Day 82: One Last Look

Guten Morgan. Our last (full) day. A day for cleaning, packing, and last minute sight-seeing.

First things first... we must send three more boxes. But, they are heavy and awkward, too much to carry, so we take a taxi. It's a short distance for a taxi ride (5€) but it helps us get the packages to the Deutsch Post.

I'm a little bummed that this is how we're spending our morning. I had wanted to get in one more walk with Chris to his office. I wanted to run home via Mauerpark one last time. But, after last night's debacle, we slept in a little bit and these boxes have got to be mailed. It's another short line at the Post, today, so there's that!

The woman said, as far as I could understand, that because one of the boxes was valued over 800€, we would have to pay a little more (to insure it?) She asked if that was ok... and what were we supposed to say? Not much choice, so we say, yes, it's fine. I quietly add, "Es ist was es ist (It is what it is)". And she added, "Genau (I agree or exactly)."

After shipping the boxes, Chris heads to work and I head back to the apartment to clean. Either because of the prospect of needing to clean, or more likely, the fact that we are on our last day, I am relishing my short walk home. I feel the air, look at the shops, and try to soak up as much "Berlin" as I can.

Meanwhile, we have no internet. It was out when we arrived back last night. It's still out today. It's being fixed, but there is no news as to when this might happen. It's frustrating to all of us to not have our connection to the outside world (ok, the kids can't play their games or watch YouTube and I can't blog). This lack of internet adds to all of our sadness about leaving.

Mould in the cream cheese

The kids and I tired to eat out of the refrigerator. The kids ate the rest of their frozen dumplings, rest of their chicken nuggets from last night, and other foods from the refrigerator. I thought I'd have a bit of cream cheese on one of our last tortillas... but, I found mould in the Philadelphia cream cheese! Maybe we got "something" in to the cream cheese and it "grew", but still... I have never seen this much mould in cream cheese that is only a few weeks old. I'm convinced it's because it's "fresher" than the stuff they market in the U.S. Either way. Gross.

The Brandenburger Tor continues to be one of my favourite spots in town. It's on my list of things I want to do today. See the gate one more time with the kids. We hop on transportation and head over.

The kids and I take in the gate one last time. Then we're off for one last visit to the Jewish Memorial. As we walk through the gate, I see, what I think could be the inlaid stones, that used to be the wall... and then, doh! I realise they are just the outline of a bike lane. But, as we make our way to the memorial, I see more inlaid stones in the street going at odd angles... ahhh, that's the path of the old Wall. I had wanted to see it and now I have. Check!

The path of the Wall (left), Bike lane (right), Cool manhole-cover (right)

The kids enter the memorial and take one more tour around. I take more photos, and really just soak as much in as I can. The sounds. The sun. The shadows.

And now it's time to say good-bye to the memorial. Good-bye to the gate. It's hard to not look back.

"US"
UBahn and SBahn

And now for an errand. Remember, I have no raincoat anymore. We're about to go to London during the rainy season. I must get a coat. So, we're off to the Galleria one last time. I'm not as sentimental about the Galleria, but I will say it has become a lifesaver in many instances.

We decide, that since we'll be there anyway, let's take a quick detour to see the World Clock one more time. It really is a beautiful day and great weather for us to be out and about (makes all our sight-seeing fun and leisurely).

I do find a coat to buy that fits my needs... at least I think so. Out of the 1,000 coats I see for sale, there seem to be only about 3 choices for waterproof. Of course, I can't read most labels and then there are many without labels. The only one I found with a label and in English said, "water resistant" not "water proof". Sigh. So, I settle on a coat that looks like it's water resistant and isn't too expensive (after all, I have tons of coats back home, so no need for a new one...)

After this, we head to the parks near our house. The kids play for about 15 minutes ate the big one (where the kids did a bit of circus arts and ping-pong). And while I was in the middle of emailing on my phone (using cellular service since we have no wifi), I sent the kids to the park across the street to take one last go at the steep slide. I finished my email and went to catch up with the kids. At this point, I realised that "across the street" might be ambiguous as there are a few branches of streets intersecting at this point. I'm now worried that they took the wrong street and we'll be lost from one another... in the dark. I look on the street that I think they could have accidentally gone down... I don't see them.... so I head to the park, and, phew, there they are, swinging and having fun... in the dark (good thing it is dark, at one point, Xander had to "water the plants" and the darkness gave him good cover).

It's cold. It's dark. It's late. So, we don't spend too much time at this park. Time to get home so we can go out to dinner one last time.

