Beth's Birthday: Sweet Twenty-Seven!

Well, I didn't think anything could top last year's birthday spent on the beach in El Salvador. But then again, I didn't think so many things would go so wonderfully well on my birthday, which is how all birthdays should go! Also, Happy Birthday to my twin brother, Tim Kenny!

The day started inherently wonderful because it was the last day of a 3-day weekend from school, so I got to sleep in and spend a relaxing morning at home. James made me breakfast, gave me flowers, and we had fresh pineapple and my favorite coffee-dipping cookies, champurradas.

Then I got two surprise visits from close friends, Charlotte (a teacher from school) and Patricia, our awesome Spanish tutor and friend! Charlotte gave me some great bracelets from Panajachel and Patricia brought me flowers, too!

James and I spent the next part of the day at the Zone 1 Market, one of my favorite places to go for shopping! James was very patient with me as I stopped at all of the stalls, wanting to spend my birthday money wisely. I purchased some new clothing and jewelery of course!

We took our chances on some favorite typical Guatemalan food, tostadas (round, flat, fried tortillas topped with fresh guacamole, onions, and cheese) and huge portions of fresh mango, my new favorite fruit thanks to Erika!

Then we picked up the most amazing care package of all time from our best friends, Rob and Linden Mueller (the ones we spent the summer with who are living in Germany--lucky ducks!). They truly, truly have outdone themselves. I would have been happy with a card, but for our birthdays (James' is coming up soon --March 28), here is what we received all the way from Germany. Be prepared, and watch your jaw drop and your mouth water!

The King of all Care Packages included:

- It started with a hilarious letter written by Rob, including threats against any crooked customs agent who would dare to pilfer even a single pretzel

- A container of ready-to-bake German rolls, so we can re-live fresh German bread in the morning!

- A package of ready-to-bake German olive ciabatta bread

- A long, grainy ready-to-bake German baguette stang

- An entire liter of the local beer from our favorite brewery in Giessen, their hometown

- Almost a liter (a 750 mL container) of Nutella (the jar is about the size of my head)

- Two Kinder eggs (a molded white and milk chocolate egg with a toy in the middle)

- A package of Mozartkugeln, these delicious balls of marzipan coated in chocolate and hazelnut

- A Milka brand candy bar, Feuer flavored (chili and chocolate, I think) -- not to be confused with "Mein führer"

-A large PACK -- not just one, but a PACK! of Kinder Riegel (white and milk chocolate candy bars. Soooo delightful! Rob and I both love love love these! Thanks, Rob!)

-Two bags of delicious, butter, thin-sticked pretzels (Ja! brand)

-A POUND of cappuccino chocolate coffee mix to go with your coffee

-A Rittersport candy bar, Ramazzotti flavored (a liqueur of some type, I think)

- A butter stick-sized bar of pure marzipan (which I will be cutting up and dipping in melted dark chocolate, of course)

- A package of Nusseken, which I gather are chocolate German pastries, they look almost like baklava...

-A large PACK (again, not just one, but a whole stinking PACK!!) of Kinder Bueno candy bars, our absolute favorites!

Now, what made this care package so incredibly caring was not just the awesome, incredible, delicious, perfect, mouth-watering, long-lasting contents, but it was clear that lots of love and indeed great amounts of thought went into preparing and sending this to us. Rob and Linden clearly listened and remembered all of our favorite treats that we enjoyed while in Germany (and as you can see, the list is long!). They took the time to go out and buy it all, which was very, very generous to do, and then they took the effort of packing it in really well (a whole liter container of beer made it unscathed), and sending it in plenty of time for us to received it on my birthday!

We cannot thank Rob and Linden enough for their unending generosity and thoughtfulness to make our birthdays so SPECIAL! It is a care package we will be enjoying for months to come...if we can pace ourselves, that is! WOW! Thank you again, Marvelous Muellers! We love you both!

