Day 94: Bonus Day

Ok, so Venice had a bad night of it. More GI issues. She's still not eating. Chris and I quickly discuss our options. What is the point of traveling to Scotland, if Venice is going to stay in the hotel room the entire time and we'll worry about her as we guiltily tour around (if that's even possible)? We should just go home early. It seems time for all of us to head home. I will admit that touring around for so long has taken it's toll on me as well. Back in Berlin, we would go for a jaunt for the weekend, but then come back to "home base" for a while. This current jaunt is over a week long and it's pretty tiring living out of a suitcase, packing, unpacking, re-packing. Learning all the new problems of a new place (no conditioner, smaller beds, shared spaces, creaky floors, faulty lights, noise, etc.) So, I think we're all ready to be back in a "home base", and since it's the end of our trip, that will be our home-home.

Chris gets on the phone immediately and fixes our tickets home. We cannot get tickets for today, but we can get onto tomorrow's flight. And thanks to United for NOT charging us a change fee (again, since we've already paid that once to switch to flying out of Scotland instead of Berlin). We will have good seats for the long flight and then somewhat cruddy seating arrangement on the flight to Eugene, but that's only an hour, we can handle that. Done.

Next, Chris heads to the front desk to see if we can extend our stay at this aparthotel one more night. Yay! We have one more night here, no more packing and unpacking. We can remain settled. The only bad part of this, is that we packed up, thinking we'd be in another place. So, now, we have to dig through our bags to find what we need for the next day (and unpack my Dopp kit... side note, I now know why it's called a Dopp kit, had to Google it, you can too!) Somewhat a pain, but worth it.

With our plans in order, we can begin our day in earnest. After breakfast, Venice decides it's best if she stays home and rests. She gives us her support in going out and exploring a bit more. Chris, Xander, and I head out to see a few more sights before leaving, on this, our bonus day.

No taxis today. No Uber cars. We are ready for public transportation. Our first stop, the Tower Bridge.

Tube station (top-left), Xander pointing to our destination on the map inside the train (top-right)
Mind the gap! (bottom-left), No entry (bottom-middle), Xander (bottom-right)

Side story: I'm sure you've heard the "Mind the Gap" quote/joke a lot. We had. However, it's amazing how much you really do hear it and see it throughout a single day. Mind the gap. Mind the gap. Mind the step. Mind the gap. Perhaps, if you live here long enough, it becomes white noise in the background and you no longer hear it. But, being here a short time, it makes us laugh, almost every time we hear it. Mind the gap. And to be clear, the gap is not always equivalent. Sometimes there is no gap. Sometimes it's a step down from the train, or up. And sometimes, a small adult could fit through the gap. You really do need to mind the gap. There are also a lot of places with low ceilings (I guess they were shorter in the Middle Ages?) and doorways that I even duck (poor Chris, still smarting after hitting his head in Austria).

As I've talked a lot about the crowded Tube stations, I have not talked about the labyrinth style in details. It is similar to Berlin's Ubahn stations. But even more labyrinth-y. Berlin's underground system seemed to be large hallways, with trains (of the same line) sharing platforms. Here in London, the "hallways" to each platform, or the way out, seem to be super narrow. The main entrances are large, but once you pick a line, you commit to a small tunnel (2 people side-by-side can walk comfortably, 3, not so much) heading to the platform. Everyone seems to be going the same direction. I think this is because, a lot of the tunnels below are single directional. As long as you follow the signs to your platform or the Way Out, you will be going the correct direction for that tunnel. As you can see in the photo above (bottom-middle), there are places where it says "no entry". This is the "other" direction. And while some seem to be going against the rules, in this photo, most people follow the signs and all traffic flows in one direction. I can't imagine going against traffic. It seems like just asking to get bowled over. Anyway, I wonder what model-representation of this underground labyrinth would look like? A bunch of criss-crossing tubes all over the place. Seems like a fun project for someone to do...

Out of the Tube system, we make our way towards the Tower Bridge, passing the Tower of London on our way. We are also treated to nice views of the Shard. The clouds and peaking-blue skies give a beautiful background to our view of the river Thames (which is quite murky, by the way).

