Summertime in Northern Michigan...

So, I'm all packed up and ready to head to the U.S. in just a few more hours... Yay!! I'm looking forward to seeing everyone back home and hanging out with family and friends for the next two weeks! Can't wait for a little bit of summertime in northern Michigan! :) I'm sure I'll be seeing many of you very soon!! :)

Ich bin ein Berliner... :)

Hey all! I realize that I've been seriously neglecting my poor blog as of late, and I have to apologize to all of my dear readers... The summer season is upon us (FINALLY!) here in Friedrichshafen, and we've been keeping quite busy taking part in all of the summertime activities available to us over here... Rock climbing, hot air ballooning, concerts, festivals, you name it... So, hence the reason for my lack of posting... Please don't give up on me though! :) I have lots of pictures that we've taken and lots of posts in the making... It's just taking a little longer than normal to get everything posted on here! :) So, please be patient with me, and I promise you won't be disappointed! :)

And, as promised in my last post, here are the pictures of our most recent trip to Berlin. What an awesome city it is! If you ever get the chance to travel to Germany, I highly recommend checking out Berlin... It's a very unique place to visit! :) So, without further ado, here's our picture recap of our weekend in Berlin... Enjoy!!

The Berlin Fernsehturm (tv tower)... The tower was constructed between 1965 and 1969 by the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) administration who intended it to be a symbol of Berlin...

Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral)...

Our Berlin crew... Well, minus Brian, who took the picture. :)

The Brandenburg Gate... It is a symbol of Berlin and it is considered to be the main entrance into the city. It is actually considered to be one of Europe's most famous landmarks!

The statue on top of the Gate...

We were in Berlin during the World Cup... On Saturday we were in search of a place to sit down and watch Germany play Argentina in the quarter finals of the World Cup... The city was filled with excitement and it was extremely difficult to find a place to sit... We started searching for a place 2 hours before game time, and all that we were able to find was outdoor seating directly in the sun (mind you, it was over 100 degrees that weekend... yikes!)... The city had so many locations such as this one set up for people to watch the games, and every single one of them was packed!! After a great deal of searching, we ended up finding ourselves a small, out of the way, bar/restaurant to sit and watch the game out of the sun! :)

We had front row seats... Nice!!

I love this series of pictures! This was actually the first goal that Germany scored in the game... Look at the intensity on everyone's faces...

Mueller kicks the ball towards the goal... The excitement is mounting...

... And he scores!! :)

After the game, everyone took to the streets, chanting and singing national anthems and songs... There was so much German pride that day! It was such an exciting time to be there! :)

Let's Go Deutschland!! :)

Typical Berlin... :)

The East Side Gallery... They've turned a portion of the Berlin Wall into an area for artists to paint murals... Some of the murals are pretty amazing!! :)

A mural depicting Checkpoint Charlie...

Brian liked how this looked as if the car was running into him from behind! :)

I really liked this quote...

This one was one of my favorites!

Our Berlin crew at the Berlin Wall...

Love this one! :)

The Berlin Wall... Such an amazing experience to see it in person!

Another great quote...

On Sunday, we took a three hour boat cruise around Berlin... Pretty fun, but VERY hot!! :)

Cool sign! :)

The Bode Museum...

The Berliner Dom...

Typical Communist style buildings...

The metro station... We spent alot of our time here, getting from place to place! :)

Standing inside the Sony Center...

The Holocaust Memorial...

Walking through the Holocaust Memorial...

Brian and I outside the Brandenburg Gate...

I love this picture Brian took of the Brandenburg Gate!! :)

The Ampelmann found on East German street lights... Love this little guy! :)

The German Parliament...

A trip to Berlin wouldn't be complete, without a picture of us and Na-Tah-Ka at the Berlin Wall! :)

Back to the Rathaus... Gulp!!

It's that time again... The time for Brian and I to renew our visas for another year... Which means another trip to the Rathaus... Gulp!! As many of you know, I'm not a big fan of the Rathaus here in Germany. It never really seems to be a good experience whenever I go there (I'm sure you all remember the whole "deportation" situation! :))... So, needless to say, I'm already in panic mode over today's upcoming trip to the infamous Rathaus! However, I've gone over all of our documents with a fine tooth comb, and I actually think that I've got all of my ducks in a row this time around! My fingers are crossed!!

Now we're off to head into town to my favorite place in Germany (notice the sarcasm there?! :))... Wish us luck! :) I'll keep you posted...

Back From Berlin...

Hey all! I hope you all had a fabulous 4th of July weekend! We had a fantastic time in Berlin this past weekend!! Berlin is such a vibrant city... There is just so much to see and do there! We spent our weekend wandering through the city checking out the sights, browsing through their fabulous shopping areas, trying out some of their delicious eateries, taking a boat tour around the city, and partaking in some of the World Cup madness! (Did I mention that Germany played in the Quarter Finals on Saturday while we were in Berlin? And they WON!! :) You could feel the excitement in the air on Saturday night! :)) What a memorable weekend it was! :)

We're still currently trying to sort through all of the pictures, so those will be posted later on in the week... Until then, I'll leave you with this one of Brian and I in front of the Berlin Wall... I have to say, even though I've already had the experience of seeing the Berlin Wall during our last trip, I still got goosebumps when I saw it again this past weekend... Simply amazing! :)

Oh, and one more thing... Germany plays Spain tonight in the World Cup Semi Finals... So, keep your fingers crossed for Germany!! We're hoping for a World Cup win for them this year!! Let's Go Deutschland!! :)

Brian and I showing some German National Pride while in Berlin this past weekend! :) Hey, since the U.S. is no longer in it, we're throwing all of our support into our second favorite team! :)