Berlin, Germany

The weekend after we got back from Iceland, we headed to Berlin for one last trip with the Swiderski's before baby Swiderski arrives. We both departed after work on Friday - Alana & Adam on train from Hamburg and Shane & I on an evening flight.

Shane and I arrived in Berlin around 11pm and quickly grabbed a cab to the hotel. We arrived at the hotel quicker than we anticipated - Germans really do drive fast! We were exhausted by the time we got to the hotel so after catching up for a bit, we turned in for bed.

The next morning, we enjoyed breakfast at the hotel (Adam has Marriott status and the spread in the executive lounge was amazing!) before heading out to meet up with our walking tour. Our walking tour was a four hour tour of Berlin. The tour started in 'west' Berlin before moving into 'east' Berlin. Our tour guide was phenomenal and made the tour both informative and entertaining. The majority of Berlin had to be rebuilt after the war so it was interesting to see what the city was able to save and rebuild and what buildings had to be rebuilt in their entirety. Another interesting thing we discovered on our tour was the lack of tourist information/signage for certain historic areas in Berlin. Our guide took us to the spot of Hitler's bunker and where Hitler's body was burned - it's a car park. Our guide informed us that there are certain aspects of the war, and historic areas in the city, that the city does not want to draw attention to as the city is moving past the war.    

After the tour, we took the subway to the 'best' kebab in Berlin. When we were in Krakow, we met two German police officers who told us if we were ever in Berlin, we had to go to this kebab shop. Well we went, and waited for an hour in line, to try the kebab. While the kebab was delicious, we all decided we wouldn't wait another hour in the cold for one. 

After the kebab, we headed back to the hotel to regroup. We took advantage of Adam's executive lounge access and helped ourselves to a hot drink and beer and wine. After warming up, we headed back out to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. The church was badly bombed in the war and the remaining structure has been maintained and turned into a memorial. 

We then headed north of the city in search for a bar that showed the NCAA basketball games. Unfortunately, the bar we identified was attached to a hostel and wasn't exactly our scene. We retreated back towards the hotel to view the Brandenburg Gate and Pariser Platz at night. I love seeing a city's monuments lit up at night - it makes the city feel magical. Unable to bear too much more of the cold, we went back to the hotel and took advantage of Adam's Marriott perks yet again. The executive lounge has wine, beer and cheese throughout the evening.

The next morning we took the train to Potsdam. Potsdam is approximately forty-five minutes outside of Berlin and is known for its palaces and gardens. We walked through the gardens, admiring the palaces and tried our best to avoid the rain. We made it three-fourths of the way through the park before the rain really started to pick-up. When we had as much of the rain as we could take, we exited the park, found a nearby cafe in the village and enjoyed some tea and cake. 

After the cafe, we were on the train back to Berlin to catch our  flight and train home. It was another great weekend with the Swiderski's and we were glad that we were able to fit it in!     

Iceland

Mid-March, we spent a long weekend in Iceland. Simply put, it was amazing! Iceland is the front runner for our most favorite place that we have visited.

We took an early morning flight to Iceland and arrived just before lunch. We quickly made our way through the airport, picked up our rental car (from the nicest rental car person I've ever met) and were off to the Blue Lagoon. 

The Blue Lagoon is a man-made lagoon, located on a lava field, that is fed by water from a geothermal plant and is renewed every two days. The warm waters are rich in minerals of silica and sulfur and people began bathing in the lagoon due to its rumored healing powers. At the lagoon we treated ourselves to in-water massages and a silica/algae mudmask - it was the perfect way to start the trip.

After soaking in the lagoon for a couple of hours, we made our way to Reykjavik and checked in at our AirBNB. We made an early dinner reservation that night as we had plans to try to find the northern lights later in the evening. Somehow we managed to eat our way through the tasting menu (8 courses!) in just enough time to make it back to apartment before our northern lights guide arrived.

We spent the evening chasing the northern lights ... literally. Our guide was constantly checking the weather, and 'activity', in the surrounding area to make sure we were in the right location to view the northern lights. As soon as something appeared positive on one of his devices, he sped off on the Icelandic country roads to ensure we were in a prime viewing location. Even though his driving was a tad crazy, his northern light spotting ability was excellent - we spotted the northern lights twice - the second time being more vibrant and long-lasting than the first.

The next morning we were up early to snorkel Silfra. Silfra is a rift formed between the North America and Eurasia tectonic plates located in Thingvellir National Park. Silfra is fed from groundwater originating as meltwater from Iceland's second largest glacier. The filtered groundwater (seeps through lava rock for 50-100 years) is exceptionally clear and provides visibility for up to 120m.

We drove to Thingvellir National Park, met our group and started getting geared up for the dive. For the dive, we had a down suit as our base layer and a wet suit as our outer layer. Our guide was very particular about the wet suits being appropriately sealed. Shane and I both ended up with additional collars around our necks, and my wrists were taped down, to enforce our wet suit seal. We then were given a hood and gloves. We looked quite ridiculous but the gear kept us as warm as we could of hoped for in the 2 degree celsius water.

The snorkel through Silfra took about 45 minutes and the views were absolutely spectacular! We ended in Silfra Lagoon and took in some above water views, and some last gulps of the fresh water, before exiting the lagoon.

After the snorkel, we changed out of gear, shared some hot chocolate with the group and then were off to the Geysir and Gullfoss Waterfall.

The Great Geysir seldom errupts but the nearby Strokkur erupts approximately every 10 minutes and is quite the site to see. We watched two eruptions of Strokkur before making our way through the rest of the park.

After Geysir, we were off to the Gullfoss Waterfall. The wind was intense when we were at Gullfoss so we could only manage to walk along the waterfall for a brief bit before turning back to the car for shelter from the wind.

Even though we were exhausted from the day when we arrived back in Reykjavik, we decided to explore the city and check-out the Church of Iceland, Hallgrimskirkja, and the Sun Voyager statue. After seeing the sites and wandering through the downtown, we grabbed a famous Icelandic hotdog and went to an American Big Lebowski themed bar for an early night cap - it had 20 different types of white russians!

The next morning we were up early again to chase waterfalls, explore the black sand beaches of Vik and discover the crash landing site of a U.S. navy plane.

Our first stop was the Seljalndsfoss waterfall.

Our second stop was the black sand beaches of Vik. We walked along the coast, climbed the basalt columns and took in the views of the unique basalt sea stacks and Iceland 'door'.

Our third stop was the crash landing site of the U.S. navy plane. To reach the plane, you have to walk 4km off the road and you truly feel as if you are in one of the most remote places. On our walk to the plane, it started hailing - we had to take cover in the plane!

Our last stop for the day was the Skogafoss waterfall where we climbed to the top to take in the bird's eye views. With the climb, we found ourselves quite warm - we may have been wearing too many under layers!

After Skogafoss, we headed back to Reykjavik. As it was our last night, we decided we had to have the best of the local fare and dined at a seafood restaurant.

We were off to the airport early the next morning to catch our flight. We could of stayed much longer and already want to start planning a trip back!