Swimming (Xander)

The swimming pool was fun. It was very crowded. We got there by waking to an U-Bahn station, then we took the U2 to Gleisdreieck, then we transferred to a U12. We got off near the pool at the Prinzenstraße stop and walked to the pool.

When we got there, the line was long, but it went fast. When we got in, we saw three pools. One lap pool. One play pool. And another lap pool. In the play pool, they had a slide. This slide didn't have any lifeguard at the top, so you would just wait for the next person to be at the bottom before going down.

They also had umbrella-like things that squirted water out of the top, ran down the umbrella-thing, and fell off. You could stand under it and get "rained on".

It didn't get that deep, maybe at the deepest, 3.5 ft. It meant I didn't have to tread water at all. But it also meant it wasn't that deep and I like deep pools because you can dive for things.

The water was COLD! It was 90-something degrees outside and the water was only 86F. So it felt really cold.

Day 18: Swimming Pool

On the way to Chris' work, we stopped by the store where our neighbour Tony suggested we buy monthly Bahn tickets. The woman behind the counter did not speak English. What we could understand, is that an adult ticket is about 80€, which we knew from the website. But what we think she was saying, is that there is no monthly ticket for kids. The implication is that, kids are in school, and they either get a school pass, or ID, or ticket, or whatever, for being a student. Problem, our kids aren't in school.

At this point, a deliveryman walked in, who spoke a little English and tried to help translate. It seems confusing to have school-aged kids, not in school. Not a problem they are prepared for. What to do for a kid who needs a Bahn ticket, but is not in school? They have a weekly ticket for traveling kids, but it's almost 30€. So, that's 120€ for a month, way more than the 80€ for adults, so not a desirable option for us. I asked if they could just use an adult ticket, and the man said no. So, we decided to only buy two adult tickets and see about the kids later. Ah... they don't take credit cards and we don't have enough cash on us, so we'll save it for another time.

Ugh, it's a hot day. Chris arrived at work less than happy and I arrived back home (there is that slight uphill) unable to cool off for about an hour. Meanwhile, the kids had been happily coding away in Minecraft. A perfect time to go get cash, without being missed by the kids.

I went around the corner to our favourite geldautomat. But there were several people right around the machine, waiting for the street train. So, paranoid-uncomfortable-around-people, I decided to go just a few stores down, to the next one. But I got there and couldn't figure it out. It had been a week since I got money out. I couldn't get the screen into English. The ticket machines for the Bahn have a little icon to switch languages as a first step, on the touch screen, and I didn't see that on the cash machine. I decided, I was looking like a dork, and the train came (therefore, no one was around the other cash machine any longer) so I walked back to the first one. But now there was a line. But, I got to see how people wait (for privacy) for the machine.

Machine on the left (the green was blue on the one I tried to use)
didn't have a picture of a card, only the words Achtung! (Danger!),
which scared me from going any farther.
Machine on the right has a nice photo of how to
insert your bank card, so I used this one :)

Aha! This machine, has a different card intake, with a picture showing me how to position the card. I immediately remembered to start by inserting my card, then the screen came up asking what language I wanted. Phew. So, thinking back on the "other" machine, it didn't have a nice little picture showing me how to insert my card. If I had seen that, I would have gotten started. But I had an irrational fear that if I stuck the card in the wrong slot (like where the money is supposed to come out?) I would lose my card. Anyway, yes, I'm a dork. I think I got it figured out how. I can act like a pro the next time.

The kids and I packed for the swimming pool! It's going to be a hot day (over 90 F) and we want to swim. Chris ran by a cool looking pool yesterday, with a really big slide, that we were going to try. Good thing I decided to look it up on the web. Closed. At first, I thought it was just not open yet, for the day. But turns out, Sunday was the last day for swimming pools and beaches in town. Today, being the first day of school, means less customers and Fall is coming, so I guess outdoor pools and beaches close. BUT, I saw, on the website, that a few pools and beaches decided to stay open a little longer in anticipation of the hot weather. Phew!

