When we got up, the next morning, the kids had a great breakfast, and headed out for a free walking tour. In Berlin, the family metro pass for the entire day was 15 Euros; very reasonable, as far as we were concerned. We took 2 trains and came out at the Brandenburg Gate, where we met a wonderful tour guide. She was half Japanese, half Swedish; had modelled in Paris; fell in love with a German rock star; moved to Berlin; fell out of love with the rock star, but i...

Time to bid a sad farewell to the Netherlands! We enjoyed our stay, but far more importantly, we had a chance to gain some weight back with great meals and to get some good sleep. Hostels are great, but it truly is a new bed each night. When you stay with family, you aren't listening for every noise or worrying about when to wake up (Margaret doesn't have a watch, so when we're staying in separate dorms, she has to ask whoever wakes up first what time it is). We...