Dark park (left), Zionskirche (right)

As we head out with Chris, we see our tram coming. We run about two blocks to be able to catch the tram. I guess I got my run in after all! And... guess, what... it's the wrong tram, which we only realised two stops too late. Time to back track. Whoops!

We picked Zia Maria for our last dinner in Berlin. This was a good pizza place and it's a place where we don't need to make a reservation. Other than the tiny fly that kept bothering Xander (and landing on his head, so he said), we enjoy a perfect last meal.

We are looking forward to more Hokey Pokey for dessert (that super yummy ice cream place that has been recommended time and time again by one of Chris' coworkers). But... it closed at 7pm (it's close to 9pm now). So, dejected, we head home for ice cream from our freezer (silver lining... cleaning out the refrigerator).

Between the wild boar delay, no internet, no Hokey Pokey... we've decided it's the universe making it a little easier for us to leave Berlin.

Day 75: Halloween Costumes

With time running out, I think of regrets. What didn't I get to do that I wanted to do? I know I've talked about our Bingo lists and that we've done most of what we wanted to do. This is still true. But there are little things that will bug me, little things I feel "I should have done." For example, there is a really cute way the teachers take little kids out on walks (to the park or a field trip, I don't know).  Really little kids. I'm guessing taking ten three-year olds to the park could be a nightmare with the fast traffic and wondering nature of the little ones.

Bicycle, with front cart, for sale.

There are two things that I see them doing to make it feasible to take the little kids out and about. First, they put a yellow vest on each kid. I have seen this up through first grade, perhaps. This makes them easy to spot by the teachers and drivers. What I don't know, is if several groups end up at the same park, how do the know which yellow kids are theirs? I suppose schools in the U.S. do this in their own manner. I've seen field trips where the kids are all wearing the same school t-shirt.  But this means each kid has to remember to bring their shirt, parents might have to buy a shirt, or something like this to ensure each kid has one on the day of the outing. The yellow vests are perfect. There is always one for each kid, parents and kids don't have to remember to bring anything, and they're probably one size fits all.

The second thing I see are their wagons. They can fit 8-10 kids in one wagon. They are all sitting upright and facing forwards. The teacher pulls the wagon or "drives" the wagon, much like a stroller, but big. This is awesome! I wanted to take a photo, but felt creepy photographing small children without their consent or knowledge. I've tried looking online for photos of these wagons and I can't find any. I must not be using the correct terms. So, this is one regret I have. No photo of these cool wagons.

I do have a photo of a single "cart" that is popular over here. You ride your bicycle and the kid sits in front with a 5 pt. harness and enjoys their front view (see photo). But, the wagons or carts that holds lots of kids are impressive and I wish I had a photo to share.

This morning, it's all about making sure we don't have more regrets. So, I spend most of the morning researching and buying tickets to the last few places we'll visit while here. A second aquarium and another tall building with the fastest elevator in Europe. One will allow me to share my confirmation number on my phone, the other I send a pdf to Chris and ask that he print them out for me.

We meet up with Chris at Tin Tan for our last (lots of "lasts" coming up) lunch there. Mexican street food. Yum.

After lunch, we head to HotelTonight with Chris. I need the printed tickets from Chris... and hey, why not use the bathroom while we're there? As we head over, we jaywalk... right in front of the polizei (whoops!) We've read that they frown upon jaywalking (they like their rules, remember?) But, the polizei doesn't do anything, I don't even know if he gave us a dirty look (I figure, if I don't look at him, he can't see me, right?) Side note: The other day, Chris saw a polizei tell a bicyclist to walk their bike on the sidewalk (they were riding it on the sidewalk). But, other than that time, we haven't seen anyone be bothered about their bicycles or jaywalking.... which we do all the time here.

The pillar in the front area is "chalkboard" on all sides. Looks like they have fun with it.

We are now ready to run some errands. The kids need Halloween costumes. They have both finally decided on what they'd like to be for Halloween and we need to go acquire some items. Xander has chosen to be "sushi" and Venice has chosen to be "Azula (a character from the Avatar series".

We can't get to the Galleria the way we want to... you guessed it! More construction on a different tram line. I'm glad all these cancelled or diverted routes are happening now and not at the beginning of our trip. We know this part of town pretty well now. We make mistakes and have to turn around sometimes, but we are comfortable understanding the different lines and how to circumvent these "outages" with relative ease. It's mostly a pain in that it takes longer to get somewhere as we are sometimes transferring 1-2 times instead of taking a tram directly there. I suppose there might be some more direct routes... if only we could read the German signs.

While waiting at this Bahn stop, we noticed that the Blue Man Group (yes, they're here!)
is hitting his drum with the top of the Fernsehturm. Cool.

