Conclusion

May 1st in Germany (and I think, all of Europe) is called "Day of the Work" or "Workers' Day."

It is sort of like our Labor Day except they shut down pretty much everything except restaurants, airports and train stations. Oh, and I guess it gets really riotous because of the demonstrations and such that go on. So, by Thomas' recommendation we kept things pretty low key that day so as to stay out of any crazy partying.

It's interesting there too because every Sunday the shops are all closed. I actually really liked it. Everything seemed so much more peaceful... it just "felt" like the Sabbath, it made it seem so much more special.

This morning Marc and Thomas met for breakfast at 9:30, but I was late and didn't get there until 10:15. Even at this point, after having eaten breakfast here at this hotel, I still wasn't quite used to having cheese, vegetables and cakes at breakfast time. Sure was good though.

Marc and I checked out and then put our stuff in Thomas' room while we spent a few more hours in Berlin.

We went back the the Wall, also known as the East Side Gallery and I took a lot more pictures of the paintings I found interesting.

I just love this one... somethings about the placement of the cars and the girl sitting by the wall.

Our birth years were painted into one collage

Love locks on this gate next to a very colorful painting.

After the East Side Gallery we walked back to start packing out our stuff to head to the bus station.

But, on the way back to the hotel I saw something quite interesting. From the sidewalk looking into this restaurant window I saw something hanging from the ceiling that looked like and ice cream cone.

Of course I had to ask Thomas what this was all about and he told me that it was meat that is cooking in front of a grill hanging from the ceiling. They shave the meat from that big bulk and put it in a pita-type bread. He said they were really good. I was still a bit full from breakfast, but I had to give them a try.

When we walked into the restaurant I couldn't believe my eyes as I saw a piece of meat the size of a child spinning from the ceiling in front of the grill. I just had the picture...

The guy working tried to duck out of the picture.

That's the meat to the right of the guy

And I must say it was a VERY tasty sandwich. It's a Turkish food called Döner Kabab I loved it! Yumm!

I even got some pictures of the sandwich extraordinaire...

After our little "snack" we were out of there. We got our stuff back at the hotel and then left.

And don't forget that Thomas had Jack to bring him with him. Heres the snap I got of his waiting with Jeff and Marc.

Hee hee hee!

That wias Marc and ThomasWe took the bus to the train and stopped at the train station (because remember everywhere else is closed because of the holiday.)

Before getting on the train at the station we stopped in one of the markets to get some Kinder Eggs for Sister. That is all she wanted for her souvenir from Europe. I also bought a bunch of chocolate bars

On the way to our train I noticed a little ice cream shop with the ice-cream all fancy and fun so I had to take the picture. It' so fun to see ice cream all decorative and creamy.

We got to our spot to wait from the platform. Yalda joined us on our trip back to Hannover, so it was the 4 of us again for the ride.

I slept for about an hour on the train .

When we got into Gerhden there was a garden show going on at the local park. When we went to get information on it we found out it was going to close in 10 minutes so we figured it was not a great idea.

Then Thomas took us on a little drive through the countryside where Thomas likes to run and bike.

So after we unloaded everything at Thomas' house we walked down the street through his little neighborhood and went to the little Italian restaurant.

The Italian food we had was OK, but the conversation was fun and sad all at the same time.  Oh, and our waiter was a kick in the pants, he was all kinds of Italian fun!

We just aren't ready to go home at this point and we know our flight leaves in the morning.

...

5:30 am comes early.

It comes really early when you are not ready to say goodbye to your friends.

Thomas drove us to the train station.

That was a tough goodbye for all of us. I shed some tears.

It made it even harder when Thomas came to the window to wave his final goodbyes as the train started to move.

Home we go! Loaded on our plane.

Wow! It only took me a few months to get all this documented in my blog... no biggie.

It was an epic trip!