I found the closest pool to us (30 minutes to get there with walking and taking Bahns). So, we were off to Kreutzberg. Side note: We once thought of looking for a place to rent in this part of the town, but after the loooong Bahn ride, I'm glad we settled on Prenzlauer Berg instead. I suppose the 24 minute ride might have seemed longer as it was over 100 F in the damn thing. But still, day after day, I have to imagine that would get tedious to have to take the train to and from work. I guess Chris has to walk for 20 minutes, but that feels freer, more choices, and not so claustrophobic.

I thought about buying three adult monthly Bahn passes at the Bahn station... but I didn't have enough cash (it only takes up to 10€ bills, so having 240€ in tens was not going to happen). So, I thought I'd only buy mine and get one way tickets for the kids. But the machine asked me if I wanted a monthly ticket, or a flexible monthly ticket. Damn it! Stymied again! I don't know! Three one way tickets it is (later, Chris thought the monthly ticket is for a calendar month and flexible is a 30 day ticket, needing to investigate more!)

So, today's U-Bahn became the sweat box. It was over 90 F outside, and the train was stale, motionless air at least 10 degrees hotter. UGH. I had it happen again (remember my story from Italy on my honeymoon?) I stepped by someone sitting on a bench and my leg swiped their leg, bringing with me a tablespoon of their sweat. GROSS. Just GROSS.

We arrived at the pool, yay! And there was a line, boo! But, this allowed me to get my money out (I knew how much it would cost from the website). Ein Familie, bitte (one family, please). 11.50€. But then she asked me a question (damn it). I think she was asking how many in my family, so I dragged the kids in front of the window, pointing, and saying "Drei (three)". She gave us three tickets and proceeded to say several more things, but not looking at me and not very loudly. I'm hoping she was talking to her co-worker because I have no idea what she said.

We watched a few others stick their tickets into the card machine, it beeps, and they can go through the turnstile. Easy. Only our tickets beep, but the turnstile isn't activated. Or they don't beep at all. And all the words on the machine are German, so I can't figure it out. There are 6 machines, we try several, can't get through. We watch more people, some get through right away, others have trouble like us, but eventually they get through. Just us! Then Venice gets through, success! But Xander and I are still stuck and hoards of people are pouring past us. Right when we start to wonder if our tickets clicked but we didn't go through and now they're "invalid", a woman with a master key came out, took my ticket, un-clicked the side gate for me and walked me through. She took Xander's ticket and tried every machine, no go, so she clicked him through as well. Don't know! But dang, phew, we're in.

Yes, we're in, along with the entire city! There were mass amounts of people there. We changed into suits and headed to the pool. There are three giant pools in the "pool-area". Surrounding this area, there is a wide brick deck and some terraced areas for bathers to hang out and place their towels. Then there is a 3-4 foot wall and on the other side of this wall is a ton (massive) grassy area that you can use as well. There are several openings in the wall, each dipping to a 12 inch dip of water. We're thinking this is so that wherever you are coming from, the street or grass areas, your feet get clean. Then there are tons of showers for you to rinse off, before or after your swim. I rinsed off right away as it was so dang hot.

Then to find a shady spot to set our stuff.

A view from our towels

The pool was wonderfully refreshing. It was still pleasant, considering the many, many people that were there. I did get dinged in the head with a ball (not soft) as two men (not boys) were playing catch (and no one said sorry, evil people). And there were only three lifeguards on duty. Chris reminded me that we were warned of this (limited to no lifeguards over here). The pool you see above is just one of the three pools, each pool only had one lifeguard. Crazy.

The slide here is short and slower, but the kids had fun on it. They especially liked that it was self-regulated and that most people obeyed simple safety rules of going after the person was out of the way. And the line was fast, that was good, too.

We wall swam together at first. However, at our first break, a man motioned to me to watch his stuff, saying, "Ich habe kleine Kinder (I have small children)" indicating he had to swim with them. I nodded and said I'd watch his stuff. But then, a young woman came presenting her flip flops and tank top to us, talking in fast German. I said no, those aren't ours and she switched into English, "Oh sorry, can I put my stuff with you, you know, people take things." So, I said yes. Apparently, I look like I don't want to swim anymore and just want to spend my time watching other people's stuff?

