There's a bittersweetness to revisiting the past, especially when it's tied to places and people who are no longer there. It's like trying to catch a glimpse of something that's just out of reach, a memory that's both precious and painful. I wonder, how do we honor the past while embracing the present, especially when they seem so far apart?
This was enjoyable to read, especially as it made me think of my own trip to Berlin over ten years ago. My parents visited last year and enjoyed the Christmas markets like you did.
It’s crazy how you still remember the guard from 1989. I have a similar memory from Bucharest airport right before the regime fell.
Sounds like a great trip! I have recently reconnected to a cousin as well that I never really knew growing up due to family conflict. It’s been really nice to make the connection!
I love visiting cousins... they are family but without the intensity and baggage that sibling relationships sometimes have. Even better when they live away and you get to experience each other as adults.
I hear you on the intensity and baggage thing, although I don't have sibs. Yes, it was so nice just to hang out for a bit and I am already looking forward to the next time.
Ilona Goanos: Ich gratuliere Ihnen herzlich wegen des deutschen Reisepasses.
No, really.
I might, for the same reason, be an EU citizen, because I should be able to get an EU passport through Belgium, my own Mom's homeland, and, therefore, my own.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. It really does feel like a privilege to belong to two countries. I wonder how my life would have been different if I had known this earlier in my life. I don't believe my parents ever knew this.
Ilona, your passport story reminded me of when I went to Europe in high school and didn’t realize my passport had expired until a tour guide pointed it out! I thought it was valid until February 2002, but it had actually expired in 2001. I had to wait for the U.S. consulate to open and ended up traveling through Europe with a ‘passport’ that was basically a Polaroid glued onto a stamped cover. Thankfully, I made it home in August 2001—just a month before 9/11. Talk about cutting it close!
Oh my, Maggie. That sounds like a nail-biter. A couple of years ago, I wasn't allowed to check into my flight because my passport had less than six months left until expiration. We had to cancel our flight, and I had to scrounge around to find an emergency appointment at a passport office in a state that I could travel to. The six month rule is part of the Schengen Agreement. I'm not sure when it went into effect, but it was probably after your fiasco. To think, you were almost locked up abroad, too!
I pictured you leaving your non-German-passport-holding-husband stranded in the non-German line! Funny. In Chicago at our L station (metro train) we have a piece of the Berlin Wall! Our neighborhood is very German so I guess that's why!
A piece of the wall in Chicago is so cool! I wonder where else in the world the wall has traveled. My husband is a bit jealous about my good fortune. He is also eligible for dual citizenship through his Greek father, but it's a lot of paperwork and he would have to travel to his dad's city of birth's police department to get some documentation. Nothing is easy in Greece!
It would be interesting to know where else the pieces of the Berlin Wall ‘live’ now. This piece here is permanent. Now I’ll go read the plaque and let you know!
Du hast es geschafft! Sehr schön! Yeah, in 10 years in Hamburg I always heard, es gibt kein schlechtes Wetter, sondern nur schlechten Klamotten ( oder eine schlechte Einstellung 😂)
But northern German has something that I like and think about. Maybe when you come to Bremerhaven you can do a day trip to Sankt Peter Ording or Sylt.
BTW Unter den Linden is the main Boulevard leading from Eastern flank of the Brandenburger Tor past the Adlon hotel.
Genau! Ich habe es geschafft. LOL! Love that saying about the Klamotten. I will check out Sankt Peter Ording/Sylt. Thanks for the explanation on 'under den Linden.' I'm sure I was on that road and didn't realize it.
What a fun read! Brought back memories of my only trip to Berlin, in 1990, when they were taking the wall down (I also have a piece of it).
Also makes me wonder if there's a trend in US citizens discovering and embracing their dual citizenship. A friend of mine recently realized he was a Polish citizen, because his grandfather had been in the military there, and he likes having the option moving to the EU.
I like that option, too. It's funny because I recently found out my paternal grandfather was born in the German section of Poland.
If necessary, I could vote in Germany if I first lived in the country for a minimum of three months. Maybe I should do that since Olaf Scholz lost a no-confidence vote; I figure they could use my help over there.
Your life fascinates me! I've never had the privilege of travel. My husband has traveled the world extensively but his career choice prevented him from being far from home once we were married...or at least without his cell phone glued to his ear with a dozen phone calls a day coming through. I loved your descriptions and the photos. I have a lot of German heritage myself. I once traveled to Canada with a passport and was disappointed that they don't put a stamp in the passport book any longer.
The stamps are important, right? I like collecting them, too. Since you're unable to travel, you can get a taste of other countries through me. I'm happy to oblige.
Thank you for the humourous story. When I first arrived in Germany in 1967 and tried to learn German, my new German friends wanted to practice their English with me. But I remember that many things, such as instructions were often written in English and French as well as German. But I never rented a car during my years there. Viel Glück und Spaß mit deiner deutschen Staatsangehörigkeit!
There's a bittersweetness to revisiting the past, especially when it's tied to places and people who are no longer there. It's like trying to catch a glimpse of something that's just out of reach, a memory that's both precious and painful. I wonder, how do we honor the past while embracing the present, especially when they seem so far apart?
I wonder, too.
It is such a great contemplation.
Thanks for the great travel story, Ilona. I always like going places with you and your husband!
Glad to take you along, Kirie!
This was enjoyable to read, especially as it made me think of my own trip to Berlin over ten years ago. My parents visited last year and enjoyed the Christmas markets like you did.
It’s crazy how you still remember the guard from 1989. I have a similar memory from Bucharest airport right before the regime fell.
