Tomorrow we head back to the states for a whole month. Well a whole month for the kiddos and me and 2 1/2 weeks for L. We will head to L.A. to hang with some of my brothers and then Washington state for my youngest brothers' wedding, more family visits in Cambridge , MA and then Maine. We are all excited (grown ups a bit stressed by the usual travel woes) but never the less looking forward to a vacation. The kiddos finished school 8 days ago and since then it's been them and me, and me and them (and on the weekends, L). I think we (the kiddos and I) are really feeling the lack of community here. And once we arrive in Maine -I will be falling back on the it takes a village mentality and hope to not have to entertain my children for 2 1/2 whole weeks. But we have been enjoying summer in Berlin (despite some crappy ass weather) and I already see via social media that we will be missing some fun stuff here, I explained to B the other day that we have screwed ourselves now- when we are here we miss Maine and when we're in Maine we will inevitably miss some things here- sigh. Here are some images from our short summer here- including B's end of the year class party, more time at the lake, and general exploring in the sun and the rain.
Last weekend we went to two new places in Berlin. I'll admit it- I was in a bit of a Berlin rut spending most days within a 4 block radius of our apartment and on the stretch of sbahn between our place and B's school- so it was nice to explore two new areas. The first was a little lake called WeißenSee near F's school. Her school had a summer festival that we attended and from there headed off to explore this sweet little lake which according to L has a very DDR feel to it still. We didn't have our swimming gear but rented a row boat and explored that way. I really appreciate that in Berlin (and many big cities) you can walk a few blocks and suddenly feel very much like you're in the country. If only the same were true when you live in the country. We will certainly return when the kiddos are finished with school next week. Then on Sunday we ventured to the famous Thai market. What started out as a gathering of Thai families at a west Berlin park has become a huge Thai street food market. It has great food, people watching and an amazing playground to boot. It was the best Thai food I have had in a long time and I didn't take as many photos as I would have liked because quite honestly -I was very busy eating. Again, we will be returning.
We took a little trip to Ireland last week and met some family there. We were a large group of Americans- hiking, eating and drinking our way through a small town on the West coast. The landscape was beautiful, the food really good and some of the best company I can imagine. It was a real treat to watch the troop of cousins goofing it up wherever we went. I think the pictures say it all.
Although the school year in Germany only ends in late July, there are several long weekends and vacations in late May and June that make it feel like the school year is already winding down. F and B both had last week off and we took advantage of the break to travel to the island of Usedom on the Baltic Sea. L took a day off and we spent 4 lovely nights in a thatched roof cottage in a sleepy village on the island. It was peaceful and beautiful. We explored our sleepy village taking advantage of the neighborhood farmer to buy fresh rolls every morning and homemade jam. We made excursions to the beachside towns, rented bicycles, and trampolined at the seaside. Half of the island of Usedom is Poland, so one our final day we drove to Poland and spent the day exploring the beach there. It was my first time in Poland since living there for 6 months back in 1999, and I have to say I was smitten. The Poles won me over with the no smoking sign at the playground and the pristine beaches. Overall a lovely vacation. I think we will certainly be returning to Usedom.
There is an expression when it comes to Germans and it goes something like this- "it is very difficult to make a German friend, but once you have a German friend you have a friend for life." I find this expression to be 100 % true- it is extremely difficult to make a German friend but the ones we have are great friends. A few weeks ago we headed to to L's home town to visit his mom and made a day trip to Heidelberg, where L went to University and where several of his high school and Uni friends still live. I am always so touched at how they all gather at such short notice to see us. We had a lovely barbecue and enjoyed catching up. It was especially nice to see how well B and F did with their German language. It's truly a group where despite time and distance we are always welcomed. On top of catching up with dear, old friends we rode many trains to- long trips from Berlin to Pforzheim and the shorter trip from Pforzheim to Heidelberg, visited the public pool and enjoyed taking a walk down memory lane looking at Omi's photo albums and just chilling in her cozy apartment.
My older brother and I are exactly 2 days and 2 years apart and this year we spent our birthday weekend together. Probably the first time that's happened since we were in our 20's. We flew to visit him and his family and had a lovely weekend celebrating, exploring and eating a lot. We went to many pubs, visited a wildlife park and a few ridiculously picturesque villages and romped around the gorgeous countryside. F even tasted her first champagne (the small glass was hers.) Enjoy the photos (there is even one of me.)
Last week one of F's best friends from Maine came to Berlin to visit. She got on a plane all by herself and flew across the ocean to visit us. She and F had been counting down the days for months and it was a really lovely visit. The weather could have been better- it was cold and hailed here 4 times during the week, F got sick for 2 days foiling some of the plans- but all in all it was great to have a person from home. A person who brought greetings from our entire little town - and see how despite 8 months apart the girls (and B) fell right back into their friendships. It was a lot of fun to show her around Berlin and see it again through her eyes. We did some touristy things, mixed with mundane everyday activities like the grocery store and orthodontist. We had a paper airplane challenge, chased bubbles, ate street food and toured playgrounds and the zoo. The kids laughed a lot, goofed around and loudly marched through the streets playing games and chanting "alcohol, cigarettes, dirty streets...Berlin" their Berlin chant. We hope Berlin left some other impressions as well.
We are finally starting to do some traveling- one of the big draws of moving back to Europe- and our first trip was to Italy. I have been to northern Italy before but had never been to the South. We flew to Bari where we spent a few days, then headed to Monopoli to explore the white washed towns of Polignano A Mare, Ostuni, the trulli houses of Alberobello, Locorotondo and Castel Del Monte and then ended the week with 4 days in Naples. It was a wonderful week with amazing weather, time with family, delicious food and espresso. Italy, I'm totally smitten and not sure why anyone lives anywhere else.
Spring has sprung in Berlin and you can tell by the warmer weather, the budding trees and the garbage. Berliners are litter bugs and I'll leave it at that. We've been out exploring again and reconnected with an old friend at the Biosphere in Potsdam, enjoyed showing family the sights- the Berlin wall, Reichstag, Holocaust memorial, museums, a boat ride on the river Spree and of course playing ping pong and hanging out at our local green places. Enjoy the photos.
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