Berlin

We both slept well our first night in Berlin and did not wake up until 10:30 am. We set out to find coffee and a pastry but most breakfast places were closed by the time we got there. We walked a bit and found a small cafe. 

( by the way everyone smokes in Euope)

We ordered espresso with creamy ( which apparently means whipped cream, but I am not complaining)

I got a ham and cheese crepe and john got a natella and banana crepe. 

We spent the rest of the day seeing the major sites of Berlin. We ended up walking nearly 9 miles. 

A beautiful restored church. 

The first Wednesday of every month is free admission to most museums. John and I took full advance of that and visited about 5. 

This is the old parlement building. 

John trying to find our way again 

We found out later that Berlin has been built and rebuilt many times throughout its history. It has been the center for a lot of violence and distruction. The entire city feels like it is currently under construction. 

Although the building look like they may be old, there were all built in the last 50-100 years

We spent a good long time at museum island and went through The German natural history museum. It was huge and started in the early 1400s. 

We had a bite to eat along the spree River.  And continued on our way. 

(My view from lunch)

Later we stopping and got cookies from this place . I would love to say we and bringing some home for our friends and family but john and I ate all we bought already ( btw.. They were delicious) 

After a long day of walking we found a sweet little spot for dinner. The resturant was set in what use to be the town court. 

John had a traditional German dinner

And I had stuffed mushrooms 

International freeways and trying to get to Berlin

Staring at the John and I both slept really well on the ship, despite John's fear of getting sea sick. At 8:30 am there was an announcement made to go down to the car deck and start your engines. We were not in a big rush to get down there so we puttered around a bit in the room. I felt like we may have been to last ones to get to our cars and the ship door opened just moments after we got in. 

Our GPS did not get singal for what seemed like forever, I drove around in circles before finally stopping at a gas station. Luckily our GPS found signal and we were off to Hamburg. Driving a brand new car on a foreign country freeway where you don't know the rules, or the language, proved to be highly stressful. 

After driving forever ( forever because I hadn't had breakfast or coffee) we made it to Hamburg. It was nearly noon by the time we found parking. 

We walked through a really pretty park.. But again we had trouble finding our way.

John looking at the gps waiting for signal. 

We stopped at the first place we found and ordered espresso and paninis. I am. Ot sure if it was just me being over hungry or what but they were so yummy. 

And then we were off again. There was not too much to look at between Hamburg and Berlin. 

When we finally arrived in the city the traffic was crazy! So many cars, people and bikes, it was sensory overload and highly stressful. We found our apartment and found Safe parking for my car. 

The apartment is behind a ver small art gallery .

We had our first german beer and dinner a short walk from the apartment. 

Gothenburg and the Sterna line

We spent the rest of Monday  exploring Gothenburg. It was such a beautiful lively city. Driving and brand new car in a foreign country with crazy lights, bikes and people proved to be quite nerve racking. Luckily we found a little parking lot and walked around. 

I saw online that they have a famous fish church, with delicious food and venders inside. 

But they were closed. So we just walked around. 

We walked in and out of shops until we had a bit of an appetite. We learned that In Sweden people take a fika 

Our first stop was a chocolate store

We walked in and out of shops until we had a bit of an appetite. We learned that In Sweden people take a fika 

So we stopped and had a giant cinnamon roll and coffee. The coffee in Sweden is strong and dark just like we like it

After or fika we drove around a bit and then headed to the docks to catch the ferry to Kiel Germany. 

Picking up my Volvo at the factory in Sweden

I was so excited Monday morning! I woke up early and was ready to get going. First we had a great complementary breakfast at the hotel. Then we met a volvo driver to take us to the factory. 

The factory was about 20 minutes from the hotel. 

I checked in and showed them my proof of purchase, we were told to have a seat and our guide would be right with us. 

Our guide went over the details of our insurance and coverage while in Europe as well as some other handy paperwork things. 

He even gave us the title 

The car is officially mine! 

Then it was finally time to see the car. 

Our guide showed me how to use everything inside my car.. I mean EVERYTHING! 

After we picked up the car we were treated to lunch at the factory

After lunch we got to tour the factory. It was so interesting to watch the assembly line and see all the different people and robots that built the car. 

 

Traveling to Gothenburg

We dropped the dog off at grandmas house and left for the airport around 9:30 am on Saturday. We had a short flight to San francisco then a Eleven hour flight to Copenhagen. We decided to hangs out in the first class lounge at SFO because our flight was delayed a few hours. While we were therewe met a man named John who was also headed to Sweden to pick up his wife's new volvo. 

After a very long flight we had a short lay over in Copenhagen and then we were off for a short 45 min flight to Gothenburg. 

We were very happy to find our names and our ride to our hotel. 

As part of the purchase price of the Volvo, we also go 1 night accommodations at the Raddison. It was beautiful and right in the center of town.

The time change and "sleeping in the airplane" let john and I pretty tired, by the time we checked in it was already 6 pm.  We were starving so we set out to find some dinner. 

We found a place that looked good.

About 10 minutes after we sat down we kind of knew that they didn't want to serve us. The wait staff was rude, and we were so tired and hungry. After a very long wait we finally got our food. John had sea food pasta and I have salmon and shrimp pasta. The food was delicious but the service was terrible. 

We went back to the hotel and fell asleep. The next day was the day we got to pick up the car!