Yes, I think it's so unusual and scary it burns itself into your mind.
Sounds like a great trip! I have recently reconnected to a cousin as well that I never really knew growing up due to family conflict. It’s been really nice to make the connection!
Yes, you learn a lot in those kinds of situations, that which didn't make sense to you as a child.
Honestly it still doesn’t make sense as an adult either.
I love visiting cousins... they are family but without the intensity and baggage that sibling relationships sometimes have. Even better when they live away and you get to experience each other as adults.
I hear you on the intensity and baggage thing, although I don't have sibs. Yes, it was so nice just to hang out for a bit and I am already looking forward to the next time.
Ilona Goanos: Ich gratuliere Ihnen herzlich wegen des deutschen Reisepasses.
No, really.
I might, for the same reason, be an EU citizen, because I should be able to get an EU passport through Belgium, my own Mom's homeland, and, therefore, my own.
Congratulations, congratulations, congratulations!
What a wonderful backup!
And what a privilege!
And what a nice picture of the handsome couple.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. It really does feel like a privilege to belong to two countries. I wonder how my life would have been different if I had known this earlier in my life. I don't believe my parents ever knew this.
Ilona Goanos: As an EU citizen, you enjoy the considerable benefits of the Schengen Agreement along the whole continent.
I cannot think of anyone more deserving of full freedom of two continents.
Please, use your newfound dual citizenship to e-n-j-o-y !!
You and your loved ones deserve it.
Ilona, your passport story reminded me of when I went to Europe in high school and didn’t realize my passport had expired until a tour guide pointed it out! I thought it was valid until February 2002, but it had actually expired in 2001. I had to wait for the U.S. consulate to open and ended up traveling through Europe with a ‘passport’ that was basically a Polaroid glued onto a stamped cover. Thankfully, I made it home in August 2001—just a month before 9/11. Talk about cutting it close!
Oh my, Maggie. That sounds like a nail-biter. A couple of years ago, I wasn't allowed to check into my flight because my passport had less than six months left until expiration. We had to cancel our flight, and I had to scrounge around to find an emergency appointment at a passport office in a state that I could travel to. The six month rule is part of the Schengen Agreement. I'm not sure when it went into effect, but it was probably after your fiasco. To think, you were almost locked up abroad, too!
I pictured you leaving your non-German-passport-holding-husband stranded in the non-German line! Funny. In Chicago at our L station (metro train) we have a piece of the Berlin Wall! Our neighborhood is very German so I guess that's why!
A piece of the wall in Chicago is so cool! I wonder where else in the world the wall has traveled. My husband is a bit jealous about my good fortune. He is also eligible for dual citizenship through his Greek father, but it's a lot of paperwork and he would have to travel to his dad's city of birth's police department to get some documentation. Nothing is easy in Greece!
It would be interesting to know where else the pieces of the Berlin Wall ‘live’ now. This piece here is permanent. Now I’ll go read the plaque and let you know!
Sweet adventure!
It really was! Thank you for reading, Holly.
Thank you for sharing this experience. What fun to be able to visit your German relatives and feel a part of that country.
I enjoyed the visit much more as an adult than when I was a kid. Thanks for reading!
Du hast es geschafft! Sehr schön! Yeah, in 10 years in Hamburg I always heard, es gibt kein schlechtes Wetter, sondern nur schlechten Klamotten ( oder eine schlechte Einstellung 😂)
But northern German has something that I like and think about. Maybe when you come to Bremerhaven you can do a day trip to Sankt Peter Ording or Sylt.
BTW Unter den Linden is the main Boulevard leading from Eastern flank of the Brandenburger Tor past the Adlon hotel.
Genau! Ich habe es geschafft. LOL! Love that saying about the Klamotten. I will check out Sankt Peter Ording/Sylt. Thanks for the explanation on 'under den Linden.' I'm sure I was on that road and didn't realize it.
What a fun read! Brought back memories of my only trip to Berlin, in 1990, when they were taking the wall down (I also have a piece of it).
Also makes me wonder if there's a trend in US citizens discovering and embracing their dual citizenship. A friend of mine recently realized he was a Polish citizen, because his grandfather had been in the military there, and he likes having the option moving to the EU.
I like that option, too. It's funny because I recently found out my paternal grandfather was born in the German section of Poland.
If necessary, I could vote in Germany if I first lived in the country for a minimum of three months. Maybe I should do that since Olaf Scholz lost a no-confidence vote; I figure they could use my help over there.
Your life fascinates me! I've never had the privilege of travel. My husband has traveled the world extensively but his career choice prevented him from being far from home once we were married...or at least without his cell phone glued to his ear with a dozen phone calls a day coming through. I loved your descriptions and the photos. I have a lot of German heritage myself. I once traveled to Canada with a passport and was disappointed that they don't put a stamp in the passport book any longer.
The stamps are important, right? I like collecting them, too. Since you're unable to travel, you can get a taste of other countries through me. I'm happy to oblige.
I’ll take it!
Thank you for the humourous story. When I first arrived in Germany in 1967 and tried to learn German, my new German friends wanted to practice their English with me. But I remember that many things, such as instructions were often written in English and French as well as German. But I never rented a car during my years there. Viel Glück und Spaß mit deiner deutschen Staatsangehörigkeit!
Danke schön, Friedrich! It has been, and I imagine will continue to be, a journey.
Sounds like a great trip! Ich habe Berlin geliebt, es war so cool! Hast du Unter den Linden gesehen?
Nein, was is das?
I almost missed this piece and am so happy I did not! How wonderful for you to reconnect with your cousins as adults.