Krakow and Berlin

For spring break 2024, we traveled to Krakow and Berlin with Kacey's parents. We have wanted them to visit Poland for a long time as he is one quarter Polish and grew up on some polish specialties. 

Krakow

We landed in Krakow around 1pm and got to our hotel around 2:30. We stayed in a 3 bedroom apartment right off Maly Rynek (little market) square, which is 1 block from the main square. The Easter Market had just started on the main square with loads of food and vendors. We got a few pierogi at Przypiecek and ice cream while walking around. Also ate some food at the market. In-laws arrived around 6 and we went for dinner at U Babci Maliny.

The next morning we got some pastries from Lajkonik for breakfast. Everyone but Nolan and Chris went to the St Mary's Basilica church. We all got more food at the market. This day we visited the Pinball museum, which also had lots of old arcade games. We did all you can play for 1 hour and had fun. For dinner, we had more market food.

We visited the Illusion Museum the next morning. Then once again hit the market for lunch food and booked Oskar Schindler's Factory museum tour at 2:15.

The next morning we visited Wawel Castle. We battled rain just a bit at the beginning. Several exhibits are closed on Monday but remaining were free. First we saw the Cathedral (not free) and went up bell tower. Then ate a snack. Then persian tents and then the armory. Last was Lost Wawel (still excavating areas). When leaving we walked down to view the Dragon.

Then more market food for snack. Dinner back at U Babci Maliny. The next morning we caught our direct flight to Berlin.

Berlin

Landed around 1:30 and took a taxi to Alexanderplatz. By 4pm we got to Hofbrau Munchen for german food and beer. Found Cuore di Vetro gelato that night, very good.

Woke up and taxiied to Berlin Wall Remains at Zimmerstrasse. Then walked to Checkpoint Charlie. After a snack walked to Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Walked past US Embassy to Brandenburg Gate. Just took in the view of Reichstag without visiting. We walked down to Potsdamerplatz for the Easter market, but it didn't start until the following day. So we ate some lunch at Lindenbrau. Then walked to gelato at Caffe e Gelato. Stopped by Spy Museum to buy tickets for the following day. Stopped in Mall of Berlin for the Lego shop. Walked to Neuhaus chocolate. Walked north then east toward Dom Cathedral. In laws and small kids took taxi back to hotel. We walked around the buildings of museum island and checked the TV tower entrance but saw it took 2 hours to wait. Found dinner at Bar Internazionale, good pizza. Then walked back to gelato.

Woke up and went to the cathedral (prebooked tickets night before). Organ was playing and nice views on the outside of the dome. Then went to German Historic Museum for the "Roads Not Taken" exhibit. Then taxi to Potsdamerplatz for lunch at the market. This Easter market much smaller than Krakow, but had a meat swing, dessert pizza stand, and a pesto pasta stand. Also some gluwein. Then we had 2:15 entry to Spy Museum. Nolan and I had dinner at Hofbrau and others went to asian food. Then back to gelato!

I took the boys up the TV tower the next morning (got 9am entry tickets). They enjoyed the views. Then we taxiied to Mauerpark. Looking for cherry trees in bloom but kids just played for a bit. Walked north looking for trees and found a few.  Taxiied to Berlin Wall Memorial. Nice exhibit. Walked to Restaurant Nuovo Firenze and spoke Italian for lunch. In-laws and Liana taxiied to the Olympic stadium. We walked by the Samuri museum (but expensive) and then walked past Sofia church and Jewish cemetery. Walked down to museum island and walked around a bit, played at the fountain. Then Nolan and I went to DDR museum, it was very busy. Everyone went to Hofbrau for dinner.

German Christmas Markets!

This past weekend, we traveled to Frankfurt to visit a German Christmas Market! We got there at lunch and enjoyed walking around and grabbing random food to eat. Potato pancakes with apple sauce, pretzels, bratwurst, and gluhwein. It wasn't too crowded on Friday afternoon, which was nice. We also visited the large St. Bartholomew church. We checked out lots of little shops and a few stores. We had dinner at Schwarzer Stern and it was quite yummy! We talked about Saturday and decided to train to Cologne for their Christmas Market.

Saturday morning we woke to a very light snow, quite nice. The breakfast buffet at the Ambassador hotel was decent. The bad news was train tickets were twice the price of renting 2 cars, so we rented cars and headed toward Cologne. We mapped to a car park that looked close, but alas, the entire area was completely packed and crowded with people. It was quite a nightmare finding parking. After maybe 90 wasted minutes, we headed toward the Christmas Market. We checked out the huge mosaic discovered from the ancient Romans. Then we toured the HUGE cathedral. It really towers over the city.

It was hard to get around the market, it was quite crazy. We got a little food, some warm drinks, and watched a brass band play some Christmas music. We decided to walk to another market in town. It was not as crowded, but still hard to get through some areas. We bought a few gifts along the way, and found random snacks for dessert. The drive back to Frankfurt was quick on the Autobahn!

Sunday the Frankfurt market was a little more tame and enjoyable. We ate at a place with a big meat swing, it smelled so good! Had some beer and warm drink and some more yummy snacks. We had a good time, and I had fun practicing old german phrases I remembered from high school.

Pictures from Germany can be found here.