The kids went back in the water, and I will admit, I was fine sitting out... and now, I'm paranoid as I have my iPad and phone in my backpack. I felt ok before, but now I feel I have to stick with my own stuff! We ended up taking turns swimming in pairs, it worked out fine.

Venice and Xander at the top of the slide (left), our failing tickets (middle), a happy post-swim-Xander (right)

Two hours of cooling bliss.

Then, we readied ourselves for the hot, hot trip back home. Three more one way tickets and we're off. We were serenaded by a violinist playing Pink's Just Give Me a Reason on one leg of our train ride. We were actually serenaded by a different violinist, playing the same song, on the way to the pool. The first guy had electronic accompaniment, this second guy didn't. First guy wins.

While we're sitting miserable in the stifling heat, a gentleman walked passed us. Then walked passed us again, this time, he said, "Tickets".  I got out our three tickets, handed them over, he looked at them and handed them back. Phew! We passed inspection! But just as promised, he was not alone. Another worker was on the other half of the train car working towards the middle. They were plain-clothed, carrying their scanners. It was in between stops, so you can't escape if you didn't have a ticket. Good thing we had our this time! It was more mellow than I thought, as he was so quiet, I didn't realise he was checking tickets until he was right upon us. I'm glad he wasn't yelling, I might have panicked. A good reminder to buy our tickets every time!

Home for "meat pocket" dinner! We cooked the "meat pockets" from the farmers market. Turns out they are like giant raviolis, with layers of noodle, pesto, cheese, and a tiny amount of pork (we're assuming it's pork by colour and taste as the sign only read "Fleisch" (meat) with no other explanation). Everyone enjoyed it.

Now to try to sleep in this heat (over 85 F in our apartment). Go-go 13€ fans!

Day Two: Essentials

Day Two. A lot happened today. Here are today's highlights. Either read straight through, or just read the headlines and view pictures (like I do the news.)

WALKING THE NEIGHBOURHOOD

We were treated to a beautiful sunrise on our first full day in Berlin. I guess that's our treat for waking up so darn early. It was lovely to eat breakfast while watching the sun peak through the clouds. As soon as the sun did come out, however, it was a race to close the shades to keep it out, as it was another hot, hot day. Side note: the shades are electric-outdoor blinds. Pretty snazzy. We're wondering how much it would cost for us to get these for our house back home.

Above, you'll see a photo of the front of our building. On the left, a pinkish-beige building, on the right, an olive-green building. We're sandwiched in the middle. If you look closely, the door to our building is on the left. The larger opening in the middle is wide enough for a car to drive through (maybe to pick up the trash bins?), and then on the right, is a store front. We're not sure if it's a cafe, an office, or a furniture store, but this is where our contact was waiting to greet us. It's part of the building, for sure, just not sure of it's purpose. Anyway, those areas are all on the ground floor. Then above that is floor 1 and above that is floor 2, where we live. Now would you say we're on floor 2? Or floor 3? I say, technically we're on floor 3, but the elevator calls the ground floor "0", so we end up on 2. Either way, you can figure out where our apartment is.

Doors painted with our street name and neighbourhood. (left)
Ample Man alerting pedestrians to stop. (right)

We spent much of the day walking (Chris and I both clocked over sixteen thousand steps) around the neighbourhood. I am completely mixed up as to what is North, South, East, and West. I typically have a good feel for where I am if I have an ocean to keep to the west, or a mountain range to keep to the east. But here, it's very flat and I haven't gotten it figured out yet. So, as we're walking all over, I haven't gotten a feel for if we're headed south or north, east or west. I'll get there, but for now, it's very disorienting.



FARMERS MARKET

At the Farmers Market: Venice ate raspberries (left)
Chris and Xander got sausages (Chris got currywurst from "Restaurant Zander"
Chris and Diana shared a falaffel sandwhich ((right)

We decided to check out the Farmers Market today. We figure we'll probably be going here once a week. We also thought that if we walked in a zig-zag fashion, we'd see more of the neighbourhood and would possibly find stores for the future, or stores that we need now. It was perfect. We walked past several parks, markets, and we found a housewares store. where we bought ice-cube trays, glass bottles to hold water in the refrigerator (the kids are more likely to drink the water if it's cold, and we, also, enjoy the water being crsipy-cold on hot days like today), a few bowls (the apartment only came with two cereal size bowls), and a few other items.