We make it to the Galleria and spend the next few hours looking inside for things we need to create their costumes. We begin with Xander. White-fuzzy jacket (rice), check. Red pillow (fish), check. Black scarf (seaweed), check. Xander is done. Venice's costume is harder. She would like a red robe, but not a terry cloth robe and not a jacket that is over €200. So, we search for along time and come up empty.

There are other errands we need to do, so we must abandon Venice's costume hunt for now. We are off to Ritter Sport for the last time to get chocolate to bring home. Chris and I counted our Nespresso capsules the other day. There are just enough to get us through to the end, so the kids and I can walk by the Nespresso Boutique. Although, as we do, I am silently worried we have miscounted and that we'll run out of caffeine, which would truly stink.

Another pretty Bahn station (left) and a cool building (right)

As we walk to Ritter Sport, we pass by a store that has a Harrods section. The window has the Tower Bridge, Big Ben, a double-decker-red bus and other things "London". I asked the kids to pose in front of the window, telling them that we'd be there, at the real Harrods, NEXT WEEK! They obliged and smile for me.

Harrods (left) and a Buddy Bear (right)

You can se the Fernsehturm behind
Hackescher Markt's construction.

Oh, the amounts of chocolate we bought. Don't tell Chris. I'm going to have to box it up quickly and ship it along quickly. The weight can add up... We're pretty excited, though, because they had their advent calendars and the kids each got to pick one for themselves. So much better than the chocolate you find in the U.S. advent calendars!

Then off to another errand. We needed to get to Hackescher Markt. But our trams don't go there anymore. So we get there circuitously. There definitely was a lot of construction going on in that area. Now we can visually see why the trams don't come here.... giant holes in the street. Side note: some construction has begun on our street, too. I guess, because it's winter, we haven't heard any construction noises through our closed windows. It's a bit surprising to see how far they've gotten (a big hole, when did they make that?)

Anyway, Venice gets one last Bubble Tea from her favourite place. Xander and I waited outside while Venice went in an ordered by herself. Something she noticed is that the people behind the counter have name tags with flags on them. The flags seem to represent the languages spoken by the worker. So, she ordered someone with a British Flag on their name tag. Easy peasy!

Finally, it's time to return to our apartment. We take a Bahn, then run for a bus and we make it home to finally rest our feet. I take this time to call our bank because they think there is fraudulent behaviour on my account. This is something that we're grateful for (a watchful bank) and yet it's been frustrating and interesting on what gets flagged. I have been taking cash out of the ATM, here, for months... but only two times did they flag my account. And not in the first two months. Weird. Also, I have used our Credit Card several times over here, some on line and some in person, but today I was denied. They flag the account and I have to call and say the transactions are valid, then I can try again. Again, we've been here for so long and only now certain transactions are showing up as possible fraud. I think they need to update their algorithms!

Anyway, while I'm on the phone fixing my card, Chris begins to text that he's available for dinner with us. It's Tuesday, and normally he has to work fairly late. We had planned to eat without him. But, yay, we get to have dinner together. We meet at Tommie's Burger (our last time to get their yummy food and shakes), at which point, Chris said he's available for dinner because the U.S. hasn't changed from Daylight's Savings yet. So, instead of having their cross-continent company meeting at 7pm, they were able to have it at 6pm. Awesome! Too bad it's only good for one week. I think the U.S. changes next week? Or shortly thereafter. In any case, we only get to enjoy this early meeting once. We'll take it.

Time for bed.

Day 64: East Side Gallery 2 and Shopping

Optimistic

Chris is not feeling up to going into the office today. But, I had already gotten up and dressed for our walk before I found this out. Well, I'm already prepared to walk, I might as well go anyway. I decided to head for the East Side Gallery to see if I could find "The Fraternal Kiss" that I missed out on before. I leave after breakfast with the family.

As I'm running through town, I look into a store and see umbrellas at the entrance. People have left them on the welcome mat just inside the store, presumably to keep them from dripping all over the store. I think to myself, would this happen in any big city in the U.S.? I think about my own mistrust of other people and how I'm reading about car thefts in our neighbourhood (via a neighbourhood online community feed I subscribe to). I don't think I could ever leave my umbrella at the door. I'd be afraid it would get stolen. Here, they just leave them at the door.

I realise people in Berlin still lock up their bikes. But, these umbrellas on the floor seem to symbolise something else to me. The Berliner's optimism. It's not something I have discussed or read about, just something I feel while I've been here. A vibe.

