The kids were so excited to sleep on the train and it was a new experience for Sandy and I as well. The space was very tight, but we got a better night sleep than we both expected. While in Germany, we purchased a three day travel pass, and visited Hamburg, Hanover, Bremen, and end up in Berlin on New Year’s Eve. We arrived around noon and the city was already jam packed with people who were getting ready to bring in the new year. We saw remnants of the Berlin Wall (constructed in 1961 and tore down in 1989) and “Checkpoint Charlie”, one of the 7 original checkpoints along the wall. As soon as it got dark, people started setting off their own purchased fireworks in driveways, parking lots, and the square in front of the train station. We made it back to Hamburg before the festivities really got started and watched the fireworks from the hotel room – the professional show and the numerous individuals shows made it look and sound like an hour long fireworks finale. The streets were completely littered the next day with the remnants of fireworks. As our feet were sore from all the walking over the past week, we decided to take it easy on our last day. We woke up late, had a nice long brunch at the hotel, and went to the train station and did some shopping. We killed time eating snacks here and there until it was time to hop on another night train back home to Zurich. It was a productive holiday as we were able to cross a number of cities off our list, but we greatly miss all the friends and family and are looking forward to getting back home (US and Mexico) for a visit in May.