After coming down off of the sugar high from the care package goodies, we hosted a low-key Happy Hour out on our patio. Friends came over to relax before the start of the next work week, and it was a great time!

I got a great collage from our friends Mike and Wendy!

James bought a blank white human-shaped piñata from the Zone 1 market and decorated it in James Style, which is to say, somewhat disturbing and yet downright hilarious! He turned the blank canvas into the masterpiece known as "Stripper Cat."

Stripper Cat and her fancy tattoo

Only James, right?! It had all the details you'd expect, including a 'James' tattoo and a back tattoo of a butterfly. Ha! At the end of the night, James spun me around 27 dizzying times, and I whacked away at Stripper Cat until I tired. Then our friends had fun destroying her, too!

27 spins will make anyone's head hurt!

After the destruction, nothing was left but her boots

When our friends left, we headed over to a neighbor's house for a short visit and BBQ to end the night.

Thanks for the flowers, Kris!

What a great day! It was relaxing, full of lots of little and grand surprises, and fun as a birthday should be! Thanks to all who made it so fantastic!

Linden "Marathoner" Mueller

The Mildrens would like to give a hearty congratulations to

Linden Mueller
Marathoner Extraordinaire!

Linden completed her first-ever marathon in Berlin, Germany in under 5 hours!


We are so proud of her!

If you'd like to congratulate Linden yourself, go to her blog and post a comment.

Sidenote: We'd also like to thank Rob for being there and running most of Linden's training runs with her, for giving her daily emotional support, and for believing in all of Linden's goals and dreams. We love you, and we are proud of you, too!!!

I am a Jelly Doughnut

For those of you true Berliners you already know that this blog post title is from JFK's infamous attempt at German, declaring "Ich bin ein Berliner" instead of "Ich bin Berliner." Well, Team Mildren-Mueller would like to think of itself as a hybrid jelly doughnut (Mildren)-Berlin citizen (Mueller).

Since Rob is from Berlin (the former Eastern part), we stayed with his family while visiting, which was fantastic. Even though we couldn't understand any German, they took hospitality to a whole new level! Not only did his family offer us a comfortable and friendly stay, but Rob himself acted as an extremely knowledgeable, patient, and interested city ambassador. He answered our million+ questions about the city and its history, took us to see all the attractions, took us to the best authentic döner kebab restaurant in a Turkish neighborhood, and he offered a unique perspective of what politics and city life is like these days. We cannot thank him enough for being so fun and helpful! What a great friend and fun travel partner! Thank you, Rob!!

Rob Mueller
Our beloved best buddy & Berliner :)

Of our entire stay in Europe, Berlin was the most exciting, exhillarating, and eye-catching city of the trip. I am officially claiming it as my favorite city in the world, earning the title after only a short, touristy visit. We also got to visit several museums, which is always a treat in Europe, especially with such giant and profound collections found in Berlin. We saw some amazing collections of classic, modern, and post-modern art!

Rodin's original sculpture of The Thinker

Picasso piece from the Berggruen museum

Berlin gives off the feel of a well designed, cosmopolitan community looking forward to the next big movement in culture and design, while its physical and psychological reminders keep it constantly grounded to its past of opulence, injustice, divisiveness, and war. For those of you jelly doughnuts, there is more to Berlin than the wall that divided it from 1961-1989. [Info mainly from Berlin.de and other sites]

A perfect example of Berlin architecture:
A building that is past and posh!

Berlin was established as a trading center and was ruled for more than 500 years by the Hohenzollern family. Starting in 1740, Berlin became a center for the Enlightenment movement in Europe, and this was when many of Berlin's more eloquent and lasting pieces of architecture were constructed, under Friedrich the Great.

During the 1800s the city flourished as the nation's political, economic, and scientific capital, leading the way in industry, arts, science, business, and research, encouraged by Kaiser Wilhelm I. The first parts of the 20th century were dominated by WWI and WWII.