All these mornings I walk through the city, I feel safe. There are plenty of worker crews I walk by. And, perhaps, if you aren't a woman you can't understand this. But if I were in the U.S. walking by a bunch of men sitting around, I'd feel "on alert". I be wary of my surroundings, other people around, and consciously thinking about what I would do if approached. Not once have I felt leered at. Not once have I heard any cat-calls. And before you think, "She's a 44 year old blah blah," (believe me, I thought that too) I have seen plenty of young-pretty women walking by on their way to work, and they too walk without being objectified. It's a freeing feeling.

I sidetracked. My point is that the feeling I get in Berlin is a feeling of optimism. Not disillusionment that the world is perfect, but that we're going to be alright. Anyway, this is what went through my head as I see people trusting that their umbrellas are going to be there when they leave the store.

Wet sidewalks (left), TV Tower (middle), River walk (right)

Well, something else I'm feeling as I jog along the streets... wet. It's raining. I'm wearing, what I thought was waterproof, but seems to only be water resistant and the rain is starting to seep through to my lower layers. My shoes allow the puddles' splashes in and my toes are slushing in my wet socks. I must avoid the larger puddles and mud.

I also pass by a few Buddy Bears. I miss my own buddies for these photos, but I take them anyway, for posterity.

Buddy Bears near the Furnsehturm (TV Tower)

Ok, back to the subject of bicycles. There are renting stations all over town. Many are for visitors and offer guided tours with them. However, there are also many self-help renting areas. You put in your money and you rent a bicycle. I haven't investigated much more than this. But these self-renting stations are readily available if you need a bicycle and don't own one.

The renting station is the red sign at the
back of the row of bicycles.

I finally make it to the East Side Gallery. There are lots of people touring about, even in the rain (although, by the time I arrive, it's not really raining anymore). I get to see the small portion of the wall we skipped the other day. I get to see "The Fraternal Kiss"! Mission complete. And bonus, I take a photo of the Japanese mural, "Detour to the Japanese Sector", I didn't capture the other day and I saw the "New York, BerlYn, TokYo" mural as well (a popular one on many postcards and t-shirts). Most of the viewers moved on and I was able to take my photos. But "The Fraternal Kiss" definitely had the most crowds and it was hard to get a photo with no one standing in front of it. EVERYONE wanted their photo in front of this one. I even took a photo of a couple for them, who then offered to take my photo (I declined). Definitely the most popular mural here.

I've been gone an hour, which I had anticipated. I brought along my Bahn ticket so I could ride home. I caught an M10 tram, which I see everyday on my morning walks, so I know it'll get me close to home... after 16 stops! It's about a 25 minute ride! But, I get to sit and look out the window, which is nice.

In the photo to the right, you can see how one sits when sharing facing seats. Curl those toes in so as not to touch toes with a stranger!

After lunch, I take Venice to the Galleria at Alexanderplatz to find socks. Now that she owns boots, she needs socks (she didn't bring but two pairs of socks since she wears flip-flops most of the time). As we came up from the Bahn station, we saw a lot of people looking up. So, of course, we look up. But we don't really see anything. Just some cranes at the top of a building that seems to be pulling an empty rig up to the top. Why is everyone looking up? Why are we looking up? And now, are others looking up because they see us looking up and it is a phenomenon that will go one forever? All of us looking up but not knowing why we're all looking up?

And then we see it. There are people up on the ledge, well above a sign that says, "Kuck mal Alex, ich kann fliegen!" (Take a look Alex, I can fly!) They are getting hooked up to the "rig". And... they're jumping! They free fall 35 floors (about what we counted) to the roof of the shopping centre below. Incredible! I was able to capture it in a photo (see below) but I thought I was taking video. Dang it! I'm bummed. Would there be another? Could I capture it on video? We waited awhile, but no movement. From below, you can't see anything that's happening up top, so there's no way to know if someone is about to jump or if everyone went to lunch and you're just staring at a building. We decided it was too cold to continue waiting, so we went into the Galleria to hunt for socks.

Side note: I have to say, I was thrilled and appalled by the jumper. Thrilled for obvious reasons, but the visual (I think mostly because the jumper was silhouetted on what looks like an office building)... brought flashbacks of images of 9-11. I don't know what else to say here other than it was a mixture of feelings and thoughts.

Socks. We're looking for socks. We found them! Venice asked to take a photo of one wall of painted socks that reminded her of Granny (who loves to wear fun-decorated socks).

But, we can't find wool socks or winter socks. Everything seems to be cotton. Well, cotton socks will have to do and maybe we can find warmer, wool socks at a specialty store another day.

