We had one full day in Berlin, so we packed in as much as possible. Even through the rain we managed to take in the Brandenburg Gate, Holocaust Memorial, and the Reichstag. Museum Island and the Berlin Cathedral were great to see, but with only 1 day in Berlin, we didn’t have a chance to tour either of them. The Holocaust Memorial was incredible and is well worth the time. It does an amazing job of personalizing the Holocaust through hand written notes, listing individual names and telling a short story about him or her, and survivor testimonials. This memorial is designated for the Jewish victims. It includes a map of all the concentration, labor and death camps across all of Europe. I didn’t realize there were hundreds of camps, not just the handful of large, well-known camps. 
Food today was wonderful, again. I do NOT want to get on the scale when I return to the states, so I won’t, but my pants will surely remind me how great the food in Europe was! We had local foods again today, schnitzel, sausage platter, cheese dumplings and a few local brews. We did find one dark beer that we thought was the best we’d had in Germany. Dinner was at a popular steak house. I didn’t eat, I was still way too full from lunch, but the rest of the group said it was excellent steak. Beef isn’t really prevalent where we’ve been, so I think the kids were having beef withdrawal & needed a good solid meal.
We noticed a few differences between Poland & Germany. First, German people are big! Really, really BIG. Berlin was very dirty compared to Krakow. Lots of people smoke in both places, but Krakow was diligent with cleaning, sweeping up cigarette butts and cleaned up after their dogs. Berlin….not so much. The women in Poland seemed to all be fit & beautiful. We saw very few people that were overweight. In Berlin it was more like the US. In Poland, pedestrians have the right of way, not so in Berlin. In both places everyone follows the crosswalk instructions to a T. As Americans, we were not used to that but quickly followed the social custom.
Today we are back on the road. Currently there is no speed limit, so Steve is not at risk of a ticket! Driving on the freeway in all of the countries has been similar. No one is in the left lane unless passing. Everyone always uses their signals. Very courteous driving behaviors, even with no speed limit. We have another 5 hours of driving today so we left early & stopped at McDonald’s for breakfast. I haven’t eaten at McDonald’s in years, but when traveling with 4 tired kids, sometimes you just have to be flexible. Nuremburg is our next stop. I wanted to tour the Nuremburg Trials museum, but I don’t think we’ll have time today. We’re planning to tour the underground rock cellar & then head to the Burg Colmberg Castle, where we will be staying tonight!