Day 25: NOTHING

Today truly was a DO NOTHING day. This blog is pointing out that we need to get over our "rest days" and get back out there.

Cemetery on Bernauer Straße, where I did the "Wall" walk the other day.
I didn't feel I should walk through the cemetery, but I just peaked in.
The grounds are beautiful with all the permanent greenery.

I walked Chris to work, as usual. It's definitely cooler. As much as you heard us talk about the heat, well, now you'll hear us talk about the cooler weather (we're closing windows!) I almost wish I had gloves on this morning's walk. However, half way through, our blood pumping now, we walked on the sunny-side of the street and it was much warmer.

I jogged (for a few blocks), as I try to do on my way home, and decided to go back the way of the "Wall" walk on Bernauer Straße. I had read a lot of the signage the other day. As I meandered a lot, I was very late getting home and so I skipped the last part of the walk. Today, I was able to finish the walk and come home from a different direction (I am getting better and better at understanding the layout of our neighbourhood, memorising street names and directions!)

The same cross I photographed the other day, but today, I went "artistic".
I am drawn to its symbolism (representing the unknown number
of WWII bombing victims suspected to be buried here).

I try to take the information in little bits. I just can't feel all the emotions at once. How it must have been to have your family and community torn in two, separated by a wall. And how, for the younger generations, who knew no life before the Wall, this separation was "normal". I think of how Germany is now allowing thousands upon thousands of refugees (or, immigrants, as some are calling them) into their country, knowing it's going to be a financial (and space?) burden in the short term. How a country with a horrible history is leading the world in being humane.

Poles representing the West side of the Wall (left and middle)
Remnants of the inner East Wall (right)

I am struck by the similarities of the photos I'm seeing of those entering Germany today to the photos around town of people flooding the borders in 1989 when the wall came down.

I have not seen much about the refugee issues here in Berlin. But then again, I can't read the papers or understand the news. Perhaps I can watch the BBC channels and see. The only thing I have seen is a Facebook link a friend posted, that talks about how Berliners can get help (via crowd funding and other ideas) if they have space for a flatmate. This agency will help match a refugee to your profile and help them get settled in your home. They are asking for a year of housing for the refugee (and again, via funding, you are not asked to help with their rent for a year). But other than this, I haven't seen any other news, up here in Berlin.

We are headed to Oktoberfest, in a few weeks, which is in Munich. I am wondering if we'll see anything different then.

Changing subject: The kids and I were LAZY today. I forced us to go to the market after lunch, just so we could say, "they got outside today". Milk, yogurt, meat, and ginger ale (for Venice, not because she's sick, but because I couldn't say, "no"). I joked, before coming to Berlin, that I would be going to the market every day, and I sure feel like I'm fulfilling my part of that deal. It's hard, when your refrigerator is small and you have limited tupperware. Side note: Chris asked his coworkers if they cook? Most of them said that they do cook, but they go out a lot more often because it's so cheap. I wonder how much it's also because they're all single? I remember, before kids (really, I do), that Chris and I went out to eat almost all the time. Our "dining table" served as a "mail-holder" and "storage-shelf". So, I'm not sure his coworkers are the ones to ask about German dining habits.

Also, I did laundry today! But, that's almost a daily activity, just like the market. I try to do one load a day, knowing I'm going to have to hang dry in between loads. If I do too many in a day, our drying rack can't handle enough drying items. I also like to keep up because seeing dirty laundry is icky to me (it's the one thing I do willingly in our house... I can handle a dirty sink or bathroom, but laundry to-be-done just stares at me and NEEDS TO GET DONE NOW!) It might not help that the kids have tiny laundry baskets in their rooms (perfect for the tiny laundry machine) but Chris and I don't have a laundry basket. I'm not sure why the owners didn't see it fit to give us one for the main bedroom? And for a few months, that's not what I want to spend my money on. However, our current solution is to put it into piles (colour sorted of course) in the back corner. So, it's hidden from the hallway, but from my side of the bed, I see it every day, every time I walk to my part of the closet, so... it's starting at me and I must do it.

Chris was supposed to play volleyball with his coworkers this evening. We planned to eat without him. But, do to the change in weather (it's too cold, they said!) his coworkers all decided to bail out. So, Chris is home for dinner (but returning late), so I cooked (wow!) and food was almost ready by the time he stepped into the house (yay, me!)

And, Venice and I worked together for our first attempt at cookies. We eyeballed certain measurements, converted the others (grams into cups and back again). We chopped up the dark chocolate bar (at least that's what I thought I bought, turns out it was a dark chocolate filled with caramel... even better!) for our chocolate chips. And we hand stirred it all (oh yeah, no mixer!) They turned out great! I think I could have put in a little more salt.

