The Harts in Zambia: Berlin for the New Year

Our New Year was spent in Berlin with my long time friend – Andreas. He kindly arranged for us to stay in an apartment in East Berlin where we able to catch a tram into the centre of the city. Along with Ian, Jessica and Cameron quickly developed a love of German food and as we would arrive in town around lunchtime it did not take long for the three of them to be tucking into their sausages (which we were not allowed to call hot dogs!). We would then stand around Alexanderplatz in 5 degree temperatures while lunch was consumed.

On the weekend we got an excellent sightseeing tour from Andreas – which included a Christmas market, which the kids loved – especially the plane ride. Unfortunately New Years Eve afternoon ended up in tears from Cameron as he landed heavily after a fall from a monument that he and Jess were jumping over. Although we initially thought he was fairly badly hurt – the wounds all ended up being superficial and he had recovered within a week, although on New Years day it did look like he had had a big night!

New Years Eve was one of the highlights for both Ian and I. Unlike in Australia – fireworks are quite legal in Germany and according to Andreas each person spends an average of $50 buying them. This includes very low wage earners – so with a population nudging 4000000 it was quite a sight. We viewed them from Andreas’ 4^th floor balcony and they went off for over 6 hours in every direction. The sight between midnight and 1am was amazing and Ian and I spent our first New Years Eve awake in 5 years!