Last Full Day on the Town

Simone's final full day here was on Friday.  We made the most of it.  After our Street Art tour the day before I still wanted to show her the East Side Gallery. I'm sure this was just too mainstream and/or pedestrian for the Street Art Tour which was very up and coming and not nearly 30 years old like the

East Side Gallery. But I knew Simone would love it and I hadn't been there for many, many years.  I think the last time I went was when Josie was a baby.
We hopped the train

and found our way very near where we started the Street Art tour the day before.  Kruezberg really is the epicenter of street art even though it permeates the whole city.
It was bitterly cold.  One advantage to this was that we were one of

just a handful of people there.
We enjoyed the backside which was more graffiti than the front side which was commissioned art murals.  There were just a few people here and there until you came to the famous "kiss" mural.  There were busloads of people in front of that painting.

After braving the cold - it was the coldest it has been today.  A slight wind with temps at 32 but a feel like of 23.  Brrrr.  It was COLD.  Simone had found this totally hipster place for lunch.  It is  hotel with an attached restaurant.  It was all farm to table and very fresh.

We both ordered the Lunch special which included a soup (pumpkin) a fresh from the garden salad (with tahini dressing) a small main dish - I had sausage with polenta and it was DELICIOUS.  She had duck croquette and it was OK, but she loved it.  Along with gingerbread cake with blueberry cream.  The gingerbread was a bit dry but otherwise everything was so very good.
I had to run to go pick up Benjamin after school and Simone stayed to explore more.  Our plan was that I would meet her back at Brandenburg Gate and we would go to one of the most famous Christmas Markets in Berlin that evening.    Julie came over and hung out with the kids for awhile which

made me feel all the better about leaving them, again.  The week with Simone has been so very good but with Marty gone I have felt pretty divided.  I want to be with my friend but know I am needed around the house even more than normal.  I know the kids needed me more this week and I was quite frankly much less available than normal.  It isn't often that one of your best friends comes to visit.  I really had to prioritize.

So when I arrive downtown Simone is feeling pretty lousy from a sudden onset cold.  It is just the perfect capper to our our week.  First Benjamin gets sick, then Josie then the friend who was going to watch the kids on Thursday so I could stay out letter, her kids get sick and then finally when it is just Simone and I on our one free night out, she ends up feeling sick.  She toughed it out and we headed to Gendarmenmarkt.  It really was the most beautiful of all the markets we have been too.  It is in between the Berliner Dom (cathedral) and the French dom.  It was really really pretty but unfortunately we were not the only ones who thought to go there on a Friday night.  The place was absolutely packed.  It was hard to walk let alone try to see anything at any of the booths or buy anything.  The lines were so long. We both felt pretty claustrophobic and opted for a bratwurst that we could just walk around with.  Right when we were about to call it quits we found a small tented area where were able to finish our brats and order a gluhwein.
It was a nice way to end a very nice week.  So thankful that my two worlds collided even if for a short time. It started a bit

disappointing with my canceled trip to Copenhagen, Marty being gone most of the time.  He would have been fun to have around as we were sightseeing but also the fact that because of his absence I was single parenting it the entire time Simone was here was pretty hard.  I felt pulled in different directions.  I have to say that neither of the kids nor Simone made me feel badly for not being with them more but I just felt like I should have been there for all of them more than I was.  Then Josie getting sick and missing school and then my friend's daughter getting sick when my kids were supposed to go there after school.  It really was just one thing after another.  But in the end it was a SUPER nice visit.  Simone is truly a go with the flow traveler and friend who is like a sister and has known me for 30+ years.  She reminded me to take care of myself. She reminded me of things I like to do for myself and dreams I've had.  It is funny after being a mom for so many years and then uprooting our entire family for the move I had forgotten who I was in many ways.  Simone's visit was good for my heart and soul and brought me back to who I was and who I am now.   Thank you, Simone!! 💗💗