We're happy to welcome our guest for the week ... Nana! (Otherwise known as my Mom.)
We picked her up on Thursday morning and have been showing her some sights -- though we've been slowed by two days of rain.
Dave and I have been taking full advantage of having some babysitting ... so last night we went to Potsdamer Platz for a movie -- in English at the CiniStar! (Don't see "The Good Guys" unless you're in a foreign country with few choices.) We also ate at an Australian restaurant in the Sony Center there. Hamburger in our choice of beef, chicken or kangaroo! (Eh?)
Today, we peeled out after nap for some shopping along Freidrick Strasse. It was drizzling rain but that didn't stop us from finding some cute souvenirs and Hello Kitty PJs for Leah. Also, I bought a controversial sweater that no one likes but me. (Whatever.) For dinner, we stopped at a Tai place called Cha Cha, with a waiter we'll be talking about for months to come. In short, he was so timid, I thought he might faint while taking our order.
It's been nice to sit in a restaurant and not anticipating the next 2-year-old tantrum. Thanks, Mom!
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Access Denied
Having issues with internet access from the apartment. will resume blogging once remedied.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Travel Day - Milan to Berlin
Another early wake-up time for us, but a quicker trip to the airport in the wee hours of morning.
At the airport, Dave and I decided we've had enough with the European-style breakfast of a baked good (eg. croissants/roll with jam) and a tiny glass of juice -- we're not coffee drinkers. In Dave's words: "I would punch someone in the face for an egg sandwich." And I believe him. (Though, I'm particularly jonsing for Cheerios.)
Once we got home -- and so strange to think of Berlin as "home" -- we had errands to run and piles of laundry to sort. The kids will be in some very interesting outfits until I can get all the laundry done.
I made currywurst for dinner with pommes frites (that translates to hot dogs and fries). The currywurst sauce is incredibly delicious. I will bring a jar home with me and will slather it on everything -- including my big American breakfast of scrambled eggs.
P.S. Happy Birthday Mom!!! See you on Thursday morning!
At the airport, Dave and I decided we've had enough with the European-style breakfast of a baked good (eg. croissants/roll with jam) and a tiny glass of juice -- we're not coffee drinkers. In Dave's words: "I would punch someone in the face for an egg sandwich." And I believe him. (Though, I'm particularly jonsing for Cheerios.)
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| In the apartment watching a dvd |
I made currywurst for dinner with pommes frites (that translates to hot dogs and fries). The currywurst sauce is incredibly delicious. I will bring a jar home with me and will slather it on everything -- including my big American breakfast of scrambled eggs.
P.S. Happy Birthday Mom!!! See you on Thursday morning!
Monday, October 11, 2010
Milan Day 6 - Where We Search for Toys
With my guidebook gone, and having no success finding a new one, I was a bit lost this morning. I have one guide book for Northern Italy that spends all of six pages on Milan. Of those 6 pages, however, a majority of attractions are closed on Monday -- including the science museum I had planned on going to.
Note to European travelers: most everything is closed on Sundays and half of Mondays. Which is terribly annoying.
Regardless of the closures, I walked the girls down to the location of the Imaginarium -- this very cool toystore we found a small version of in the train station yesterday. Though, not surprising when we got there, the store was closed and wouldn't open until 3pm. So, we sadly returned to the hotel. All in all, it was about a two hour excursion of disappointment. Sad.
Though, happy ending -- we returned there in the afternoon with David, who is finally finished with his conference and wanted to see a little of Milan. And since the toy store happened to be by the Duomo, well.... Anyway, it was a fun afternoon. And our last in Milan.
Overall, Milan grew on me. I was very happy with our hotel (The Westin Palace) and their outstanding service and our large room. The Italians loved the kids and I wasn't made to feel embarrassed by their ... er... behavior. The trams were incredibly fun to use and got us around quickly. Milan didn't feel like a very big city. And with all the charming little renaissance churches and buildings here and there, you didn't need a guide book to tell you where to go. You just needed to look around to realize you were in a fantastically old and historic town. Though, it's completely filthy. And they drive like maniacs.
Tomorrow morning, another early wake up and back "home" to Berlin!
Note to European travelers: most everything is closed on Sundays and half of Mondays. Which is terribly annoying.
Regardless of the closures, I walked the girls down to the location of the Imaginarium -- this very cool toystore we found a small version of in the train station yesterday. Though, not surprising when we got there, the store was closed and wouldn't open until 3pm. So, we sadly returned to the hotel. All in all, it was about a two hour excursion of disappointment. Sad.
Though, happy ending -- we returned there in the afternoon with David, who is finally finished with his conference and wanted to see a little of Milan. And since the toy store happened to be by the Duomo, well.... Anyway, it was a fun afternoon. And our last in Milan.
