We went to Berlin for a three day weekend. We left on Saturday morning real early. We got to our hotel about noon, walked around Berlin. We first went to KaDeWe, a huge department store I had a gift certificate for (thank you Beth!). It is huge, has every pillow, pan, and chinaware you could imagine. Good quality stuff. They had the whole entry room decorated for Christmas. Okay, as you know Germany doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving but celebrates St. Nickolas on Decem
ber 6th, so everything starts a lot earlier for Christmas decorations here. 
Like every department store here there is a floor for the restaurant. This store, however, had every type of food you can think of, and you sit there and eat at the booths. It was lunch time and a Saturday, so it was packed with people. Chris and I, who both hate crowds, left the store to walk around the town more. With the historical division of Berlin there really is no longer a center. There are several pockets of plazas scattered around. We went to the Brandenburg Gate and Reichstag. My family was there in 1990. It was totally different then than what I saw now. The east and west have definitely blended together. Only a trail of bricks marks the old route of the wall, but if you didn't know what to look for, you wouldn't notice the difference. There are many new nice apartment buildings in the former east side in addition to the renovated historical buildings. In one area that used to be a no-man's-land there are now huge skyscrapers, very modern looking. It was a total different city. People were very nice and out and about. And yes, that is a snow sledding run in the middle of the plaza. What fun!
Sunday, we went to Potsdam, a town not far, well not "American far." It was about a 40 minute ride on the S-bahn (commuter train). It was/still is where the wealthy of Berlin built their palaces. It was absolutely gorgeous. Full of gardens and nice homes, and much more relaxing than the bustle of Berlin.
It was pretty foresty. The colors of the trees are just amazing. We walked along a lake and saw a few palaces. We ate lunch at Movenpick restaurant. Who knew that Movenpick has more than ice cream. We were too full though to enjoy their sundays, although they were very tempting. We then took a tour of the King of Prussia's palace (actually, one of the king's palaces...). 
It was very impressive. We have seen many residences of different rulers throughout Europe, so at times it seemed the same old, but this place was definitely more elaborately decorated. There was a room with Grotto style decoration (cave-like with seashells and gemstones on the walls), usually they're located outside in a garden, but this was inside. The floor was just as detailed as the room. It was impressive. They also liked marble. It was quite a place. Unfortunately, the audio guide didn't really explain much. I think I understood more from the personal guide who was speaking German than from the English audioguide. The guy was better at telling tidbits about the place.We found a movie theater that plays original version movies (aka, in English), so we saw 2012, not knowing anything about it. It turned out to be an okay movie. Good at special affects, but typical storyline. Monday, we went back to KaDeWe (lot less crowded on a monday!) and bought ourselves some pretty bowls (thanks Beth!). We then went to see the Berlin Wall mural.
They had artists come from around the world to paint on a segment of the wall that is remaining. We got back to Munich that evening. It was a great trip. A great weekend to get away as well. We both needed a break.We are now looking forward to my brother's visit this weekend and our Christmas and New Years break in 4 weeks. We are going to Arkansas for the week of Christmas and California for New Years' week.
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