L.A. Story Heading to 2012 Berlin International Film Festival

© Berlinale

That's right! CC and I will be boarding a plane in just over two weeks to visit Berlin, Germany, and its famous international film festival, aka the Berlinale.

In addition to checking out kid-friendly films in the festival's "Generation Kplus" section for children ages 4-13, we'll also be visiting the Berlinale Kindergarten -- a bilingual childcare facility for kids of festival-going parents that costs less than $10 for three hours. (Would love to see something like that at the L.A. Film Festival!)

There are also plenty of kid-friendly places to go in Berlin. There's the famous zoo, the Tiergarten, the Brandenburg Gate, the German Museum of Technology (among tons of other cool museums) and, of course, the (in)famous Berlin Wall.

"Lotte and the Moonstone Secret" will screen at the 2012 Berlinale.

So, why Berlin, you might ask?

First off, did you know that Berlin is a sister city to Los Angeles? I'll be posting this week about fun Berlin-related spots around the city.

But I also have a more personal connection to the city -- well, more like the country in general. One of my college majors, in addition to English, was German Studies. I lived for a year in Hamburg, visiting Berlin several times while I was there. And I helped cover the 2008 Berlinale when I was at Variety.

And I've wanted to go back. To show CC around. To teach her about another culture. And, really, to further explore the world with my little girl. (She's already saying, "Guten Tag!")

Of course, I wish Ian could go with us, but sadly his back is preventing that this time. That just means we'll have to plan more trips for the future!

I'll be checking in with updates while I'm there, too, so stay tuned!