As we are heading back down, we see a Halloween section, near the toy section. We've been asked if the Germans celebrate Halloween. We still don't know the extent of the answer to that question. For the most part, there are NO signs of Halloween anywhere. This display is only the second of such displays I've seen. Like the other one I saw, it seems to be small in comparison to what we see in the U.S. And this particular set of Halloween items seems to lean heavily to the scary and gore (think Zombies or witches) and very little "cute" or "fun" items or costumes (no cute bears or kitties).

However, Christmas stuff is already showing up! Chris hears that the Christmas season is serious business here too. His coworkers talk about it being less about "lots of gifts" and more about the season (although, the department stores seem to be wanting it to be about gifts?)

One of two Halloween displays I've seen thus far (left)
Venice wonders, "Why?" at the Christmas tree (right)

Before we leave, we look for Ricola for Chris (he texted asking for some throat drops). We find a small box (so we buy two) at the checkout lines. Then, because she missed it yesterday, we stop at Venice's favourite Bubble Tea place (ComeBuy).

The family heads to Ha'an Sushi (our third time, but Chris' first time) for dinner.

It's no longer raining, but has that fresh, crisp feeling that comes after a fall rain. A nice end to the week.

Day 58: East Side Gallery

It's back to "regularly" scheduled weekends! So, today, we head to the farmers market once again. It's another blue-sky day, and the market is busy.

Farmers Market

Venice comes with us and we go with the intent of finding fresh pasta and ""spreads". There are several carts with different kinds of "spreads". We find one such cart (maybe Turkish?). After deciding which ones we want, and it's our turn, the offer us a taste of one we didn't think of getting. Dang their tactics. That one was super yummy, so of course we buy that one too. And some bread, a few different kinds that all taste so wonderful. Not your typical style of bread, more buttery, airy, and soft. Delicious. And... we even went to another cart (maybe Greek?) and got several more, including tzatziki and hummus (which must include some cream in it because it's super creamy, smooth, and savoury).

At these stalls, we buy enough (maybe €15-20 at each stall, which doesn't seem like that much to us), that the sellers give us extra "freebees". Or maybe it's just their way of trying to get us to come back to their stall over a competitors. Either way, we get extra dolmas (which is nice, but actually we may not eat, not anyone's favourite) and at the other stall, we got an extra spread.

So, Venice likes my boots and wants to try for a pair of her own. I'm so in love with my new boots and the store is right across the street, so, we take her over there to try some on. A different woman is running the store today, she's young and laughs at everything we say, all the while working so hard to get boot, after boot, after boot down for us. I tried on a few others as well... and well... both Venice and I got a pair of boots. So, now I have two pairs to be in love with!

Venice took our boots home while Chris and I went next door to the Patagonia store. It's cold and we're looking for more layers. Chris gets a jacket and I get one that matches my new boots! Hallo!

Shopping this morning took us a lot longer than we thought and lunch was a bit late (around 2pm). Timing is a bit of a bummer as we'll need to eat dinner early so we can see the Festival of Lights on the earlier side. But, perhaps it'll be ok as the kids are always hungry and Chris and I can eat a light lunch.

KREUTZBERG
First thing on the afternoon list is to visit the East Side Gallery. We are doing all things "Kreutzberg" today. We thought about living in this district, but after seeing how far it was from Chris' work, we ended up in Prenzlauer Berg, which, having lived here for a while now, is the better lifestyle fit for us. The East Side Gallery is in Kreutzberg and we're off to see the art on the Wall there.

The beginning (or the end?) of the gallery (left)
Standing in the middle of the Wall. East is on the left, West is on the right. (middle)
Gorbachev... haven't seen him in a while (right)

The East Side Gallery was painted in 1990, but wasn't done "right" (no primer, and other problems) and the art eroded quickly. Refurbishments were done later (with some surrounding controversy). And of course, dumb dumbs put graffiti back onto the pieces of artwork again. So, it's a bummer to have iconic paintings covered in graffiti, but it is what it is.

The top painting, during the remediations, was redone by the artist in a new painting, not
the original (very controversial).
A rose for each casualty of the wall (left)
The wave of people going through the wall in 1989 (middle)
Partial painting from an artist from Denver, CO (right)

Of course, the East side is in the shade and we just about froze. Keep walking. Take quick photos. Keep walking. Take a break on the West side to sit in the sun. Keep walking! The coldest part was probably taking the photos which meant you had to expose your hands. Brrrr. Good thing I have a new jacket and lined boots to help me out!

Some iconic images.
Test the Rest (used to be Test the Best) (left) and artist Noir (top and right)

We didn't even capture all the art of this one, it was long.
This is probably my favourite of the day.