Oh, and we "on faith" put Vanilla Aroma into our batter. It's all I could find for vanilla extract. It was in the baking section. It tasted ok, so I confidently told Venice it was NOT oil for burning, but definitely for baking. Turns out, I'm right (phew). I found someone else's blog on how hard it is to find comparable baking ingredients over here and they say vanilla aroma is one of their versions of vanilla extract.

I left them in the oven a little long, so they are crispy (excellent with milk) and we'll try again, for sure.

P.S. Xander was upset with me because I wouldn't let him eat the batter. I don't know how worried (if at all) I need to be about salmonella in the eggs here. From what I understand, it's fine in the US because the eggs in the store have been treated (I guess the salmonella is mostly located on the shell, and it gets in the egg when you crack it?) but the eggs here are straight from the farm and at room temperature (until we Americans put them into our refrigerator), so I just don't know... but I do know... Xander was not pleased with my decision.

Day 24: Computer Game Museum

Karl Marx street, on our way to the museum
(you can see the TV tower in the distance)

Another late morning, enjoying the activity of sleeping in (after sleeping in, Chris went for a run, the rest of us kept resting). Sunday, stores are closed. But museums are open, which museum to visit? We decided on the Computer Game Museum, as we figured it would have the most positive "kid support". We were right, the kids were excited to go see (play) the exhibits.

Berlin is beautiful. I'm sure the sunny weather has helped shape my opinion. I'm sure seeing something new, almost every day, has shaped my opinion. I'm sure being a tourist has shaped my opinion. But it's hard to not want to take photos all the time. It is pretty.

Puckman (Pac Man) table game

The kids had a great time at the museum (and so did the adults). Seeing Chris at one of the staged "rooms" playing an old game... I can just imagine this is what he must have been doing, back in the 80s.  I, on the other hand, pointed out a 7 in (or whatever) monitor that was around 12 in (or whatever) deep and said, "That's what I learned to type on!" Kids were not all that impressed. Me? Nostalgic.

I loved playing the arcade games of Frogger, Centipede, and Space Invaders, which was my all time favourite... even if I couldn't clear the first board (out of practice!) The best part, all the games were free, so no need for pesky quarters. On the other hand, some people took really long turns. But if we waited long enough or just went to another game and came back, it seems we all got to play what we wanted, no problem.

There was one crazy game, I had never seen/heard of before (see photo below on the right), called PainStation. It's based on Pong, but you get sensory feedback depending on the intensity of the game (heat, electrical shock or whipping). We watched a few play it, one guy asked Chris if he wanted to play... we passed. Crazy!

Pong (left). PainStation, Pong with pain! (right)

The adults tired out before the kids did (surprise!) But, as the kids wanted to spend some time online with their cousins and friends tonight, we had a nice "carrot" to get them out of the museum and back home. To one of our nicest home meals so far (steak, roasted veggies and salsa - shhh, the kids haven't had the salsa yet....) Yum.

Day 24: Computer Game Museum (Venice)

Hello, It's Venice again!

Today we went to the Computer Game Museum. They had all sorts of cool gaming history. We played lots of games, such as Water Drops (I think thats what it's called) when you can move shadows with magnets. I also got to play Frogger, and I got the second high score! My dad and I played a racing game, and he won every game except one, the computer won that one. But I still had fun playing it. I also got to play astroids, Tetris, and I got to talk to a computer. But the one game I loved was Zork. In Zork you enter commands to the computer such as go west, or pick up sword. I didn't get to play much before moving on, but when I got home I found it online and played to my heart's content. They also had a giant joystick that you could play Pac-Man with (the germans call it Puckman, weird!). It was really fun and cool to go to this museum. I recommend it to anyone who likes computers or video games. All in all, it was really great to be able to play all those retro games.

Asking Eliza questions (Siri's much older sister, who is also snarky)
Venice playing Zork (for a very, very long time)

Day 24: Computer Game Museum (Xander)

We went to the Computer Game Museum today! It was very fun. They had history of video games and lots of classic arcade games like Frogger, Pac-Man, and Centipede. They also had a small area for classic console games like Super Mario Bros. and Sonic the Hedgehog. The small area had a bunch of "half-rooms" that looked like the attic of an old house where somebody would play video games. They also had text-based games like Zork.

Dad playing Space Invaders on a Commodore 64 console (left)
A desk in one of the rooms with cassette tapes and Mad Magazines (middle)
Me playing Super Mario Bros. after waiting a long time for a turn (right)

The Portland Retro Gaming-Con had a lot more playable games and was three times bigger, but The Computer Game Museum was still big. The Portland Retro Graming-Con had more playable games, and The Computer Game Museum had more history.