We're here! After nearly 20 hours of traveling, we made it! Casey picked us up at the Berlin (TGL) airport shortly after 2pm local time and drove us home to their place in the Charlottenberg district of Berlin. Ellie had just woken up from her nap and was thrilled that we were arriving. Peyton woke up shortly after we got here and was not so thrilled. Apparently, she's rather fussy a lot of the time. But she's super cute, so it makes up for it. Britt said she likes to be held a lot, so I think we'll get along fine. :)
So going back to the start of our trip...
M kept me company as I packed and helped me rip a lot of my CDs into my iTunes, so that my iPod could be fully loaded for the journey. He kept teasing me that I had days and days worth of music, but he still very patiently and kindly plugged away at the stack.
Katie and I stayed up until about 2:00 am on Thursday night, in part because I felt like I'd have a better time sleeping on the flights if I was tired, but also we were finishing packing. M drove us to the airport on Friday at 10:30 am and by noon, we were off. As I wrote earlier, we had a layover in Dallas before our long trans-Atlantic haul. Boarding the plane in Dallas, I pulled out a Ziploc snack bag of goldfish for Katie... only the bags were mutilated. To say they were faulty or damaged was an understatement. It was as if a cat had clawed across the plastic bag. Needless to say, the goldfish started spilling in my backpack. So, Katie then pulled her blanket and pillow out of the plastic and held open the bag for me to pour the goldfish in, so that they wouldn't spill everywhere... only this plastic bag apparently didn't have a bottom and the fish spilled all over my chair and the floor! Ugh. Nice start to our flight. Haha. Actually the flight wasn't that bad at all. Rather uneventful, which is always good.
Once we arrived in London (Heathrow), it was about 7:00 am local time. We ate at a the Giraffe World Cafe (or something like that). After our layover, we boarded a very hot plane to Berlin. No, not a good looking plane, but a temperature-hot plane. I ended up sleeping that whole 2 hour flight to ward off feeling sick because it was so hot in there.
Casey was waiting for us outside of customs. He parked really close, so we were on the road almost immediately. Back at the house, unloaded all of the American treats and treasures we brought over for them. Ellie was especially excited about her new ballet leotards with attached skirts. She put on the blue one right away!
So going back to the start of our trip...
M kept me company as I packed and helped me rip a lot of my CDs into my iTunes, so that my iPod could be fully loaded for the journey. He kept teasing me that I had days and days worth of music, but he still very patiently and kindly plugged away at the stack.
Katie and I stayed up until about 2:00 am on Thursday night, in part because I felt like I'd have a better time sleeping on the flights if I was tired, but also we were finishing packing. M drove us to the airport on Friday at 10:30 am and by noon, we were off. As I wrote earlier, we had a layover in Dallas before our long trans-Atlantic haul. Boarding the plane in Dallas, I pulled out a Ziploc snack bag of goldfish for Katie... only the bags were mutilated. To say they were faulty or damaged was an understatement. It was as if a cat had clawed across the plastic bag. Needless to say, the goldfish started spilling in my backpack. So, Katie then pulled her blanket and pillow out of the plastic and held open the bag for me to pour the goldfish in, so that they wouldn't spill everywhere... only this plastic bag apparently didn't have a bottom and the fish spilled all over my chair and the floor! Ugh. Nice start to our flight. Haha. Actually the flight wasn't that bad at all. Rather uneventful, which is always good.
Once we arrived in London (Heathrow), it was about 7:00 am local time. We ate at a the Giraffe World Cafe (or something like that). After our layover, we boarded a very hot plane to Berlin. No, not a good looking plane, but a temperature-hot plane. I ended up sleeping that whole 2 hour flight to ward off feeling sick because it was so hot in there.
Casey was waiting for us outside of customs. He parked really close, so we were on the road almost immediately. Back at the house, unloaded all of the American treats and treasures we brought over for them. Ellie was especially excited about her new ballet leotards with attached skirts. She put on the blue one right away!
And Casey was especially excited about his Cap'n Crunch. He made himself a bowl straightway. :) Brittney, Ellie, Katie, and I took a walk up the street (Kurfurstendamm, colloquially abbreviated to the Ku-damm) to grab a Berliner Currywurst, which is a curry flavored hot-dog and a cinnamon and sugar crepe. Delish!
Ellie is hilariously entertaining. Brittney emailed Katie yesterday to let us know that Ellie was just as excited about our arrival as we were. She said, "Went to Subway for lunch today and Ellis INSISTED on buying an extra bag of chips that she kept saying were for Emery. She also told her teachers at school today that "Aunt Kat" is on an airplane today, coming to see her. :) Needless to say, she is VERY excited that you guys are coming." She is two and a half and about as tall as a four year old. About as smart as one, too. She goes to kindergarten (preschool) here and so she speaks German pretty well, evidently more than Britt and Casey. Every time she counts anything, it's in German. Apparently when she gets really upset at Brittney, Ellie "yells" at her in German! How can you stay upset for long if a two year old is yelling, "Nein, momm. Nein." I would just start laughing. One of her teachers at kindergarten is British, so she speaks to her in English... but that also results in Ellie learning and repeating some interesting phrases like, "Mom, I need a nappy change." or "Oh that's lovely." :)
Well, I'm doing my best to stay up until bedtime. It's now about 8:30 pm local time. I'm doing pretty well, actually. ...Crossing my fingers..., I think I won't have jet lag too bad at all.
Well that's it for now. Tomorrow we'll be going to church and then to one of Casey's games tomorrow night.
Ellie is hilariously entertaining. Brittney emailed Katie yesterday to let us know that Ellie was just as excited about our arrival as we were. She said, "Went to Subway for lunch today and Ellis INSISTED on buying an extra bag of chips that she kept saying were for Emery. She also told her teachers at school today that "Aunt Kat" is on an airplane today, coming to see her. :) Needless to say, she is VERY excited that you guys are coming." She is two and a half and about as tall as a four year old. About as smart as one, too. She goes to kindergarten (preschool) here and so she speaks German pretty well, evidently more than Britt and Casey. Every time she counts anything, it's in German. Apparently when she gets really upset at Brittney, Ellie "yells" at her in German! How can you stay upset for long if a two year old is yelling, "Nein, momm. Nein." I would just start laughing. One of her teachers at kindergarten is British, so she speaks to her in English... but that also results in Ellie learning and repeating some interesting phrases like, "Mom, I need a nappy change." or "Oh that's lovely." :)
Well, I'm doing my best to stay up until bedtime. It's now about 8:30 pm local time. I'm doing pretty well, actually. ...Crossing my fingers..., I think I won't have jet lag too bad at all.
Well that's it for now. Tomorrow we'll be going to church and then to one of Casey's games tomorrow night.
3 comments:
Thanks for picture into your trip. Sounds great so far. Especially those crepes.
That's FANTASTIC, I'm very glad you got there all right. Thanks for sending me that message, it made me feel special. Sarah asked if we can use your car so I can teach her to drive a stick. How do you feel about it? Have a great time, I miss you.
Oh. I see! She does spreche Deustch.
Post a Comment