We skipped the very end (or the beginning) of the gallery. Instead, we bought water and headed towards the bridge. I'm thinking we missed out on seeing another iconic painting of the Soviet and German leaders embraced in a kiss. Kind of bummed. But, I see it depicted on my walks in the morning, so I'll take a photo of that to make up for missing it at the gallery.

Next, we cross the Oberbaumbrücke bridge. I read (at the Fernsehtrum) that on this bridge (I don't know when), they hold an annual, symbolic, water fight. "Although the demonstration is run along peaceful lines, the fighting is intense with water bombs, flour bombs and rotten eggs being happily tossed around. In the messy aftermath, both sides naturally claim victory and local pride is regained."

Oberbaumbrücke

We pass by a bear, not a Buddy Bear, but another bear. The kids will take a photo with it anyway.

Next on our journey is a store, Original Unverpackt, I heard about from Tori. A store that uses little to no packaging in attempts to reduce waste. We almost walked right by it, the store front is very small and non-flashy. The store, inside, was also small. We invisioned no packaging, however, they sold drinks (in bottles) and some prepackaged items. But, in-line with their mission, most of their inventory is sold in bulk. You can buy their bottles, tupperware, etc. and then fill these containers with the food (and refill another day) you want to buy. Below you can see their Sweet and Sour section (this would be a favourite area, for sure) and the plastic glove you use to grab food so that you don't touch it all while getting the amount you want. And, of course, Spaghetti Hell! Sometimes we think so too (but really, hell is "light", which isn't as funny).

No packaging store.

Next, to warm up, we stop for a good cappuccino.

And when adults get a cup of coffee. We know it's boring for the kids. What to do to keep them from getting bored? Try being a model? There was a giant magazine on our table, so we flipped through it and Venice, from the comfort of her place on the couch, emulated each model to prove anyone can do it. We were pretty discrete, I don't know that anyone knew what we were doing. Sneaky fun!

Venice's Black and White series.

Color

Even Xander got in on the action, by the end.

Thus ends part 1 of our day.

Day 52: German Unity (and Shopping)

German Unity day and Shopping day - Do Over

I guess that's the luxury of being somewhere for a while. If you miss out one day, there's another day to give it a try.

We all overslept, again. I don't know how it happens that we can do this, especially since our neighbours upstairs seem to be raising a herd of elephants. But seriously, you can hear them walking around ALL THE TIME. I woke up at 4:22 am and heard them walking back and forth for a long time. I know they have kids, but I don't know why anyone on a Sunday morning would be doing that much walking around that early. And it's loud. Not to the point where it sounds like they're  jumping or doing something silly, it does sound like they're just walking... but it's loud enough that I often think my own kids are about to enter our room after walking the hallway. It often tricks me into thinking it's in our apartment instead of above us. This is why you should always live on the top floor. Sigh.

Ok, we're not going to see if the farmers market is open today, or any market for that matter. We're going to go boot shopping. Chris needs some. I need some. Again, how does one shop in a city where there are tons and tons of shopping but you don't really want to go to every. single. store. looking for the right boot? And if you remember, I did get some the other day, only to see my "dream" boot in a window just across the street from our apartment. For Chris, we check on-line. I remember seeing a cool-unique shoe store that got rave reviews when I was looking for dirndl shoes for Oktoberfest. I looked again and the store is located nearby. They are top notch, and priced accordingly. But we'll take a look because they have a good selection and Chris' feet are hard to fit as well as he (like all of us) is particular in taste.

Anyway, we're off to go see if we can shop. At our tram stop, we are able to pass by "my" boot store. It's closed. No sign. Well, I can always come back during the week, if needed. But as we wait at the tram stop, I notice a poster advertising "Sunday Shopping" for The Mall of Berlin (a section in town, maybe like UnionSsquare in SF). It says they're open today for shopping from 1-7pm! Ok, so maybe that's just for that mall... or maybe it's for all stores that participate in the Sunday Shopping?

And we're crossing our fingers that the tram doesn't do what it did yesterday (take that weird route)... phew, it is back to "normal" schedules today.

Sunday Shopping (left)
So is short for Sonntag (Sunday) but it seemed funny to us, "So Closed", yep, that's for sure (right)

We get to Hackescher Höf and find the store Trippen (for Chris) and it's not open yet. We look around and check out other stores. Eat Berlin. Chocolate. A toy store. At one of the stores we ask and they say, oh yes, the stores should open at 1pm. We're just early. So it seems that there's the agreement that stores open for Sunday shopping at 1pm unless they decide to open early. Ok.

So, we'll do lunch while we wait for Trippen to open.

We ate at Hackescher Hof (left) instead of Oxymoron (bottom of the right photo)
The photo on the right also shows an independent movie theatre.

