What There's Alot of in Berlin

1. Döner Kebaps-There's at least 3 on every block.
   
2. Playgrounds-with huge, scary slides and water pumps, there are three just on our block
   
3. Currywurst stands- every from the U-Bahn to the lakeside
4. Bakeries and Cafes-yum!!
5. Flea markets and farmers markets-so much stuff!!
   
6. People- German, Turkish, English, Muslim, Jewish, French, Russian...
7. Graffiti- It covers every possible surface
   
8. Beautiful Old Buildings-Wow!!
9. Weird, random things-?????
10. Bike Paths-we can ride all over the city. There are even special turning lanes for bikes.
11. Lakes- Germany is full of them!!!
12. Kleingarten colonies-read about them on my Gin+Gelato!

We're having really fun, but I miss u all in the U.S. You all have to come visit soon!!!

Guten Tag Wedding

This week we said goodbye to our first home in Berlin. It was in the bourgeois neighbor of Charlottenburg also known as "sleepy Charlottenburg". We had become used to the daily rhythm of life in the former British sector of Berlin . . . impressive architecture, a three hundred year old palace, expansive gardens, museums full of Matisse and Picasso, and our daily trip to the local ice cream parlor where they knew us by name. As you can imagine, it was with much reluctance that we once again packed-up our enormous black duffel bags and schlepped everything down three flights of stairs to the awaiting taxi. It was then that I realized the Thompsons had officially become Gypsies.

We haven't found a long term housing situation so we had to find another temporary pad for a couple months. There weren't too many choices but luckily we found a beautiful apartment that is spacious and filled with light and plants. Plus, the apartment comes with a box of locally grown organic veggies delivered to our door every Friday morning. The owners, a Russian lady and her German counterpart, left us with an enormous library and ripening tomato plants on the balcony. It might sound somewhat idyllic but a mere fifteen minute taxi ride north over the River Spree has brought us into a whole other world.

The first couple days in the district of Wedding were a bit shocking. There is a mosque across the street, the majority of the women wear headscarves, and the dominant language is Turkish or Arabic. I felt like I had a huge banner across my chest that screamed "Americans" and, honestly, I was a little nervous on our first nightly stroll. So this is what it feels like to be out of your comfort zone. Life is not easy here and it is written on people's faces.

But by the second day I started noticing the sounds of laughter. Inside our flat when the balcony doors are wide open I hear the kids down on the street kicking a soccer ball, when I walk through the park I hear large groups of women chatting intensely, and on my early morning walk with Princess I notice the same three elderly Turkish men happily arguing amongst themselves. This neighborhood is alive. By the third day Elena was dancing down the street, Lydia was ordering Turkish pastries from the bakery next door, and we found the best Indian/Afro market in the city where you can buy everything from bulk curry to hair extensions.

Today we hopped onto the bike trail behind our house and cruised along a tree lined canal filled with ducks and the lull of crickets. Who would have known? When I told a sleepy Charlottenburger that we had moved to Wedding she let out a little gasp of horror, but that is OK, this gem will be our little secret.

Waffles and Picasso

I'm tired so I might not right that much. I'll just sumarize the past few days.
On Sunday, we went to a couple of flea markets. The first one was huge, having everything from sunglasses to suitcases to antique razors. We spent more than an hour covering about half of it, and came out with nothing but some Turkish food (not my favorite...). We got too tired of pushing through crowds of people and seeming to be going in circles, since all the stalls looked the same. We headed to the other, smaller flea market. I had been craving waffles, so on the way we stopped and had yummy chocolate covered waffles with whipped cream, which were delicious but to much. This flea market was much smaller, and much less overwhelming. There were many of the same things as at the other flea market, but since it was smaller it was easier to find things. My mom got a bike, which she rode home on and beat us on the U-bahn. I really want a bike. On Tuesday (I forget what we did on Monday, probably nothing worth writing about), we went and looked at some temporary apartments. We haven't found a permanent one yet, so we'll stay in a temporary one till we do. Both apartments were nice, But on one too far away from our school. The one we will be staying in is really big, and has two rooms, plus a small one with a loft.
The next day we looked at another apartment, then went to a nearby cafe and had drinks. then we walked over to a museum, and looked at works by Matisse, Picasso, Klee and others. We then went to this really cool cafe and had drinks, before going to another museum, right across from the other. There we saw a huge Egyptian gate and a lot of surrealist paintings. There were cool things in the gift shop. We came home, had a really light dinner, hung out till nine, then went to the same cafe we went to earlier, had crepes, and my parents had cocktails. They were really busy so we had to wait awhile, but we had brought a deck of cards to play with. The crepe was really good, and we also got a Eierkuchen, which was a German crepe-like pancake wraped around a banana. It had chocolate sauce, vanilla sauce, and Turkish sesame sauce, which tasted like those Halvah bars. That was really good as well. We then came home a tried to fall asleep, but it's so hot that I found it quite difficult.
Today....I don't know what we'll do today. I'll try to get someone else to write about it. My mom needs to write a post, but she won't! I'll make her. I guess I did write a lot, maybe I'm not as tired as I think. But now I'm hungry, so have to go eat Frustuck (Breakfast).

berlin

Yesterday we went to the farmers market that is a few blocks away.There we got falafel and the person who owned it would say habibee to you when you left which means love you in irak.then we went to a flower shop & bought a bouquet of sunflowers.Then we went home and rested until we went to a ice cream place and watched the world cup.

