On July 29, 1981, Prince Charles wed Lady Diana, and the Kugels, with their 8- and 10-year-old sons, arrived in London for a home exchange in Blackheath, a nearby suburb. That was the beginning of several years of Kugel family overseas vacations.

On April 10, 2022, a Kugel contingent of six met in Berlin for the kids' spring break.  This time it was our grandsons, Leo and Grady Kugel, their parents, Jeremy and Katrina, and my adventurous neighbor Louise and me. 

Louise and I made our own plane reservations.  Jeremy and Katrina picked the roof-deck-terraced, ultra-modern Airbnb in East Berlin.  And they did just about everything else.  They made the reservations at the Bundestag, planned where to eat, helped us get 7-day train passes on our cellphones and guided us on the public transportation. Jeremy even scheduled our “you can’t come home without them” Covid tests.

The baton has passed to a new generation.