Random photo of Venice's hair looking very pretty.

We showed Chris around this cute shopping area and the Amplemann store. We wanted him to see what we explored the other day. We didn't, however, go into the Amplemann Store (we spent enough there for now!)

After lunch, Trippen was open. Chris went to try on food as the kids played on the store's custom made tiles and then out in the courtyard. Chris had really good luck and ended up buying two pairs of boots. The woman who helped him talked about how the leather will last a very, very long time. That if he brings the shoes back, they can resole the shoes and they will be good for another very, very long time. He asked about shipping, etc. since we don't live here and how that could all work. But she was very adamant about knowing how we can have the shoes resoled and they'll last for-EVER.

At this point, the kids were "done" with shopping (and yes, we did buy them ice cream for doing "so well") No desire to look around anymore, so we headed home. At our tram stop at home, I noticed "my" boot store was open (they probably opened at 1pm!) I asked Chris if he'd come with me to help me try some on, he said yes. We sent the kids the 1 block-walk home with our packages and keys. A win-win situation.

The woman working at this store spoke very limited English. Enough to say words like, "stretch", or "good for winter", and things like that. It is a very small store and most of the shoes are up high. So as I was trying on different styles of boots, she was going up and down the ladder, working very hard for me. I was worried that I wouldn't like any of the boots and she'd have gone up and down for no reason. The boots I went in looking for did not fit well, but there was another style that fit very well and I thought would be comfortable for walking miles every day. I went in looking for black. Thought about brown and taupe. And walked out the store with dark green! Yay for us all!

By this time, we were almost running out of time to head over to the Brandenburger Tor again! So, we rallied the kids, got ourselves ready and headed out to the tram stop again.

We arrived at the perfect time. The sun was beginning to set and it cast a beautiful light through the Brandenburger Tor. The ferris wheel created a cool silhouette in the late-afternoon sky. And... it wasn't crowded at all?! Where was everyone? I think they were shopping because stores were open on Sunday. And, they all probably came yesterday when it was the "real" holiday. Whatever the reason, it's not crowded and it's perfect weather (not freezing like it was at Oktoberfest!)

The Brandenburger Tor from the East side.

We weren't allowed to walk through the Brandenburger Tor, we had to go around a bit. This is because the music stage was set up right on the other side (the west side) of the gate. And, they seemed to be directing admissions to the area through a small security check. I think they're mostly looking for fireworks, flares, and glass bottles (things that are not allowed inside). We don't go through any metal detectors, just a "open your purse we want to glance inside" type of security (like for a football game or something).

The Brandenburger Tor from the West side.

Photo by http://www.pfalz-express.de/

Coca Cola has a huge presence at this celebration. Their ads are everywhere. Photos by them are on the barriers. The sound equipment has their logo. There are sound speakers all along the street and several big screens to show what's going on the stage no matter where you are along the faire. Big sponsors. The singer we saw the most of was Marc Marshall. A good singer with a stage presence... like Don Ho? I don't know, I felt like we were at a lounge show in Vegas or Hawaii. It was that kind of entertainment. Of course, 90% of what he was singing was in German. Anyway, he sang his heart out as we walked the street (the celebration is happening on Straße des 17. Juni, I think I said this already, the street on the west side of the Brandenburger Tor) looking at the food options and aiming for the ferris wheel.

Xander LOVED watching the patterns on the ferris wheel, watching for
patterns and thinking how he would program it if he had the chance.

Views from atop the ferris wheel. You can see how uncrowded it is!
Victory Column (top and bottom-left), Brandenburger Tor (bottom-right)

After our ferris ride (Venice is excited to ride every ferris wheel we ever cross paths with, and so far, so good), we looked for dinner. The kids and I opted for a Chinese cart while Chris went looking for bratwurst of some kind. After eating, we looked for dessert. Chris = crepe with nutella and coconut. Venice = chocolate covered strawberries (we had to go up and down the street on this one as no one could quite remember where we saw it). Xander = zuckerwatte (but it was old so he didn't end up eating it). Diana = zuckerwatte (yay, I got two as I'll eat old cotton candy and I took Xander's!)

Funny story: As we were purchasing Venice's chocolate covered strawberries, Chris handed the woman €4 (the sign read €4). But the woman said, "No, €2." We looked again and saw a different sign. We were confused and looked at her and she said, "Happy hour!" Ah! We gathered that it was nearing the end of the night and they were trying to sell off all inventory before closing down. Perfect timing for us!