A spinning table for play, with the Tower of London in the background (left)
Tower of London (middle) and the Shard (right)

As we approach the Tower Bridge, I could see the blue colours of the suspension cables. How did I not know it was coloured blue? Guess I haven't looked at many photos of the bridge. On our tour, we find out that these are the "new" colours which were instituted in 1977. The original colour was greenish-blue (according to the Wiki page) but in reality, just looked like brown to us.

We find our way onto the bridge and to the exhibition area and there is no line. I was expecting to have to wait, but we walked right in, got our tickets, and went in the first elevator going up. A wonderful surprise!

There are two walkways connecting the two towers and you are allowed to walk through both of them. Due to the two walkways, you are able to see both directions along the Thames, as well as seeing the other walkway. Today, the flags are flying at half-mast in mourning for Paris.

A westwardly view(top-left), The other walkway (top-right)
Xander making a souvenir penny (bottom-left), original colour (bottom-middle)
Eastwardly view (bottom-right)

Both walkways have a glass bottom in the middle. At first, we're a bit slow to get onto the glass. By the second walkway, Xander's ready to try jumping on it (although he abstains). This is definitely fun for all of us tourists waiting a turn to take some photos.

The tour is a self-guided tour and we are able to go at our own pace. Once you leave the towers and walkways, you can go underneath to see the engine rooms (mostly replicas of the old coal and steam engines). Funny story: At this point, I was ready to sit for a bit. So, Chris and Xander were checking out a certain display in the engine area and I took a seat. It was a chair along the wall, next to another display of some sort. I didn't pay any attention to what it was, I just knew it was a chair, mostly out of the way. I checked my phone to see if Venice had Skyped, needing anything. As I was engrossed with my phone a couple walked up to the display next to my chair. The guy started cranking the hands-on part of the display. Immediately, I shifted in my seat as the chair lurched upwards. Surprised, I giggled and said, "Oh, you're moving my chair!" It took a few seconds for the guy to understand what was happening (English wasn't their first language) but he finally got it and told his female companion what happened. By this time, I had jumped off the chair and was still laughing (slightly embarrassed, as I think he was, too). OMG! I moved on. He re-cranked the lever to see how the chair moved and they continued to explore the exhibit. Too funny.

On the walls of the walkways is a photographic display of bridges from around the world, including architects, spans, building style, and other factoids. Yes, the Golden Gate is one of them. We also saw the Rialto and Ponte Vecchio from Italy. And a few modern ones that look like they're from a sci-fi movie and not the current times. One of the bridges, included, is the Millennium Footbridge, here in London, just a few bridges west of the Tower Bridge (the third bridge over). Xander became enamoured with it and really wanted to see it. This is the kind of touring we love to do. We had plans to see the Tower of London, but we're all a bit "done" with formal tours. Xander saw something he really wanted to see. So we switched up our plans and decided to try for the Millennium Footbridge. But, first we must find lunch.

We dine at a beer and hamburger place nearby. As we're eating, Chris looks up coffee places and finds F*CKOFFEE. Xander and Chris decide this is a MUST for us. It's not too far, and after we eat, we head over to find the coffee place.

Enjoying our beverages and chocolatey-snack at F*CKOFFEE.

On our way back from coffee, we pass by the White Cube, again. It is a free-admissions art gallery. Another perk of this kind of touring is that we can just decide to go on in, and we do. It's a brief view of the local art scene. One of the displays (see photo below), was of some text (greyish-off-white) on a white wall. You had to be close enough to read it, otherwise, the text disappeared. So, I thought it was funny to walk by and see people, appearing to be staring at a white wall. Just like a common joke.

Art in the front courtyard (left), Installments from a Light display

We move on, heading towards the water. We walk onto the London Bridge again, to take a peak back at Tower Bridge (it's not raining today, so it's a really nice view!), Then back to sit along the waterfront by the Southwark Bridge.

End of the London Bridge (left), Southwark Cathedral (middle), a colourful underpass (right)

Stopping for me to take a bathroom break (left), the Southwark Bridge (middle), stopping for a rest (right)

Finally, we make it to the Millennium Footbridge. It's fun to get a view back towards the Tower Bridge. So far, this area, around all the bridges, feels less crowded. I don't know if it's the time of the week, or if it's because it's not raining, so people aren't all huddled in the same areas, but it just feels less crowded today. In addition to our slow pace, this uncongested feeling creates a peaceful day of touring. I am sorry Venice's illness had to be so bad. We miss her.

