Southern Germany Sojourn

We are back in Berlin after a great 5 day visit to Southern Germany. We stayed with some Coast Guard friends, the Bas family, who recently moved to the Stuttgart area with their 5 year old and twin 2 year olds. They were wonderful hosts, starting our visit off with a trip to their favorite biergarten.

They also took us to their favorite neighborhood castle, which had incredible views of the surrounding countryside.

One of the highlights of our visit was a trip to Legoland Deutschland. We have never gone to the Legoland in California, so I’m not sure how they compare, but this one got an enthusiastic thumbs up from all the kids and adults. The lines for the rides were short, and the Lego creations were amazing.

Daniel celebrated his 5th birthday during the trip. His day started and ended with chocolate frosted cupcakes, and included a visit to the Ritter Sport Chocolate Factory, which has a huge store with bargains on their factory rejects.

We took advantage of all the American military bases in the area and stocked up on toiletries and food from the base exchange and commissary. It felt a bit like cheating, not having to rely on the local German stores, but we won’t have this opportunity too often!

The trip’s other milestone was that Bill officially entered retired status, as of September 1st. He’s now free to grow a ponytail, or beard. We’ll see about that!

Thanks again, Michelle and Jim, for a wonderful visit!