The worst part of the Farmers Market is our discovery of bees. It is bee season here and they follow us everywhere. They smell American blood and love us. So, eating outside is hard, eating inside is hard (no screens anywhere so bees everywhere) and the kids are afraid, the younger one more. So, it has been tricky to eat in peace.


ANOTHER MARKET and HOME DEPOT
While on our way to the farmers market, we came across another market. Not surprising, Chris had see this market when he visited on his own weeks ago. But surprising to be discovered so close to our apartment. Side note: we stumbled across two more markets within a few blocks from our apartment, so we'll have many choices on where to get food depending on what we want or where we are when we want something. We looked around this market on the way to the Farmers Market, and then on the way home, we actually shopped there.

Venice photographing Xander on the merry-go-round. (left)
Xander turning the hand crank to make the merry-go-round go around. (middle)
Venice photographing the "stair-less" escalator we used about 10 times today. (right)

This market, is particularly large, bright, open, fresh, and clean. It had everything you could need (except salt, we spent a lot of time looking for salt and couldn't find it!) We bought a lot of groceries here today. Waters (to taste test at home, so the kids will actually drink some), snacks, cheese, other drinks, apples, tomatoes, and more. On the top floor, there is a small area for kids to play while the parents shop. It overlooks the escalators. There is a net beyond the tall window, I figure, it's to catch any child deciding to climb over and jump or fall.

After a brief rest, we were deciding what to do before the stores closed. We didn't think the family had energy to do the last two errands of the day (obtain fans and an espresso maker). Triage time. I was sweltering in the heat, so I begged for fans. Chris found OBI was a hardware store within walking distance, so we opted to go there. Is it international for hardware stores to be orange? Can't help but think of Home Depot. And when we lived in CA, there was OSH. Anyway, OBI's website had several fans to choose from, but when we got there, they only had the 13" fans available. Very tiny. But I was desperate. We also got a few other items (hangers, trash bags, but we decided to wait on a broom or mop). We had to keep in mind that we were walking home. So far my backpack has come in handy and is working well.


FUNNY LABELS AND SNACKS
We're on the lookout for funny food names. At the big market, we found BioLust (The company name), which Venice thinks sounds like a name for a perfume. And Xander saw "Finger Noodles".

The kids have also been wondering what kind of snacks from home will they miss and what will be available here. We were on our way home, when we had to stop for more drinks, to keep us hydrated, and we stumbled across a few tasty snacks. Venice was super delighted to find OREOs here. Phew! We did buy some. They taste the same. We also found some chips (which we did not buy this time) called "Western Style Sweet and Spicy" (which looks an awful lot like BBQ flavour from the picture), and an entire case of Ben and Jerry's ice cream! We didn't have time to look at all the flavours of ice cream, and to be honest, I didn't think to look until we were home. I do wonder if they have any flavours different than the U.S.?

PARKS
So, on all our excursions today, we saw many, many parks for kids. Some seemed to be locked, as far as we can tell, some are only open certain hours, others were possibly schools. But there were many that were open and the kids tried as many as they could. It's fantastic to have so much within walking distance.

The best park, which we'll have to visit again, had a water feature with a water pump and natural surroundings to create water ways in the sand. At this same park, live two rabbits, whose names I'm forgetting. They are fed on Tuesdays and Fridays, so perhaps we'll go back to see them fed. They are giant rabbits... maybe 30 pounds each? There was also a section that was currently closed, but had open hours we'll try another day. It was a large area to be explored by kids. The sign, as far as we could translate, said kids 3-16 and specifically said no parents were allowed in. Kids don't have to announce their entry, they just go in and out without telling anyone. Our kids really want to go back to explore this area, it looks great with tall wooden structures to climb and more.


RESTING, MOTORCADE AND DINNER
In the afternoon, we all rested. I went into the backroom to "read"... but fell asleep instead and took a nice nap. When I woke up, I found out that Chris had gone back to our local little store to buy a few things we needed (laundry detergent, kleenex, and more). Nice for things to be taken care of and nice to catch a few Z's.