The World Cup in the Capital of Germany

All Germans are obsessed with fussball (soccer). When I first saw the red, black and yellow flags hanging from balconies, and sticking out of people's cars, I didn't know why they were there. Then I remembered that it was that time every four years, where every pro soccer team came and played together. The World Cup.
Every day we would walk down the street, passing by a bar that always had people sitting outside, eagerly watching the TV in front of them, cheering on Germany. We decided that it would be fun to go to a restaurant or bar and watch one of Germany's games. So when I got home, I looked on FIFA's website and saw that Germany would be versing England in a game that would decide who would be in the Quarter Finals the next day. We couldn't wait to go.

Sitting in the only restaurant we could find that wasn't completely full, sipping lemonades and sour cherry juice, we waited for one of the teams to score. Germany scored. The crowd goes up in cheers, the waiters and kitchen staff come out to see the replays. Everything quiets back down. They score again. Everything is looking good. It's likely that Germany will win, and the people know that. But then England scores, and the crowd in silent in anticipation, waiting to see what happens next. Germany scores again, then again in overtime. The referee blows his whistle. Everyone claps and whistles, hoots and laughs. A car speeds by, honking it's horn. All night people were partying. Germany got into the Quarter Finals!

We watched that game too, and it was very exiting. Germany beat Argentina 4-0, and everyone was very happy. Last night we watched the first game of the Semi Finals, Uruguay versus Netherlands, and found that Netherlands with be the team to play either Germany or Spain in the Finals. Germany vursus Spain is tonight, and it's going to be a huge game. It's hard to predict who will win, since they are both great teams, but I'm rooting for Germany. Go Germany!!

More Fun in Berlin

We've done so much these past couple of days that i can't type it all. I'll just tell about the pictures.The first is of a waterfall in a park that we went to two days ago, which has just about the only hill in Berlin. There's a blue tower that you can see in the background, which is on top of the small hill.
The next is a picture I took of a piece of the Berlin Wall. My dad and I went downtown yesterday, and went to this touristy place that told all about it. I still don't completely understand it all but i think it's pretty interesting. The third one is of Elena on this super fun see-saw type thing, which we found in one of the many,many cool playgrouds around the city. It makes you go really high. The huge building in the next picture is this

enourmous palace that the king of Prussia gave to his girlfriend to show his affection. The picture shows about half of it. The gardens are about a third of the size of the Tier Garden, with a lake, fountains, forests, and endless pathways. I'd like to live there.
The last picture is of one of the many U-bahns throughout the city. It was really hard to catch it in motion. Today we're going to check out one of the schools. I really miss all of you, and can't wait to see you soon.


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Day Three: What we've learned so far

1. Currywurst is a traditional Berlin favorite. Maybe not traditional in the same way that Jello is a Utah tradition, though. Maybe more like Rocky Mountain Oysters are a ranching-country tradition. Or whatever. Anyway, if you want to make currywurst at home: Take a cooked sausage, slice it up, douse it in curry powder and a red kinda barbecuey sauce, add chili pepper flakes, eat it standing up.

2. Ordering tap water is verboten in Germany. Why? I don't know. It tastes fine. We're not dead yet. But the waitress was disgusted when we asked for it.

3. Peonies are a big favorite at the outdoor markets. This is funny to us because we moved here from Paonia, which is named after the peony. Now wishing we would have smuggled a couple thousand on the plane so we could sell them in the markets instead of finding work.

4. You ARE supposed to tip waiters/waitresses, but not that much. To the waitress at the Cafe am Neusee: Das tut mir leid. Next time we'll give you double.

5. Carry small bills and change. Germans hate giving change. Try paying with a 100 Euro bill, even for something costing 30 or 40 Euros, and they shake their head: Zu gross. Today's Sunday, so we can't cash in our big bills for something smaller at the bank, meaning we have a bunch of money, but basically can't spend it.

6. There is one hill in Berlin. It's not very big, but it provides a bit of a view.

7. This is not a litigious society. We rented a little boat in the park, just gave the cash and went. No signed release, etc. Little kids were cruising around in their own boats, totally unsupervised. Refreshing.

8. Due to #5, we were unable to purchase tickets for the subway. It didn't really matter. There appears to be no system to keep anyone from riding the subway without a ticket.

9. A bald guy with a guitar got on the subway and started singing John Denver's "Leaving on a Jet Plane" in Germglish. I later learned that Germans are obsessed with John Denver. Thinking of creating a John Denver tribute act, myself, with the idea that I have added cred, being a Colorado native. Yeah?