The Bradleys Go to Europe- Week 2: Germany

While in Germany we got to stay with 2 amazing host families. I have known the ladies of each household for 15 years but this was my first chance to meet their families. In Munich we stayed with Claudia and Alex. Their home is way out in the country but worth the drive. We only had one full day in Munich and we spent it at Oktoberfest, without kids. Alex was a domestic machine and cared for 6 children all day. He stunned me by taking them all out to dinner, bathing them all, and doing 3 loads of MY laundry. What a life saver.

(Kate and Anna in the top pic, Leia and Lena in the bottom pic.)
While Alex slaved away we went off to play (along with Claudia). We sent Scott and Ben off to find their own fun in the Oktoberfest tents and we met up with my sister Michelle and some other great ladies to participate in her Bachelorette party. She had a basket full of goodies that she had to sell and then the money earned was used to buy beer at the end of the evening. .

She earned plenty of beer money.

The next morning we headed out to Dresden with the intent of catching a football game. Tickets were tricky to get so we ended up exploring the city and none of us were disappointed. Plus we found a beer garden with a play structure for the girls so everyone was happy.
The next morning we headed to Berlin for the anticipated historical part of our trip. The history is very heavy which made for a depressing but interesting visit. We hit the top sites:

Checkpoint Charlie and the museum.
The Bradenburg Gate.

The longest remaining portion of the wall.
A giant pretzel.
And a relatively new Holocaust Memorial. "The stelae are designed to produce an uneasy, confusing atmosphere, and the whole sculpture aims to represent a supposedly ordered system that has lost touch with human reason." This is one description we found of it and the most accurate.
We spent the following day at Sachsenhausen, the original concentration camp that the others were based on. It was also used as a training facility for soldiers.

Now off to Dresden to stay with our other excellent host family and to meet up with my sister, parents, and aunt and uncle. A much happier part of the trip. We stopped at the host family's house first. Julia (the mom) was our exchange student when she was 16 and I was 12. It was great to see her again and meet her children and husband. She insisted with leave the girls with her while we met up with my family for the Beck's brewery tour. That was a great idea and date number 3 for us!

After 2 hours of touring we were taken to a private lounge and given an hour to drink as much Beck's beer as we could. Now that's a tour.
The concludes the Germany portion of our tour. Next stop: Denmark and the wedding!