest brewery in the world. While it was off the beaten path a little bit, it was well worth it. Don't think we'll be doing a lot of Guiness drinking after we get home - not to worry.

After that, we listened to some live Irish music - which was really good. We also ate dinner at a restaurant where the waitress forced us to order 2 full meals. You know we loved that! Oh well, we cleaned our plates.

So far so good, we're having a blast.

Chicago

Well, here we are in Chicago having our "last" American meal - Mexican food! We have been hunting all day to find somewhere with free wifi so we could email our itenerary to the family. We decided to try & post something to see if we could figure out this blogging business!