Looking back, you can see the Tower Bridge (super tiny in the photos)
Xander took some great photos of us. He noticed we covered the church in the background
and had us move and then moved himself so as to create the perspective he wanted. 

As we walked across the Millennium Footbridge, we could see St. Paul's Church, which created a beautiful view and destination. As we approached the church, we could see that something big had occurred here earlier. People were cleaning up temporary stands that looked to hold hundreds of people in the streets.

St. Paul's Church.
Curly-twisted bushes (bottom-middle, photo by Xander)

We take the Tube home. Check on Venice. Rest a bit. Venice is still not up for eating, so when we head back out for dinner, she opts to stay in. We'll bring her some food back from the Shake Shack.

One of Xander's last Bingo items is to ride a London double decker bus (we rode one in Berlin, but it doesn't feel the same as one of the iconic red buses in London). We have confirmed with my high school friend, that our Oyster Cards are good for buses too (this is what we thought until we bought them and the wording on the tickets confused us). We cross our fingers that they'll work on the bus. We are prepared to pay cash if we need to, so we're not too worried about failure (and remember, they speak English here, that's very helpful!)

We walk down the street to the nearest bus stop. Guess what? We missed our bus, because we were waiting on the wrong side of the street! Dang "right side driving". Silly Americans. We cross the street to be on the correct side of traffic. Here's where we make our second tourist mistake. A different bus comes, and we can take this one as well, only it doesn't stop! It drives right by us, because we were sitting down as it approached. We watch other people, and they stand near the curb and wave it down (really, just hold their open hand out at at 45 degree angle from the ground). Ok. We are on the correct side of traffic AND we know to stand up in advance and wave down the bus. Got it. Now to just wait another 10 minutes for the next bus.

Success! We got on the bus! We waved it down and it stopped. Our Oyster Cards turned the scanner green. AND, bonus, the second row of seats on the top level were open. Xander got to, basically, sit in the best seat (the woman in the front row offered to switch out seats so he could have the front, but the second row was good enough... how nice of her to offer).

Top deck of a double decker (left), Temporary Ice Skating rink (right)

We're back to Covent garden. Chris and I were here the night we went out alone, but tonight, the lights are lit, the decorations for the holidays are more complete. The weather is warm enough to eat outside (the area is covered, but it's not "inside").

Covent Garden (top-left), Xander and Chris almost got hit by a low flying bird (top-right)
The wonderful musicians (bottom-left), Disco ball making sparkly lights (bottom-right)

Part way through our dinner, we were treated to a wonderful concert. A performing quintet set up to play on the lower level. The spinning-twinkling lights and the quality music made for a magical atmosphere. Funny story: Xander went to go check it out first and came back reporting it was a group of boys and girls. We asked what he meant by "boys" and he responded that they were young. Chris and I had images of teenagers in our minds and were super impressed by the level of playing they were displaying. But when I went to get a look, I came back with a group of 30 year olds. Funny how different perception is!

The group was very good at performing. They danced. They shouted. They had humour. They entertained. There was a 6th member of this group, his job was to go around the audience (top and bottom levels) asking for donations and to sell their CD. Yes, I did buy one. I enjoyed their performance so much and thought their music was really well done. I'm a sucker for a good entertainers!

I ordered one more burger to take home to Venice while Chris raced to the bathroom with Xander, who was in a big hurry. We headed back to the bus stop (once again, we went to wait on the wrong side, doh!) Our Oyster Cards blinked green (phew) and we get second row seats up top, again!

Venice has been snoozing during the time we've been gone. She's asleep when we get home, but wakes up to try a bit of food. After two bites, she's back to bed.  Poor thing.

Good-night, London. We hope to see you again to do all the things we missed due to time running out (Buckingham Palace, Regent's Park, Harry Potter Tours, British Museum, National History Museum...)

Day 77: Everything Else

Chris worked late last night (at home), until after 2am. As a result, we began this morning on the later side of things. This leisurely start allowed us to investigate our options for travel back to the U.S.

We purchased round trip tickets when we began this trip. We have been told that paying a change fee is cheaper than buying one-way tickets on both ends. It works out in our favour, as we are not going to leave from Berlin, but from Edinburgh, Scotland. Over $1,000 in change fees later, we have tickets home (and yes, that’s cheaper than if we purchased one-way tickets in the first place).

