Late last night we returned from our visit to Berlin and it has been great. The children really have enjoyed exploring a big city and we have walked and walked and walked. The first day we took the tube to the Potsdamer Platz and then walked in turn to the Holocaust Memorial to the Brandenburg gate to the Reichstag to the Unter den Linden to the Gendarmenmarkt (where we shopped for chocolate at the amazing Fassbender & Rausch) to the Museum island (where we took a tour on the Spree) to the Alexanderplatz (from where we went up the TV tower) and then back home to our rented Moabit apartment. The next few days were equally filled with events — and walking — and I have to admit that my feet do have some blisters, but it has all been worth it. The weather and the company has been wonderful, and it has definitely been the perfect way to celebrate the fact that I've now successfully finished and defended my PhD.