Berlin Days 3 & 4

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Again Eliza woke up early, this time at 6:30. Ugh. She cuddled in bed with us for about an hour and then Jonathan got up with her. I stayed in bed until about 8am and the girls woke around 8:30. We had breakfast and then the girls had a bath. By the time we got going it started pouring. Luckily the girls were content to play and the storm passed quickly. Still the weather dictated our plans for the day and we headed out around 10:30 to go to the Natural History Museum. We stopped en route, once again, and had coffee and pastries. It is nice when we are able to spend a few days in one location, instead of just day trips. Our kids crave routine and the vacation routines that we have adopted are particularly pleasing to them! We got to the museum around 11 and there was a huge line outside. Luckily the weather had changed to sunshine and so one of us waited in line while the other played with the kids on the grass. The line moved fairly quickly and gave us just enough time to feed the kids a sandwich before we went inside.

This museum is very reminiscent of the Museum of Natural History in New York, but it is a miniaturized version. The dinosaur skeletons were fantastic as was the gem room. The girls also enjoyed the section on the solar system where they could lay down and watch a movie on the ceiling about the beginning of the planets. We hit some of the stuffed mammals and the section on the evolution of man just as the girls started to hit their afternoon wall. It was almost 2:30 and so we left the museum (only 10 euro for all of us) and got ice cream outside (here is another example of the price differences, a small cone was only 60 cents!). We took the train home and all three girls fell promptly asleep.

We decided to eat in this evening and so I went to the grocery store. I picked up some pasta and sauce and stuff to make a cucumber and carrot salad, along with other provisions we would need over the next few days. I came back and while everyone continued to sleep and Jonathan continued to read Harry Potter I took a run in the lovely afternoon sun. Nothing too spectacular but I did find a nice sized playground about a block and a half away. Good news. When I returned we made dinner and woke the girls around 5:30. I showered and we ate. Emma had three bowls of pasta and Abigail discovered she loves Quark and wants it to be her new nickname. Quark is, I believe, a German invention. It is a cross between cream cheese and sour cream but more whipped in consistency. It is a spread or a dip and comes in flavors ranging from dill to strawberry (we had an herb one this evening). It is so fun to watch Abigail dive into new foods.

After dinner we took the train back into town and walked through the Brandenburg Gate to the Reichstag. I had never been inside and was looking forward to it until we saw the line that stretched out of the building, down the steps and part way onto the lawn! Just at that moment Eliza started crying (because we took her off the wall she was balancing on) and a guide came over and asked if we had been in yet. We said no, and they escorted us to the handicapped entrance where there was no line at all! What luck that we have been ‘handicapped’ with three beautiful little girls! They scanned our bags and gave each of the girls a pin and off we went up the elevator. On top of the Reichstag is an observation deck from which you can enter the glass cupola and wind your way up the ramps to the top. It was a spectacular view over the city and the kids loved running up and down the ramps. Emma and Abigail were so funny making up songs in their made up language and entertaining all sorts of people. Everywhere we go we are stopped by people telling us how beautiful the girls are. On the train today a man kept going on and on about Abigail’s hair. In Delft a few weeks ago an Indian couple photographed Eliza and Abigail, two typical “Dutch” girls, trying on clogs.

Once at the bottom we decided not to press our luck by heading to a local beer garden and instead decided to return home. Before we left I asked the girls to stand in front of the Reichstag so I could take a picture. Abigail turns and says, “Where? Where are the Red Sox?” Ha. Came home and had a banana and peanut butter snack before reading more Tin Tin and getting to bed at the not so early hour of 9:45. Thank goodness for long afternoon naps! Tomorrow perhaps Sansoucci!

July 28, 2007

We woke again to gray clouds. The kids all slept well; Eliza didn’t wake until 8:30, the big girls at 8. We all ate and got ready for the day. We have established a very nice routine now, but again as we were preparing to leave the skies opened up. Unlike yesterday, however, it wasn’t a strong rain so we concluded it might be a rainy day in Berlin. The girls wanted to go to see the mummies at the Egyptian museum at the Neues Museum, so we took the train to Friedrichstrasse and walked through the drizzle to the museum. It wasn’t like the museum yesterday which was clearly made for kids so we had to keep the girls close. They did a great job. Abigail really liked looking at all of the hieroglyphics. Emma loved the coffins they kept the mummies in. And Eliza liked saying, ‘ooooh, mummies”. It is a spectacular collection, the highlight of which is the bust of Queen Nefretiti. All of the Egyptian artwork inspired many conversations about Egypt and their ancient beliefs about gods and the afterlife. Now the girls and I are trying to convince Jonathan we need to go to see the pyramids in person.

After a few hours at the museum we went outside to clearer skies. We picnicked on some benches, under trees, in front of the museum and Der Dom, the massive cathedral. It was almost 2:30 so we wandered back through an artists’ market towards the train station to go home for our mid afternoon siesta. Abigail was into some little stackable wooden dolls, so when she wasn’t looking I bought her a set for her stocking at Christmas time. We stopped for a coffee to go on the way to the train and passed by some fantastic antique markets. They had really great art deco silverware and tableware and some cool 1950’s jewelry. The next time we are in Berlin by ourselves (hopefully spring 2009 when Jonathan teaches that short course again) we will have to go there and poke around. It wasn’t exactly a kid friendly place.

We came home and had a beer while Eliza napped and the big girls played and did their scrapbooks. We aren’t too sure about what to do for the next few days. There is so much we could do here in Berlin but we also had half a mind to rent a car and drive out to the Harz mountain region for the day. It looks like rain for the next two days. One day we thought we would take the girls to the puppet museum, perhaps we could go to Legoland another day. We still want to go to Sansoucci, the Citadel, Pfaueninsel and do the 100 bus through the city and perhaps the Jewish cemetery and synagogue and a little of Prenzlauerberg. It is hard to believe that there is so much for us to do here and 90% of it is new to Jonathan and I, even with all of the time we have spent here!

Eliza woke up at about 4:30. The girls were still happy playing and we decided that they could use a night off from trekking into the city for food and/or sights. At about 5:15 we headed down the street for some quality time at the local playground. The skies had cleared and there were even patches of sunny blue showing, hopefully forecasting a nice day for tomorrow. The girls had fun playing and after an hour we headed off in search of dinner. We ended up at an Italian restaurant near the Botanical Gardens. We figured without any recommendations that Italian was always fairly safe, particularly with the kids in tow. They had a yummy basil pizza, Jonathan had a calzone and I had a cup of fantastic minestrone soup and a salad. After dinner we wandered home and had the kids in bed just before nine, a new Berlin record. Another quiet evening here of reading and relaxing, but tonight we have the added entertainment of doing laundry. Luckily there is a tiny, little washing machine here, and though there is no dryer there is a line stretched across the master bedroom which should suffice. We only packed enough clothes for half the trip figuring that we would do laundry at least once mid way due to the potty training. Luckily Eliza has been soooo amazing going on the potty in various places and letting us know when she needed to go (because she won’t speak this usually just involves screaming MOOOMMM or DAAADDD at the top of her lungs and sometimes grabbing her crotch…not pretty, but effective). Tomorrow we are hoping for nice weather even though the forecast said otherwise.

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Photos

Dome on top of the Reichstag
The kids loved running up and down the ramps, and the view outside was great.

Abigail in front of Der Dom
This is the largest cathedral in Berlin.