At this time, we also schedule our final walk-through to return keys with the building manager. The end of our time in Berlin becomes more evident.

Chris goes to work, as do we. Our jobs today, EVERYTHING. My list is to do everything we’ve been putting off until the last minute and now we’re set for a very busy day. 

First, we need to send one more box. A box of books. But, it’s heavy. I’ve been wanting Chris to help me out (I’m nervous to go to the Deutsch Postbank alone to send an international package). Once again, if the tram outside our apartment wasn’t under construction, I could take it one stop. But, as it is diverted, and by the time I find the temporary stop, I could probably just have walked the “one stop” worth of city blocks and gotten to my destination. 

And so, I’m coupling one errand with another. We want to donate our broken luggage bag, a pair of shoes, and a pair of shorts. We’ve been told that there is a place to donate at the Hauptbahnhof. So, I put the box of books into the bag so we can roll it down our hill. 

Ahhhh! I’m foiled on my plan. With the broken wheel, I am unable to angle it as I wheel it (due to the excessive weight of books) and I have to carry the entire set of objects. Ugh. At least the kids keep my brain distracted so I don’t cry over how heavy it is, how hot I get, and how tired I’m feeling already! 

We get to the post office and, miracles, there are only a few people in line, a much shorter line than the other day! But, I have to fill out a form. It took me three forms to get it right. Oy.  I put the city name in the postal code box (they do it backwards here), then I put the telephone number on the wrong line and started to put my address instead of HotelTonight’s address (as a return address). By the third time, I got it right and got in line. 

The package weighed 8 kg and cost 49€ to ship “slowly”. We just might beat it home. 

Now, with the travel bag much lighter, I can wheel it or carry it without much effort. We head to the main Bahn station to hunt for the donation centre. And I do mean hunt. We get there and Google shows that it’s in the main station (which is over 4-5 floors, if you remember), near a Starbucks. But we hunt and hunt and I just don’t have to energy to hunt all over. Venice and I have a hunch it’s on the next floor up, but we can’t see if from where we stand and if it’s not there, how do we go about searching the entire place? I see an Information booth and we get in line to ask for directions.

Hauptbahnhof from the outside.

Guess, what? It IS on the second floor, just about where Venice and I suspected. Of course. It’s between a Starbucks and a Dunkin’ Donuts. The door, to our credit, is down a hall that’s all but hidden from plain view. Side note: This was one of those times where I say, in German, “Wo bist Bahnhofsmission.?” (Where is Bahnhofsmission?) To be fair, I say, “Mission” with an American accent, so it comes out, “Mish-un”. The woman at the help desk is blank. I show her the word on my phone, and she says, “Oh, Bahnhofsmissoin” with her German accent (so it sounds like, “Miss-ee-own.” Yeah, whatever, just point me in the direction, bitte!

We have to press a buzzer to get in. Congratulations, they buzz us in! I begin with my normal German phrase of, “Excuse me, my German is so bad, do you speak English?” To which the woman behind the counter replies, “My English isn’t so good either.” I ask her if I can donate my bag here. She says, “No, the Bahn is there.” Or something like this. I’m not sure if she thinks we’re trying to check a bag, find a bag, or whatever. But we’re at a stand still.

Xander's bagel mit falaffel

At this point, I’m crying on the inside. I’m imagining having to do our entire “rest of the day” while carrying this bag. I just want to get rid of it. I threatened, earlier to the kids, that I was just going to throw it all into the Spree river. So, I open Google translate and search the word for “donate” and I say, “Spenden.” “Ahhhh, spenden? Ja, ja.” Now she’s a little embarrassed that she didn’t understand what I wanted to do and she comes around the counter to take the bag from me. Phew!

By this time, it’s lunch time. Time to hunt for food at Potsdamer Platz.

Venice picks lasagna from a counter on the first floor. Xander would like a bagel from the second floor. No problem. Or so we thought. The bagel shop was slammed. We waited over 10 minutes to place our order. It took over 15 minutes for our food to come. And then we had to eat it. I spent most of my lunch time trying to find my “Zen-Zone”. 