Later, Chris decided last minute to make a mad dash to the espresso store, since they wouldn't be open on Sunday (as most stores aren't). It was after 6 and the store closed at 7. It is a 15 minute U-Bahn ride (the underground train) to the Gendarmenmarkt (high end shopping area). Venice decided to go with him. Xander wanted to stay home (he was melting hot). I stayed with Xander. The kids aren't quite ready to stay home alone. Understandable.

Dung beetles.

So, Xander and I watched a little TV, trying out all the TV stations we could find. We found that many stations repeated, some up to around 15 times! They really want us to watch that cooking show! But I finally found Comedy Central (and watched a few minutes of That 70's Show, an episode I just happened to have seen recently. I understood one line, "Ich bin sehr kalt." (I am so cold.) Yay, me! Ha. But then we kept changing channels, I was convinced there had to be cartoons somewhere. Not sure if I'm right in thinking the vocabulary and language will be easier to understand or if I'm wrong because cartoon mouths don't make the right "mouth movements". Anyway, we stumbled across The Simpsons. Couldn't understand a bit of it.

Turned one more channel and found a kid's channel. The show was Maja and the cast is a bunch of insects (bees, beetles, flies). After a few minutes of watching the current episode, we realised one of the bees farted. Did we really just hear that? As far as we could understand, this bee had a farting problem and everyone was offended by the smell. He was sad to be stinky. So he sought help in finding someone who made him a tincture to drink and he was all better. Then he could have ice cream. So maybe he really was lactose intolerant. The next episode, was even funnier. We realised it was about their friend, a dung beetle, preparing for a feast. So he was rolling dung balls from a giant heap of poop. His friends thought it was disgusting and a few flies landed on top of the big pile to have their own picnic. Xander and I thought it was disgusting! It definitely had us laughing and feeling grossed out at the same time.

Motorcade, as seenfrom our living room (left). Dinner time (right).

During one of these episodes, we heard a lot of car horns beeping. We went to the window and there was a motorcade of sorts. Lots of cars with flags on their cars, motorcycle escorts, more flags. The most prominent one was yellow with a black hand showing "four". I Googled and found that two years ago, on August 14, there was a massacre in Egypt by the police against protesters. No one is certain of the true origin of the hand symbol, but it was used by the protesters and supporters of the victims and protesters involved, as a peace symbol and solidarity. So, I guess the motorcade was a "parade" of sorts to commemorate this event.

After a quick shower, it was time to start dinner. Our first home cooked meal in Berlin. Chris and Venice returned, successful from their espresso endeavour. Chris helped finish dinner and we had a nice evening at home. Phew, it was a nice long day of shopping, walking, and exploring (and sweating).

Mount Pisgah

View from the trail.

WHEN: October 6, 2013


WHERE: Mount Pisgah, Eugene, OR.


WHY: We've explored the river that runs at the base of Mount Pisgah, attended fairs, and run in races at the base of the mountain, but had never summited.


WHO: Chris, Diana, Venice and Xander.

Panoramic view at the summit.

WEATHER: Super sunny and warm. 65-75 degrees F. Much of the path is open with no tree coverage.


WHAT:
Approximately 1.4 miles to the summit (<3 miles round trip), but there are a lot of different trails, so you could do more or less.
Summit is approximately 1,531 ft.



"I was woefully unprepared for the warm weather and length of hike. I wore jeans and my hair down. As a result, I was very unhappy. Venice loaned me her hairband, so I didn't completely melt. Next time, I'd like to bring a snack and blanket for the top.

Hot Hike
These heavy footsteps fall upon the path.
Hear the heaving breaths flying through thick air.
Unhappy huffings that puff their thickly wrath
While thudding through my hot, hot throat out there." - Diana

"It was longer than we thought. 1.8 miles uphill and we picked longer path down. There was a podium at the top with an elevation map on it." - Xander

"I liked the part of the hill with the gravel pile because it was fun to stand on, gave a good view, and I pretended to zipline on the power wires. On the way up, you feel like there is no shade. On the way down you feel like there is lots." - Venice