Overall, Milan grew on me. I was very happy with our hotel (The Westin Palace) and their outstanding service and our large room. The Italians loved the kids and I wasn't made to feel embarrassed by their ... er... behavior. The trams were incredibly fun to use and got us around quickly. Milan didn't feel like a very big city. And with all the charming little renaissance churches and buildings here and there, you didn't need a guide book to tell you where to go. You just needed to look around to realize you were in a fantastically old and historic town. Though, it's completely filthy. And they drive like maniacs.
Tomorrow morning, another early wake up and back "home" to Berlin!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Milan Day 5 - 10/10/10 Day and Lake Como
Very excited about celebrating 10/10/10 day with everyone in Italy. You realize, this is the only day in your lifetime that will see a 101010 day ... so hope you celebrate. How about an 11/11/11 party next year? Anyone have 11 as their lucky number?
In honor of this glorious day, I took the kids to Lake Como. Luckily, our hotel is a short walk to Central Station, which -- similar to Central Station in NYC -- is a big, beautiful neo-classical building with thousands of people rushing through. Unlike Central Station, people are going to different countries! We quickly purchased our tickets (the train's destination was Zurich -- how cool is that?!) and headed toward the platform -- which was mass chaos.
The ride to Lake Como was about 30 minutes. I had thought I'd see some of the idyllic Italian countryside I'd always read about on the way -- but no, just industrial parks and scrubby buildings. This would turn into the theme of the day.
Because, I had thought Lake Como would be similarly idyllic Italian town with cobblestone streets and views of a tranquil lake. Not so. The town is larger than you would guess, though it has that Italian feel with narrow streets and cobblestones. And there were several very old churches that we saw scattered about. However, it's sprawls out, has loads of noisy traffic and there are houses in every possible nook and cranny in the hills surrounding the lake. It was probably a very peaceful resort town at one time, now it's just very touristy.
After grabbing lunch -- ham and cheese, as usual, I don't think Italians eat anything else. We boarded a small tourist boat for a 30 minute tour of the lake. There was a boat that was a 1-hour excursion, but with two fussy kids, that seemed like a very bad idea. This turned out to be the right decision, as they both had minor meltdowns on board.
Otherwise, the tour was very nice. There are many large villas on the lake, as you can imagine, including George Clooney's mini-palace -- which, surprising to me, is not very well secluded. It's actually incredibly non-secluded and nearly juts out into the lake. Tour boats pass his home regularly and so close you can practically see into his bedroom. Note to Hollywood: Clooney's lake house is NOT the place for a clandestine rendezvous or secret wedding.
On the way back to the train station (which is very walkable from the lake, btw) I had a nice conversation with a 70-year-old "granny" (as she introduced herself) who was waiting for a friend coming in from Milano. She revealed to me why Alice is getting so much attention. It's because she's blonde. Italians don't see many blonde children. It's fun to talk to strangers, no?
On the way back from the train station, I nearly wept when I saw a burger place that was open. I'm not a huge burger fan, but there was something about American cuisine that brought a tear to my eye. Of course I ordered a cheese burger and fries to go. Alice and Leah ate gourmet gelato from next store. It was a win-win.
Anyway, we spent the rest of the night partying like rock stars in our hotel room to celebrate 101010 day, charging up a huge hotel bill and nearly getting thrown out of the place. Or, depending on who you ask, we fell asleep at 10, after an exhausting day.
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| Lake Como from the boat |
The ride to Lake Como was about 30 minutes. I had thought I'd see some of the idyllic Italian countryside I'd always read about on the way -- but no, just industrial parks and scrubby buildings. This would turn into the theme of the day.
 |
| Alice and Leah chasing birds |
After grabbing lunch -- ham and cheese, as usual, I don't think Italians eat anything else. We boarded a small tourist boat for a 30 minute tour of the lake. There was a boat that was a 1-hour excursion, but with two fussy kids, that seemed like a very bad idea. This turned out to be the right decision, as they both had minor meltdowns on board.
 |
| Clooney's Villa |
On the way back to the train station (which is very walkable from the lake, btw) I had a nice conversation with a 70-year-old "granny" (as she introduced herself) who was waiting for a friend coming in from Milano. She revealed to me why Alice is getting so much attention. It's because she's blonde. Italians don't see many blonde children. It's fun to talk to strangers, no?
On the way back from the train station, I nearly wept when I saw a burger place that was open. I'm not a huge burger fan, but there was something about American cuisine that brought a tear to my eye. Of course I ordered a cheese burger and fries to go. Alice and Leah ate gourmet gelato from next store. It was a win-win.
Anyway, we spent the rest of the night partying like rock stars in our hotel room to celebrate 101010 day, charging up a huge hotel bill and nearly getting thrown out of the place. Or, depending on who you ask, we fell asleep at 10, after an exhausting day.
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