#Icesterlin Day 9

May 31st

It was early when we got up and out to head to Berlin. Many people in Amsterdam hadn't even made it home for the night when we were leaving for our train. It was early, dark and we were sleepy. We made it to Centraal Station and walked up to where we had learned we needed to be a few hours ago. Because it was so early, we didn't think about the fact that we were the only ones waiting for the train to the airport on that track. It wasn't until a few minutes before the train was to arrive that we realized that we were on the wrong track. We all woke up from our sleepy state and high tailed it down the steps, through may of passerby's, back up a flight of steps just before our train got there.

We made it through the Amsterdam airport pretty quickly and were landing in Berlin in no time. The airport we landed in in Berlin was surprisingly small and we easily made our way to a bus ticket line. There was a super nice man in the airport that helped a great deal figure out what we need and how to get there. He even walked us to the bus to make sure we got to the correct one. It was a fantastic first impression of Berlin.

The walk from our bus stop to our hotel would be a nice walk if we weren't carrying all of our luggage but after about 8 or so blocks, we had found our hotel. We were ready to get checked in, drop our stuff and start exploring. After a few hiccups at the front desk we managed to get rooms early and off we went.

View of our hotel

Berlin is full of history and we were ready to check out as much as we could. Our first stop was the Brandenburg Gate. It was pretty surreal to be standing in front of such an historic structure. We took the typical pictures and went to check out a hidden secret that is right inside the Gate.

The Room of Silence was opened in 1994 and is just that. A room that is intended for silence. We walked in and were greeted by a sweet older lady that volunteers her time there. We welcomed us in and we walked into the room, and just sat. It was so peaceful and such a neat opportunity to do as we have all been processing lots of things what we have seen, experience and learned over the last week or so as well as to prepare us for the hard things that we anticipated to see in Berlin.

The Room of Silence came at a great time as our next stop was the Memorial of the Murdered Jews. Having just left the Anne Frank Haus 24 hours earlier, it was pretty overwhelming to experience this Memorial. We spent the time to go into the underground museum and went from learning of one family's story in Amsterdam to hearing about the 6 million Jewish victims of the Holocaust. It was powerful.

After our time at the museum we went out walking to find lunch. Along the way we passed Checkpoint Charlie. Another huge historical landmark but this one was definitely overly touristy. We paused for a few pictures and headed around the corner to Taz Cafe.

After regrouping, we headed back to Checkpoint Charlie to take it all in, read some of the information and stand in amazement that we were here, this was there and what had transpired in this very spot decades ago.

Godfather of the Berlin Wall graffiti

We were off on foot again to find Rausch Schokoladenhaus. We had heard great things about it and we wanted to just see all of the chocolate. They had all kinds of chocolate sculptures. They are really impressive and after being WOWed by it was decided that we had to try it so we headed upstairs to get desserts and we were not disappointed.

Not far from the fantastic chocolate shop was Gendarmenmarkt. They say it is one of Berlin's most magnificent squares. It was very pretty and we got there just in time to go to the top of the French Cathedral in the square.

We continued to explore different parts of the city and stumbled upon Sony Center/Potsdamer Platz. Potsdamer Platz was a large World War II historical site. This was known as the center of town and the Berlin Wall cut right through the area. It was also completely destroyed during World War II. Now it is the site of a huge entertainment center full of restaurants, shops and entertainment.

Original Ballroom still intact after WWII Bombings

It is wild to wrap your head around the old world and new world of each location we had visited. It is crazy to think of all the things that had happened in the locations we were standing.

It wasn't long before it was time to find dinner and Audrey had a great place up her sleeve, Schwarzwaldstuben. We grabbed a table in the back, tried all kinds of food, pulled our all or maps, guide books and touristy stuff and planned out the next few days in Berlin over great food and a fun atmosphere.

With such an early morning, we decided that after our evening walk and subway trip back to the hotel, we would grab a drink and just relax in the hotel lobby before calling it a night. Day 2 in Berlin had us up and out early and we wanted to be ready.

#Icesterlin Day 8

May 30th

Today is our last full day in Amsterdam and we had a jam packed day. We were up and hour early. We had the first time slot to visit the Anne Frank Haus and we didn't want to be late. We grabbed a quick pastry for breakfast on along our walk at Dialoog.

