June 20 - Berlin time.

We arrived at Tom's for breakfast at 8:15am. We chatted with Tom until it was time to leave for the train. Tom made sure we got to the proper track, and then we said our goodbyes until next year.  The train ride was painless, and I even fell asleep.  Once we arrived, it was an EASY walk to our lovely hotel. 

We were able to check into our room immediately, and then we went to a beer garden for some lunch. It was a sunny afternoon, so we sat outside and enjoyed a German favorite: currywurst.

And of course there had to be good German beer!

We then went back to the hotel and planned our next course of action. I decided on a walk past the Reichstag and Brandenburg Gate on our way to a chocolate store Tom had taken us to when we were last in Berlin.  Unfortunately, we discovered later that the Tiergarten, a large park in the middle of the city, was closed at most entry points -- later we discovered it was because of the Euro 2016 soccer matches. Anyway, we finally got to the chocolate place, with Bob grumbling as we sat down for some sweets. Apparently this place was not at the top of his list to visit. Oh, well. We had delicious treats and coffee anyway.

Grumpy Bob.

Actor Bob.

After this deliciousness, we walked back to the hotel using a different route.  This time I was looking for the restaurants that Frank had talked about on Friedrichstrasse.

We walked past a big market and then found the beer exchange at The Berliner Republik.  What fun! Bob perked right up as we watched the beer prices fluctuate due to demand. And we had some more traditional Bavarian-style food.  Apparently, Berlin likes the Bavarian choices.

And the toilette walls were actually painted graffiti.

We walked along the river and back to the hotel, where in front of the Hauptbahnhof the fans were watching a soccer match.

Bed after 10:00pm.

June 19 - A full day with the Germans.

We slept well and arrived back at our exchange student's house at 9:15. They had slept in too, and we all had breakfast together. The weather was so changeable -- it rained in the morning and then was sunny in spells. Martina had lunch with a friend and Tom made us another delicious meal -- spaghetti in meat sauce.  Bob played some more soccer, and we played some more games and then laughed and told stories after the children went to bed. All too soon it was time to walk back to the hotel and get ready to leave.

Here is the windmill on the canal by our hotel.

Our hotel at twilight.

The neighborhood we walk through to get to Tom and Martina's house.

There was also a lovely moon that night.

June 18 - Hannover at last.

Our plane landed on time in London, and I had the "pleasure" of being groped again -- I must have bionic breasts (or maybe it was the necklace). And my shoes were suspected of having bomb-making material on them -- the machine beeped!! And I hate the whole stealth gate scene at Heathrow. Our flight to Hannover was in the same terminal where we landed, but when we got to the information board, it just told us to head for area A -- no gate number. And it wasn't until post- groping and bomb-sniffing that we finally knew the gate. 

The flight to Germany was painless, and Tom met us at the airport. Here's a picture of the hotel where we stayed.

We had a fun day catching up with Tom and playing with the children. Bob may have to send some soccer shoes ahead next time to play with Niklas. And Yannik is taking piano lessons! 

We played this pig game as well as the German version of Monopoly.

And here is the evening meal. So civilized.

Bed by 10:30.

June 17 - Today's the Day!

11:00AM
So this morning's glitch is that my blogger app is no longer available in the iphone apps.  Since I took it off my phone a while back, I can't retrieve it except through the safari app.  Arrgghh. Bob has it on his phone, and I have it on my ipad mini, so we'll figure it out, but what a pain.

3:55pm

So we left home at 1:30 for a 6:20 flight just because I am who I am. We arrived at the airport at 2:45 -- 1 1/4 hours for a 40 minute drive on a normal day. And it took 10 minutes (!!) to get through the TSA line. Now we're having appetizers at Legal Seafood. Way too breaded calamari but delicious salmon rice bowl. 

Our flight was uneventful except for the fact that the TSA person needed to check my breasts.  Hmmm.  Maybe I shouldn't have worn a silver necklace. 

June 16 - One day more...

What a crazy morning.  I wanted to add an international component to my phone plan and ended up on "chat" hold for-seeming-ever.  And then there was the fun trying to figure out how to start a new blog. And of course the Global Entry card doesn't work if you're using British Air, so we have to wait in a line tomorrow.