So Happy to see Amanda

We were so surprised to get off the plane this morning and find Amanda waiting for us at the airport. Her mission president found us and asked us if we were the Bushes. He recognized Ed, because Amanda had told him her Dad looked like Nicolas Cage! We gave Amanda some long hugs and shed a few tears! It was nice meeting President and Sister Kosak. They were very friendly and interesting people.

We checked in at the Marriott and found out that Berlin is having a bear parade! Amanda, Ed and Crystal posed by the Marriott bear.The bear is the symbol of Berlin, and we found some great bear artwork all over the city.

After leaving 100 degree weather in Maryland, it felt great to have a cool, rainy day in Berlin. We are staying just a few blocks from the Brandenburg gate, and if we want a sunny picture we can try again tomorrow or Friday.

Despite being a little tired, we decided to go to the National Art Gallery. We enjoyed the paintings and sculpture, and I learned some new words from the guards there, like "Hey lady, don't step so close to the paintings. You're setting off the alarm!"

We stopped off at the Neue Wache on the walk back to the hotel. It was nice that Ed had read all the information I had written up on Berlin, and was able to recognize different buildings as we passed them.

We enjoyed a nap after lunch, which really refreshed us, and we decided to go see the TV tower, a landmark in the old East Germany! It's taller than Ed, and for a fee you can go to the top and enjoy the view.

We had a hard time finding the World Clock, but when we finally did, we found out that everyone else was already there. It was in the Alexander Platz, which was a hopping place full of buskers and pedestrians enjoying the evening (which was at that time dry and pleasant).

We finished off the evening with hot chocolate and delicious apple pie served in the revolving restaurant in the TV tower. We got home by midnight, but it just feels like  6 p.m. to us! On any other day you wouldn't find me blogging at 1 a.m.!