In Closing (Xander)

What are some things you liked about Berlin?
I liked that we were very close to everything so we could walk everywhere. I liked the public transportation. 

At Mauerpark

What did you think of London?
I liked London. The London Eye was cool. It was really high but not that scary. The Tube, when it was really full, was not very fun. But, when it was empty, it was fun. 


Where would you like to go again?
I would go to Berlin again because I liked it a lot. 


Where would you go that's new to you?
Canada. I've just always wanted to go there.


What kind of food did you like?
A restaurant I liked going to was Tommi's Burger. They had good burgers. 


What is nice about being at home?
We can be with all our friends. We're in the same time zone as everyone we know. 


What did you think of the Tower Bridge in London?

Venice's idea for a photo.

It was cool. The blue that was on the bridge was a lot lighter than I thought it was going to be. 


Tell me a little bit about your plane ride home.
It was really long and boring. I tried to sleep but I couldn't really sleep that much. But I did a little. I watched Ocean's Eleven which made the time pass by a little quicker. I got two kinds of pasta for dinner. At first, I thought they had two choices of pasta, but we didn't realize that there was only one pasta choice that came with two kinds. I noticed that when we got close to San Francisco, we went past the airport, made a circle back before landing. That was strange. 


What were some of the landmarks like?
The Jewish Memorial was pretty. The Brandenburg Gate was really cool with the horse carriage. I thought the pillars holding it up were going to be full columns. They were more like rounded rectangles. 

Day 9: Ikea (Venice and Xander)

Hello! Venice and Xander here! 

We just wanted to tell you about the other day, when we went to IKEA! Before we went in, we had to go through a GIANT automatic revolving door. When we got inside, we got a cart but we realised we couldn't go up an escalator with a shopping cart! (It's too bad because in one the of the markets we went to they had a flat escalator that you could drive a cart up!) So we went up the escalator with plastic bags that they offered. (Xander would easily fit in one, no problem!) Then it began. 

For about 30 minutes, we walked with our parents through thousands of items, bored out of our minds. Then we saw a set of computers! They where there to design a room and see how expensive it would be, and then you could buy the right things to make it happen. (Venice thought they where for testing and buying) We played with it for a little bit, but it got boring after a while because the whole thing was in German. So we went to go find our parents.

After choosing a desk and 2 chairs, we went to go downstairs, but we saw the cafe and begged to eat. We got rumpsteak, we know, it sounds like "butt steak" and that's because it is from the bum of the cow! It also came with fries, herb butter, and a salad of your choice. Mom and dad were hesitant to let us eat, but looking back we are all glad we did! It took 3 times as long to go through, and the food half way was a good idea. Then we headed downstairs.

We went downstairs and after a little bit of kitchen shopping we went to the lights section. Venice noticed that IKEA would be a great place to play capture the flag, so she told Xander he had 10 seconds to hide and that she would look for him. It was like hide and seek, but the hider could also tap the seeker, and they could move. After modifying it for a little bit, we decided on a name: "Night Guard". We played throughout the store, much to the annoyance of everyone. Then we went to the warehouse, it was BIG!!! They had lots of good places to play our new game. Then we went to checkout.

 A lot of stuff seems to be "self serve" here. You pay, and get

your cup, or cone, or bowl, or token, then get your item yourself.

Here, the kids are filing their frozen yogurt cups with a token. - Diana

After checkout we got frozen yogurt! Then we had to try 3 times to get a taxi home. When we were home we rested for a bit, then tried to build our chairs. Key word here: "tried". As we type they are still unfinished... But we did learn that a shoe is a pretty good hammer. Bye for now!

-Venice and Xander

Venice Recap: (Xander)

Making faces at mom on our last taxi ride.

"The busses were extremely crowded. I felt unhappy while standing on the bus." (about our first bus ride to our hotel)

"All the glass in the glass factory was beautiful." (about Murano)

"I think the end of the island, the point, where you could see a lot, had a pretty view."

"The bidet is pretty much a poop sink. I used it when ever I pooped. You poop in the toilet, then you use the bidet instead of toilet paper. It felt weird. I don't think I would want one at home because it was weird to use."

Not the four cheeses gnocchi,
but still a good one.

"The gnocchi with four cheeses was really good." (his favourite out of the three he ordered)

"It's a little crazy that the whole city is pretty much floating. I bet everybody that's old enough know how to drive a boat, just because there's no cars." (when asked about a place with no cars)

"The caffé gelato was really good." (when asked what gelato he liked best)

Day 3: Recap (Xander)

In one of the tunnels to the Siegessäule. There was an
interactive-light display. By walking in front of the cameras
(or putting your hand over it, you created a "white-light" shadow.

"We never saw dad's office!" (the day got away from us and we didn't get to do a "walk by")

"Being at the top was scary because it was hight up." (at the Siegessäule, the Berlin Victory Column)

"The name is DuDu, so it's kind of funny. The sushi there was very good. One of the rolls was named after the place, so it was the Crunchy DuDu Roll, so that was even funnier." (DuDu = Sushi-fusion restaurant)

"When we left, it was pouring. So we ran and got a taxi. When got home is when we heard a crazy lightning that was very close and scared the DuDu out of me! But really, it was scary. It sounded like somebody set off a bomb nearby." (experiencing a large thunder and lightning storm)

Quotes from Xander

A few quotes said by Xander in the last 2 days:

"I'm happy to be here." (going to bed our first night in Berlin)

"I'm feeling tired. I woke up at 1am and then 5:15am." (at breakfast on our first morning in Berlin)

"If you go to youtube.com, the little YouTube logo in the upper left as "De" next to it, but the URL is still www.youtube.com, which is interesting. I'm thinking the reason is that it's connecting to a German server, but your'e on the normal YouTube site." (breakfast conversation)

"I like that there is a bigger button for solids and a smaller button for liquids so you don't waste water." (answering about flushing toilets when asked what he's noticed so far)

"I do like how many trees there are. When we were getting close to landing, I saw a lot of trees, a big dark green of trees. It was kind of all I could see. The view from the front of our apartment is mostly of the city, the back view is more green with trees. " (more breakfast conversation)

"I want to try the bio butter, it sounds cool. We think it's their version of "organic" which is good, because it's good for you and it sounds cool." (discussing foods)