Last recap post! We discovered that the Germans are nothing if not consistent. While they do strike a lot in general, the strikes are well organized and begin and end exactly on time. There is also a lot of communication so as to minimize any appearance of being inconsiderate.

The bus/tram strike ended by our last day there so we were able to take public transportation out to Garten dir Welt (Gardens of the World). First a few things to know about Berlin. Their traffic crossing guy has a name, “Ampelmännchen”. He has entire stores dedicated to his merch as he is a beloved city icon. I bought Garyn some Ampel Man socks. Next thing is that graffiti is everywhere and it makes me so happy. I love graffiti as an art form and the stuff in Berlin was stunning. Berlin leans into street art (see East Side Gallery) and between the actual murals everywhere and the graffiti the whole city feels like an open air installation. Again it made me so happy.

Gardens of the World is a huge park with example gardens from all over the world. About a month after our visit it would have been stunning. We could see all the tulips and other spring bulbs just barely sending out leaves. It was still lovely and they even had a pressed penny (well, 1 euro cent) machine. The real highlight of the day was an enclosed gondola that we rode to a tower with a great view of the area. It even had a glass bottom which we all thought was super cool.

After lunch at Burger King, we went grocery shopping to get snacks for the plane, treats for the girls’ friends and a light dinner. We also returned our bottles. Germany has an exceptional recycling system. There are kiosks everywhere to return your bottles to get a coupon that can be exchanged for cash. It is part of the culture to just leave bottles and cans next to trash cans if you aren’t going to return them as a courtesy for others who do collect them. People will plan on going to a festival like Octoberfest and make a tidy sum of money by collecting unwanted bottles and recycling them. The girls really loved the machine once it got going. Our flight left very early and Neil sat in his premium fancy seat while I kept my girls company. At last we made it home and our dog’s depression instantly evaporated. I had asked my dad to leave the door open for her and a bird (or 5) made themselves quite at home.