To celebrate David’s 50th birthday we took a family vacation to Europe.

Starting in Prague in the Czech Republic, we spent a few days exploring the narrow and winding streets of the city that survived much of the bombing from WWII.

Prague is a beautiful and surprisingly large city. Almost everything is historic, and even outside the tourist areas the bustling city is within very old streets and buildings. Our hotel was at the foot of the Charles Bridge, and we explored narrow streets, large castles, and sidewalk cafes by foot for 4 days.

Hopping on a train, we spent a late morning speeding through the Czech countryside to Berlin where we spent 5 days walking around the largest city in Germany.

Berlin is large, and although we explored much by foot, we did end up on the tram and hailing a taxi several times. We followed remnants of the Berlin Wall and tried to understand what the separation was like during the Cold War. What is hardest to comprehend was how events eventually led to WWII and the holocaust, as you are reminded when you see bronze plaques embedded in the sidewalk, explore the Holocaust Memorial, or visit the Olympic Stadium.

The highlight for David were tickets to a sold-out Bundesliga (soccer) game where home-town Hertha BSC was facing mighty Bayern Munich at the 75,000-seat Olympic Stadium. The atmosphere was electric as we enjoyed watching the Ultra’s chant, sing, and jump in unison cheering on their team. Unfortunately, 4th place Hertha could not hold off league-leading Bayern and lost 0-2.

Glad to be home, if you ever need help booking a vacation, or especially a cruise, please consider talking with Julie Osinski, Cruise Planners, in Bath. She is wonderful to work with and we would not have enjoyed ourselves nearly as much without her help.