Family Reunion 一家团聚

July 4, 2022

It was the first time the four of us traveled together in Europe. This year, the German government issued 9 euros monthly travel pass for the summer months, June, July, and August. The monthly travel card was available to anyone, including the tourists like us, and could be used nationwide and include all local transportation, bus, ferry, and regional train. It was convenient and inexpensive to travel around Germany with this card.

After reuniting with our son, we spent the whole day exploring the city of Berlin, mainly visiting several attractions related to the Berlin Wall. Much of the Berlin Wall has been dismantled, leaving a small part as the Berlin Wall Memorial. We strolled around Bernauer Street to see the walls, old houses along the wall, and the information stalls to know that part of the history. We had lunch at Zum Schusterjungen, a homemade-style German restaurant. Then we continued sightseeing, including Checkpoint Charlie, a landmark boundary marking East and West Berlin with a white sentry guard house & cobbled border line was the best-known crossing point of the Berlin Wall and a symbol of the Cold War.  

We returned to our hotel for a short break and then went to the hostel with our son. He preferred to stay at the hostel alone, not with us at the hotel. As he was checking in at the hostel, we sat at a Chinese restaurant nearby to wait for him to join us for dinner. But he chatted with his roommate at the hostel and forgot about the time. Eventually, he joined us when we were almost done with the dinner. The restaurant claimed to serve some traditional Chinese cuisine, but we thought the food was so-so. After eating and drinking, we took a bus to the presidential residence. It was a quiet place with no tourists around, except a lawn mower robot working hard on the lawn. Then we wandered around Tiergarten Park to see the Victory Column and returned to the Memorial to Murdered Jews of Europe. We went back to the Brandenburg Gate a third time with a family photo in front of the Brandenburg Gate for the Berlin gathering.

欧洲游第四十五天：儿子今天一早飞到，一家四口在柏林团聚，很开心。这次来德国碰到了好事，今年夏天德国政府发放九欧元一月的交通卡。这交通卡是全国通用，包括所有的地方交通。有此卡后外出就很方便，今天一整天就在柏林城里转，主要去一些与柏林墙有关的景点。柏林围墙大部分已被拆除，留了很小一部分作为纪念，包括查理检查哨等。午饭是以当地的大肉为主，有人还没吃厌😀。晚上在一家中餐店里用餐，说是传统的中国菜，味道很一般，感觉就是骗老外的。吃饱喝足继续溜达又去蒂尔加藤公园看了胜利纪念柱，然后再次回到欧洲被害犹太人纪念碑区及勃兰登堡门。一家四口在勃兰登堡门前照相留念。