With our treats in hand, we headed back towards the Brandenburger Tor to exit and head to the Bahn station. We thought the last performer was done and we thought the evening was over. But no! There was one more "act", from a local radio station. We're not sure if all the singers with this "act" are from the radio station or if they are regular people who tried out and won a spot in the show or what. But, they introduced, "Tina Turner," "Kim Wilde," "Joan Jett," "AC/DC," and more. The "house band" was comprised of "Slash" on lead guitar, "Ringo Starr" on drums and more. The performers were pretty talented and it was fun to be at this eclectic concert. It helped that we (including the kids) recognised most of the songs. So, we stuck around to watch them all.

The lights on the Tor were particularly fun to watch. The last song of the night? We Are The Champions (by Queen). What a fun way to end the evening.

Random story: At one point, a super tall man (and his companion) stood right in front of us. I want to say he was about 7 feet, but maybe more like 6'5"? I don't know. Dude was tall. No worries, we've had an unobstructed view for a long time and we could easily move back and forth if we wanted to see better. They also didn't stay too long. But as he stood in front of us, I could only think, "Poor guy. He's so tall, he must block people's view wherever he goes. And he probably gets dirty looks for it."

Some of the awesome lights during the show (left). The super tall man (right).

Congratulations, Germany! Gute Nacht!

Day 49: More Shopping

Hey, Everybody... it's October! Holy smokes! I think I'm feeling the pressure of time, right now. All I can think of is buying all our souvenirs, doing all the things on our lists, etc. I'm worried we'll run out of time before we know it.

In addition to souvenirs, I am feeling the weather change and realising I am not prepared for it. I have sneakers, I have warmer socks... but this is ok if you're going from your house to your car and then to the store. But as we're walking everywhere and waiting for trams outside, I realise that my toes are very, very cold. And, I also realise that I do not really want to wear sneakers with my skirts (and tights to keep my legs warm). I want boots. I have boots back home, but didn't bring them because I don't think I can walk 7 miles in them. Again, I am walking several miles a day, I need comfort too. And style too. Almost like searching for a unicorn.

Alexanderplatz' Oktoberfest

Also, I wanted the kids to see the sunshine today. I've been doing laundry, cleaning, etc. and Xander has only had one bowl of cereal and I haven't even seen Venice yet (it's after 1pm!) So, grumpy me, makes them get dressed (yes, they were still in PJs) to accompany me to lunch (I'm craving the dang KFC this time) and shopping. We leave the house by 2:45.

As we step out at Alexanderplatz (normally a "sunken" area down several steps) to find no steps... there is a large "stage/decking" set down out over the entire plaza. And, there are rides. Food tents. Beer. Hello! More Oktoberfest celebrations!

Who knew this was here? We sure didn't. I wonder if it's been here the entire duration of Oktoberfest, or just this week, or...? Well, in any case, it's here and full of shoppers and crafts.

Another Buddy Bear at the Galleria!

Side note: As we were eating at KFC, people would walk in and check the trays at the "return tray" shelves, looking for leftover food. At first it was an older gentleman, then a woman with her 5 year old daughter, then a mom with her 11 year old, then more men. Some found half full drinks, others found some food. A couple sitting near us gave one man their extra chicken. So, at the end of our meal, we did the same with our leftover food. It didn't take too long to wait for someone to come in searching for food, so we were able to hand it off. No one ever asked for food, no one bothered us. They just quietly came in, looked, and then left.

After food, we headed to the Galleria, the multi-floored department store. The kids were super patient as I tried on shoe after boot after shoe. It was "help yourself", so I at least wasn't putting some poor worker through the rigmarole. And I found some. Not the best, not expensive, not cheap, but they'll do.

In addition to shoes, I felt it was time to buy a few more pans for our kitchen. I found a quiche pan and a 12 muffin pan. Finally, we can do a little more baking! Meanwhile, Xander found a cute Fox-doorstop and is, happily, carrying him around the store.

What else did we find? Trdelniks! Remember those baked-in-a-circle-pastry we had in Prague? They have them here too. We bought one in the Galleria, only to see a "better" one outside in Alexanderplatz at a stand... so we bought one from each place. Here, they are not called Trdelniks and they don't really put anything inside. They do, however, have a few flavours and "stick" toppings on the outside (coconut, hazelnuts, etc.). I picked cinnamon from both places. And we tried to say the name of them here, but it's a lot harder than Trdelnik! Kürtsöskalács. It's a mouthful, two times over.

Not to be outdone by the local fair, I decided it was time to try out our new muffin pan and use some of the chocolate chips and brown sugar Granny and Jiichan sent us. So, banana muffins with chocolate chips it is! They are delicious! Thanks again for the care package!

Chocolate chip-banana muffins.