We make a stop at the Amplemann store. We’re headed out of town tomorrow and we think it’s a good idea to bring a gift to our hosts. They are driving us around all weekend and putting us up in their home, so a gift is a nice thing to do. But, just having spent 50€ to ship books, I don’t wan to bring something they have to ship or keep. So, we settle for Amplemann gummies for the kids and Amplemann Beer for the adults. We hope it’s not crappy beer, it’s the best we can do having thought of it at the last minute. But now, I get to carry around 4 large bottles of beer (they’re heavy). 

Now, off to one of the last items on Xander’s Bingo list. We head to the Kollhof tower, which is nearby (which is why we’re at Potsdamer Platz). We have VIP tickets, which means we get to cut the line and get on the elevator first. There is a line, so it’s good for us, since we’re running out of time. However, the elevator is the fastest elevator in Europe, 8.5 sec/m (approximately) so the entire ride from floor 0-24 is over in 20 sec (this seems to include the doors closing and opening). So, how long would we have had to wait if we didn’t have VIP tickets? Probably not long. But, we get squeezed in with several others and head on up to the viewing platform (after turning in my receipt for actual tickets).

This elevator is faster than the Fernsehturm, reaching only 90m in less than 20 seconds. I think they include closing the doors and slowing down time, as the elevator moves at over 8.5 seconds per meter at its fastest time. Our ears definitely popped on the way to the 24th floor. Unlike the Fernsehturm, there is an open air viewing area. You can walk up one more flight of stairs to get to the 25th floor and get an even higher view.

The top floor (25th) of the Kollhof Tower.

KOLLHOF BY XANDER:

I wanted to go because it had the fastest elevator in Europe. When we were looking for things to put on our Bingo lists, I found this on the internet. It goes 8.5 meters per second. This is almost twice as fast as the Fernsehturm. 

The lower level was fine because it had bars and a ledge on the outside of the bars. But on the upper level it had the bars but no ledge. If the fence wasn’t there, you would be able to walk right off, which, of course, wouldn’t be smart. I liked the bottom floor. 

The view was pretty cool. I like the Kollhof tower better because if felt higher and it has a really fast elevator. 

Views of The Sony Center, the DB building and the Tiergarten.

There is a bathroom on the top floor. Venice and I used it… I giggled thinking of it flushing all the way down to the bottom floor. 

In the photo on the left, the Kollhof tour is on the right.

Remember, we’re trying to fit in all our last minute “stuff”. So, we head BACK to Hauptbahnhof to see the “Horse”. We should have done this when we were there donating, but I forgot (I was just so happy to be able to finally deliver the darn stuff, that I only remembered the “Horse” as we pulled away from the station. Doh.

On our way back, we passed through Potsdamer Platz and could see a new festival going up. Germans really like to celebrate any time they can. Chris mentioned that there is only one national holiday, but each city or region definitely takes as many opportunities to have a festival. I’m not sure if this is a Christmas festival, winter festival, or something else. It is definitely themed for colder weather. Someone has built a giant ramp (we saw this going up a week ago) that has steps on the side and then it’s now a giant “hill”. They have put hoses pumping water into snow blowers on the sides. We can see a few piles of snow building up. This ramp is going to be an awesome sledding hill! Maybe we can try it Tuesday before we leave but I don’t know. Pretty cool. 

Back at Hauptbahnhof, we find the “Horse”. As we approach it, I realise I was actually thinking of another statue (of human forms that are located closer to the river). But, we are here, and this is something I wanted to see.. just not what I was planning on. Doh, again! The “Horse” is actually built of old materials from the old station before it was renovated, so it is pretty impressive and fun to see. 

The Horse.

Next item on our list, the Aqua Dom and Sea Life. 

The Fernsehturm.

I bought tickets online, as it was promoted as a cheaper price. I thought we’d get to get in a separate line as well, but we had to wait in line with everyone else. Bummer. Good thing it moved somewhat quickly, but you can tell already that this is definitely a tourist kind of place, not a “regular” aquarium, like the one at the Tiergarten we went to a few weeks ago. 