Hitler's rise to power ended the democratic Weimar Republic and brought the National Socialist takeover and all its horrors: war, concentration camps, massive destruction and occupation of Western Europe, genocide, and totalitarian rule. In 1943, large-scale bombing of Berlin occurred, followed in 1945 by the ravaging Battle for Berlin.

After the war ends on 8 May 1945, much of Berlin is nothing but rubble: 600,000 apartments have been destroyed, and only 2.8 million of the city’s original population of 4.3 million still live in the city. In accordance with an agreement signed by the Allies, the city is divided into four sectors and administered jointly by the occupying powers, the United States of America, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union.

An old map of Berlin boundaries, divided by the Wall

Although the intent was for the occupying powers to govern Germany together inside the agreed-upon borders, the advent of Cold War tension caused the French, British and American zones to be formed into the Federal Republic of Germany (and West Berlin) in 1949, excluding the Soviet zone, which then formed the German Democratic Republic (GDR; including East Berlin).

A Trabant ("Trabi"), the standard East German car
Supposedly green Trabants bring good luck!

West Germany developed into a western capitalist country with a social market economy and a democratic government. On the other side, East Germany established an authoritarian government with a Soviet-style planned economy. While West Germany became rich, many East Germans wanted to move to West Germany, so the East German government constructed the Berlin Wall to stop East Germans from fleeing, and the wall remained until 1989.

Red Town Hall
Served as East Berlin's town hall during the Cold War era

During the Wall's time, many East German monuments and buildings were constructed as symbols of the GDR's power and dominance, regardless of its citizens' poor living conditions and access to resources. However, the economic, political, and moral decline of the Soviet Union caused the Velvet (peaceful) Revolution in '89, and soon the Wall came down.

The Berlin Wall's old physical boundaries are still marked throughout the city
It was interesting to see that people lived completely
different lives depending on what side of the city they lived in!

Following the destruction of the Wall, construction in Berlin exploded, and a multitude of new architectural styles and building designs were tested and proliferated throughout the city. Our favorite modern buildings were the innovative designs surrounding Potsdamer Platz. In the 90s Berlin was given back to Germany from the Allied Powers, it regained the seat of the government, began holding congressional sessions at the newly re-designed Bundestag (formerly known as the Reichstag), and the Bradenburg gate was restored.

***

Okay, enough history! But the city's history is so important to its desire to be continually attempting to recreate a new name for itself as a sophisticated and forward-thinking international city capital. While on one hand it does not shy away from its past and publicly acknowledges Germany's past mistakes and struggles, it is also intent on recognition for its current progressive achievements in society. A fascinating city to say the least!

So what were our favorite parts of the city? Well, we walked most of it, and it seems impossible to narrow it down to only a few sightings! But for the sake of brevity....here are our Top 10 favorite attractions. We could have spent an entire day at each one!

Brandenburg Gate
For its simple beauty and political role


Potsdamer Platz
for its architecture and modern feel

Neptune's Fountain
for its awesome sculptures!

Neptune sits atop the fountain,
praised by animals and sirens beneath


The Bundestag (Reichstag)
for its old-meets-new/East-meets-West symbolism


You could walk up to the top of the glass dome,
which sits inside of the old Reichstag building


Berliner Dome
for its symmetrical and spiritual beauty


Pergamom Museum
for Ishtar Gate and its relief collection

Part of Ishtar Gate


Schloss Charlottenburg
for its astounding, sprawling palace gardens



Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche
for its representation of Berlin's bombing and subsequent recovery

The church did not get restored as a reminder of the bombing
The tower looks so incomplete!

Unter den Linden
for its vibrancy and historical buildings along the promenade
Equestrian Statue of Frederick the Great

The Berlin Bear never looked so frightening (or fun!)

James found a Bugatti store along the Unter de Linden

Checkpoint Charlie * Berlin Wall * East Side Gallery
For its (almost) unbelievable history of a separated city

Parts of the wall are displayed throughout the city

Checkpoint Charlie

A famous graffiti part of the East Side Gallery,
thee longest standing stretch of the Berlin Wall