I had grand plans of having this finished sooner, but better late than never, right?
We have just returned from a two-week winter trip to Germany, Poland, and Iceland. Our trip consisted of my family (2 parents, kids 8 and 4) and another family with kids the same age, so 8 people in total–4 adults, 4 kids. We wanted to experience Christmas markets as well as spend our winter holidays in a new place. My family has all traveled to Europe previously (Switzerland and Italy, as well as Ireland (my oldest) and my kids are good travelers. Thankfully at this age we don’t need strollers, diapers, or baby cots any longer–hooray!
Our itinerary was: Berlin, Germany, Wroclaw, Poland, and Reykjavik, Iceland. With kids, fewer destinations and moves makes for a smoother, happier trip for all. We chose a winter trip partially due to work and school schedules. I am a teacher, and the kids and I had a two-week winter break. The family we traveled with has Polish roots, and they still have a family apartment in Wroclaw. Our friend is also fluent in Polish, which was incredibly helpful. On our way home, we decided to do an Icelandair stopover for three nights since Iceland has been high on our list.
Arrival in Europe- a delay, a volcano, and a missing bag
Our trip started off on an interesting note. We were originally supposed to leave on Sunday, December 17. Then we learned that there was a planned air traffic control strike on Monday the 18th in Iceland, so we were rebooked on the Monday the 19th flight. We were thankful that we were all rebooked on the same flight and only pushed back by a day, especially given that it was the holidays and flights tend to be full.
On Monday the 18th, we were on the plane about to take off, when the pilot made an announcement. The volcano in Iceland on the Reykjanes peninsula had started to erupt! “We think it will be fine,” we were told. Despite the eruption, we were cleared for takeoff. The flight itself was mostly uneventful. I appreciated that the kids got free meals, headphones, activities, and small stuffed animals. As we were descending to Keflavik airport, our pilot announced that we could see the eruption. I was on the aisle, but able to see the orange glow of the lava. Amazing! The plane turned, and then the other side of the plane got a clear view of the eruption. It was a thrilling start to our trip, especially for the kids! On the flight to Berlin, the kids slept the entire time and I managed a few hours of sleep as well.
Berlin
In Berlin, we collected our bags, minus one. Sadly my son’s bag did not make it. My husband stayed behind at the airport to file a claim, along with many other travelers. The rest of us located our driver with Welcome Pickups, which worked smoothly. With kids, we have learned that it’s nice to get to our accommodations as quickly as possible. We stayed in an apartment between Charlottenburg and Mitte. The location was not my favorite, though it was close to a S-bahn station and worked perfectly for our group. Each family had their own apartment, and the two apartments connected by an internal door.
Our first night we visited the Charlottenburg Palace Christmas Market, which was a short s-bahn ride and walk from our apartment. Our first order of business was gluhwein for the adults, and hot chocolate for the kids. The market had a beautiful setting, but we didn’t spend much time browsing the booths given our tired, hungry state. Some bratwursts were a great dinner for our hungry bunch of travelers, and given the rain and glassy-eyed stares of the kids, we decided to call it a night. My daughter takes the cake for being the soundest sleeper, as she was asleep by 6:45 pm and woke up at 8:30 the next morning. It seemed easier for the kids to adjust to the 9 hour time-change than the adults.