We made it to the Anne Frank Haus a few minutes before they started letting people it. There are truly not enough words to express what that experience was like. They did not allow photography in the house so everyone needs to book a trip to Amsterdam for no other reason to come here. It is a powerful, humbling, heavy, sad, and uplifting experience. One that I will no doubt carry with me for a long time.

It is amazing the thoughts and insight of a 15 year old. With so many fantastic quotes, we leaved with these few before heading out.

"I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart." 
"My life here has gotten better, much better. God has not forsaken me, and He never will."

If you can't take a trip to Amsterdam to experience this, at least read her book. Such an inspirational person.

We left with a very heavy feeling and spent the next hour or so walked through street markets and talking about all we had just experienced. Amsterdam has great street markets and they are everywhere. It was another great way to experience the city.

It wasn't long before we end up outside Westerkurk. We got tickets to head to the top to get the view of the city. Because of the age of the church and how narrow the steps to the top are, they only allow one small group up at a time so it made for a really neat experience to be 4 of the 6 people in the party to the top.

The view from the top was everything we hoped for. It was great. This city was so pretty to see from above and watch as all the road and canal wove in and out.

It had been a busy morning and it was time to finally try some local cuisine at Frens Haringhandel. The thing to eat was a ate herring sandwich. We were all in, as long as we got one sandwich and all shared it.

Once we walked up, you could smell the fish, and once I saw that slimy little booger, I chickened out. I applaud Jed, Eric and Audrey, they all tried it. I just couldn't. Their opinion, one bite was enough and I think they are all glad they did it, but no one went back for a second sandwich, or a second bite of the original sandwich.

We immediately headed to our next attempt at local food at Vleminckx. They were Flemish fries and they were way more my speed. These were great and a great way for others to get that fish taste to go away.

After snacks, we all split up so we could cross of a things that were on our To Do Lists before we had to leave in the morning. Jed and I headed to the Museum Ons' Lieve Heer Op Solder (Our Lord in the Attic). It was prohibited to have mass in Amsterdam during a part of the 1600's and this was a church that was hidden/turned a blind eye to that has been reserved.

It was a very impressive building and you would never know from the outside of the building.

Jed & I quickly finished out time at Ons' Lieve Heer Op Solder and headed over to Reypenaer to meet up with Eric & Audrey for our Cheese Tasting class.

We are all Expert Cheese Tasters and are super proud of our accomplishment.

Before we left, we felt like we needed another chance at a windmill so we headed out to Molen De Gooyer. This windmill was a little closer to what we had hoped to find but I think I will need to plan another trip to Amsterdam when we can make it to the Tulip Festivals and see a large windmill with tulips everywhere.

Our next stop was at the Royal Palace but we didn't plan out the timing very well and were unable to make it inside so we enjoyed the architecture and headed to drowned our disappointment with a quick drink from another place out boat tour guide, Alec suggested, Wynand Fockink.

This place was great! The entire experience, you see, you don't just walk up to the bar, order a drink and find a table to hang out at here. This drink is an experience, after you pick from dozens of flavors of a whiskey type drink, they pour you a shot of it to the top, top of the shot glass. It is so full that you don't pick it up, you have to put your hands behind your back and slurp the drink until you have emptied it enough to pick it up. It is so fun. The atmosphere, the personality, the local follow crowds, it was just great.

For a while we sipped on our first drinks like you were supposed to before we went back to try other flavors.

After our time with all of our new best friends, we headed to dinner at Jasmine Thai Cuisine restaurant. It is amazing how much good international fare was all over the city. We loved the throw back to Thai food (again) as another reminder of our trip together last year.

When we were done with dinner, we decided we had to go back to Wynand Fockink for one more drink experience and for us to grab a bottle for us to bring back to the states for others to experience it the best way we could show them.

One of the two bartenders

The other bartender

It was starting to get late and we were leaving again, silly early in the morning. Since we had had a few hiccups with the Amsterdam transportation system, we decided to swing by Centraal Station to make sure we had everything figured out to get our tickets to airport and to know where to get the train. Since we were getting on the train 4:30 am, we figured not many people would be around to help in the morning.

As we were leaving the train station feeling pretty good about what we needed to do in the morning a HUGE thunderstorm hit, just sheets of rain. We tried to wait it out for a while but in the end, we made a very unsuccessful mad dash back to our house and ended up soaked!

It was a fun way to end our last day in an amazing city.