Blame Canada! (Toronto to Pittsburgh via Rental Car)

Just to make life a little more interesting our flight from London was delayed as we tried to get back to Pittsburgh via Toronto. We took North America's #1 Airline (Air Canada) and landed in the most improved airport of the world (Toronto) but even with this on our side we found ourselves in a tough spot.

As we approached US Customs we were actually told "The United States is closed".  From there we then pushed our way through Canadian customs where we were met with a lady that told us what hotel we'd be sleeping at and that our new flight would be taking off 8:30pm the following day (Christmas Eve).  This news didn't sit well with either of us who had plans in Pittsburgh, so we thanked her and went to find a rental car.

The six hour drive (on the right side of the road!) that got us to Pittsburgh a little bit before 4am was definitely the right choice.  I even gave the customs agent at the border our "landing cards" from our flight to announce what we were bringing into the US.  He also was confused for a moment when he thought that I actually worked in London, Canada rather than London, England.  As we crossed into Buffalo, NY both, our GPS and iPhone decided to crash at the same time but even that couldn't stop us from continuing Southwest.

On the flight I found myself often trying to maintain self control by not singing the lyrics of "Blame Canada" but now that this ordeal is over and we're back in the USA, I chant it proudly.  Looking forward to a week of relaxing with friends and family.

Headed Home for Christmas

Get ready USA here we come.  They are making us bounce through Canada but that's not going to stop us from leaving the UK and getting back to Pittsburgh for the holidays.  You all better have your bells on because we are going to bring a level of energy you aren't even ready for.

Light the fire, pour the eggnog .... Merry Christmas!

Berlin! (Happy Holidays)

Nothing is quite like Berlin close to the winter holidays.  Christmas markets all over the city full of fun German trinkets, lights, lots of people, and gluwein!  No matter how exhausted you are from a day exploring the city and its history these markets make you feel better.  They have music, plays, beer halls, and much more.  It turns out that Mike's German is just as bad as his French but he does think he's bilingual after enough of the gluwein (warm wine, with amaretto and cinnamon).

Even more amazing was the history of Berlin.  The amazing amount of artifacts the German's collected in the early 1900's from all over the world makes some of their museums some of the most impressive we've seen.  The fact that they had to hide many of them away as Berlin was bombed to pieces during WWII, even sinking quite a few to the bottom of the Spree River to protect them at that time makes it that more fascinating.

With that, it is the history of Berlin since the 30's and the everyday reminders that are what really capture your attention.  Bullet holes in buildings and other damage from the bombings of World War II, a sign marking where Hitler's bunker was found, parts of the Berlin Wall that still remain, and just the amount of work that is being done to make this city whole again from it being reunited only 23 years ago.

It's the first time the name Egger didn't need to be spelled out to people as we checked into hotels or went places (Egger is a very German surname). We also had the best Mexican food in a long time (we got this from a restaurant in the base of the Canadian embassy).  We got the chance to be guided around by a woman who grew up in East Berlin, ride a ferris wheel, snow tube down a fake slope in the middle of the city, test currywurst, and much more.

Jolene, Fuzzy Hat, and the Berlin Wall

Mike once again quickly linked back in with his roots and has fallen for the Berlin Bears which can be found all around the city.

Mike Berlin Bear Collage

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving - Back in The States

Mike's family headed to New York City for the holidays.  It was a "destination" holiday in an effort to get everyone from the various cities of the North East in the same place.  We stayed right off Times Square, saw the Macy's Day Parade, watched Lion King, and had a lot of really good food (anything is better than British beef).  We also took the train out to Long Island for the holiday meal to visit Mike's Aunt/Uncle and cousins.

London actually seems a little more "normal" than New York City to us ... we're not sure if that is a good thing or not.

As always hanging out with family was a good time and kept things interesting.  You should have seen everybody going different directions in the subway trying to figure out where we actually were headed.

This about sums up a long weekend with family. (Added by Mike)

While New York was great ... we really can't wait to get back to Pittsburgh for Christmas and be out of a city for a change!