A photographer is greeting people as they move through the line. He has a box filled with Halloween props and is taking everyone’s photo as they come in. The kids do NOT want to do it (not that we’d buy the photo anyway), so we skip it when it’s our turn. Once you pass through the ticket area, they ask you to go into a closed room with a video screen where you watch a movie on how the aquarium helps injured animals and return them to the wild. If the animals are not able to go back to their natural habitat, the aquarium finds them new homes, either here or at another facility. I’m not sure of the real reason for us to watch this video, other than it seems to space the patrons out from coming into the aquarium all at once. 

Now inside the aquarium, it becomes clear that you do not just wander around looking where ever you like. No, you walk along a path and mostly move in a forward direction. They have tanks representing different oceans, lakes, and such (Atlantic, Pacific, etc.). All the while you are viewing the fish, there is overly dramatic music playing in the background. This establishment is run by the same people who do Legoland Discovery, here, The Wax Museum, and a few others. Disneyland, anyone? 

Fish, Octopus, Venice

In the middle of the tour, there is a small movie theatre showing a cartoon (have no idea what it was about, as it was not subtitled like the intro movie). But, I do know there was popcorn, candy, and Pringles dispensers for your pleasure. There was also a random mirror maze (with the title of Neptune, so it's all making sense).

One aquarium to look like the River Spree (left), feels like Legoland, yes?
Pringles dispenser (right)

Glow in the Dark kids (left), Jellies (middle), Ray (right)

Neptune's Play Labyrinth 

At the end of the tour, you walk across to a hotel and are able to use your ticket to go into a two-story glass elevator that ascends through an aquarium. As cool as it sounds, you can see through the tank and over to all the balconies of the hotel guests. It’s still cool, but all the views and photos are somewhat “disturbed” by “the other side”. Gimmick. Disneyland. If you can only go to one aquarium, I definitely suggest the one at the Tiergarten. 

The Aqua Dom

Buddy Bears from the day

The Aqua Dom is close to Hackescher Markt, which is where Venice’s Bubble Tea is located. She gets a bonus treat as we go there to buy the kids pork buns for dinner. We take our detour route home and the kids are ready to make their own dinner (reheat the buns) and I’m ready to go out and meet Chris and his coworkers for dinner. 

Early evening darkness (5:30pm).

This dinner is planned as a going away dinner for Chris. One of his coworkers had sent me an email asking when we’d be available for dinner. Of course, then I asked Chris, which night would work best, not realising this was supposed to be a surprise (in fact, I didn’t know this for a week, that it was a surprise… whoops). So, I’m ready to head out to the surprise dinner for Chris (who knows I’m coming and knows to say he has “no plans” when his coworkers ask if he can come out that night). 

Ok, the kids are set to be alone. Food, drinks, and Skype. All the essentials. 

Funny story: When I got the official invite from Google, I thought the coworker made a mistake, because it said the party was from 11am-2pm. I thought, perhaps, there was a cultural miscommunication as to what "dinner" is. Was she really talking about lunch? Oh boy, that would have thrown my whole day off. But she verified, no, I should show up at 7pm. It took me a while to realise myGoogle calendar, which I don't use, has not been changed to local time, so it was 11am Pacific time, while is 7pm local time. So, no miscommunication, just a glitch in my applications.

I tram to Chris’ work. Side note, it’s dark already! Even before our time change last week, you could tell it was getting dark earlier, but now, with the time change, it’s all over. It feels like winter as I head over in complete darkness to dinner at 6:45pm. 

I cross paths with one of Chris’ coworkers who gives me her keys (I was wondering how I was going to get into the building without buzzing or calling Chris to let me in). I “surprise” Chris with my presence and we head out to dinner at an authentic-German restaurant, Das Lokal. It was a nice evening with good people, good food, and no karaoke (Chris’ nightmare of a surprise). 

After dinner, we head back to HotelTonight to pick up Chris’ bag. On the way, I finally, to Chris’ delight, spoke a little Russian to one of the Russian coworkers. I was actually have to have a 3 way exchange. Me. Him. Me. But then he said one more thing and it was over for me… but, not bad for it being over almost 18 years since I’ve spoken Russian! 

And now it’s time to pack, pack, pack. We’re traveling again!

Day 68: Water and Chocolate

I made up for yesterday! I took over 200 photos today! Whew, I'm back! So many photos... I'll break today into two posts!

