After months of daily Duolingo practice, making a wish-list of things to see and do, and generally getting really excited about it, we finally set off for our long-awaited family trip to Germany. Everyone had a great time, and aside from having my wallet stolen on day one, everything else worked out, from our wonderful hotels (and great Berlin apartment) to catching the Schwebebahn in Wuppertal just days after it reopened. We visited München, Heidleberg, Köln, Wuppertal, and Berlin over two-plus weeks, and the girls got a taste for sausages, schnitzel, and pretzels, while I happily abandoned New England IPAs in favor of pilsners and kölsches.

The trip was a whirlwind of museums, playgrounds, photobooths, river cruises, and beer gardens, and was better than we could have imagined.

And thanks to a delayed flight, we topped it off with an unexpected bonus evening in Dublin!