The owners of the apartment have put a few books on our shelves. A few of them include coffee-table style books with a focus of Berlin. Cools spots to see. Restaurants to try. All accompanied by beautiful photos. Anyway, I began flipping through one of the books and found a few more places to add to our list of excursions. Seeing as we've mostly completed our own lists, we can add to the list (otherwise, the kids and I will just sit and stare at screens all day long).

So, for today, I have a list of 4 things to see (one of which is new from the book). I think we can fit them all in.

Side note: When in the U.S., our afternoons are often filled with extracurricular activities (Circus Arts, Book Clubs, Music lessons, Math, etc.) And if we want our brains to do any "academics", we must do them in the morning. So, usually, I want us up and ready to "do stuff" by 10am. And, after lunch, it's pretty hard to motivate any of us to do anything to strenuous.

Here, in Berlin, I may eat and walk with Chris in the mornings, but the kids either sleep or play on computer (you can probably guess which kid does what). So, by the time I'm back from walking, the morning's mostly gone. I tend to blog, shower, laundry, or something like this, and the kids will come out around 11am-12pm, looking for food. Sometimes, I still have to prod them to come out of their rooms.

Anyway, we don't normally "get going" until after lunch, maybe 1pm at the earliest.

And so it is like this today. It is after lunch and we're just getting out the door to begin my "4 Destinations" list.

Venice asked for this braid for today. My first try, not so bad!
Her colours continue to be beautiful.

First on my list, the Wasserturm (the Water Tower). It is no longer working, the pumps have long since been inactive, but this Water Tower is now a landmark. And it's so close to our farmers market, but on the other side. Just a block or two farther and yet we've never been. We could see it (and an information plaque) from the Fernsehturm (TV Tower). Now we get to see it up close.

Sharing an Autumn Hug.

The main reason I took so many photos today is that the autumn colours are just so beautiful. My eyes can't get enough of the leaves. I just want, and need, my iPhone to capture what I'm seeing. Photoshop helps, but it's still better in person, but I keep trying.

Not the Water Tower, but a raised area within the same park.

Leaf Art

Fall Selfies (Fallfies)

Even the statues are looking good with the fall leaves.

After exploring around, we finally get our first glimpse of the Wasserturm. Pretty cool.

Wasserturm

And bonus! There's a park at the bottom of the Water Tower. The kids stop to play for a while. I occupy myself by taking more photos.

After a stint of playing, it began to rain (sprinkle, really), which encouraged the kids to finish up. They were ready to go and head to Stop Number 2 on my list. With the rain, came a little bit of wind. The wind would blow through the trees and cause many leaves to tumble to the ground. The kids had fun trying to catch the leaves before they hit the ground. Unfortunately, Xander chased a leaf into some bushes... which turned out to be Stinging Nettles. Ye-ouch! Poor guy. He dealt with it bravely and marched on (the lure of Stop Number 2 was strong enough to encourage bravery).

"Lovebird Seats" (left), Stinging Nettles... now we know (right)

Photos I took while waiting.

And so we trudge on. We are headed to a chocolate-specialty store I read about in one of the books. It's an U-Bahn (remember, German's pronounce the "U" as "ooo" not "you", so it must be "an" before, not "a", in my opinion) ride away.

A cool "60s-ish" looking building (left) and an empty square (right)

We find our chocolate-specialty store, "Winterfeldt Schokoladen,"on the corner down the street in Shöneberg, Berlin. The store portion of the place has tons and tons of chocolate from all over the world (but it seems mostly from Europe, Asia, and Africa). The packaging on some of these items are so beautiful. But at €7-15 per bar/package, I must skip buying one of each.

The book instructed us to not get too lost in the visuals of the items in the store. It was recommended to sit and have some drinking chocolate. The book said the drinking chocolate would be served in a tiny espresso cup and would be enough (because it's so rich). However, ours came in large cappuccino cups, with lots of milk. Don't get me wrong, the beverage was very, very tasty. Just not quite the thick drinking chocolate we were expecting. We did like it a lot and did buy some to bring home, thinking we could experiment with less milk to make it thicker.

And, since none of us are scone fans, we got a slice of chocolate cake with fudge frosting, a gluten-free cheesecake, and a carrot cake (with regular frosting, instead of cream cheese frosting like we were hoping for).

The kids play checkers (on iPod) while they wait for their drinks and treats.

It was a most delicious afternoon.