Spring Blooms

OK, I know I've already said it but Berlin really does shine in the Spring.  Even though it went from Winter to Summer overnight temperature and weather-wise we still have all the beauty of Spring time flowers, flowering bushes and trees and various blooms.  I have never, ever seen so many lilac bushes and trees.  They have all different variety of colors and they line the streets so you walk down or bike down and are greeted with such a sweet, sweet scent.  Apparently this year is a unique year and called a "Mast Year" where the spruce trees are producing a significantly higher amount of pollen which you can see in the form of yellow dust EVERYWHERE.

All over our apartment there is a layer of this yellow dust that I'm trying, unsuccessfully,  to stay on top of. Poor Benjamin's allergies have been in full force.  We picked up the Zyrtec equivalent (for 1/5 of the price!) and it seems to keep them in check for the most part.

But the blooms!!  They are everywhere and they are GORGEOUS!  We started with the cherry blossoms and magnolias, then the lilacs and the rhododendrons.  And then all the flowering trees.

Seriously Sunny and Warm

Pretty much since the beginning of April the sun has been shining here.  And by mid April it was downright warm.... like tank tops and flip flops warm.  So SO nice after the long, dark cold winter.  It really did seem like we went from winter to full on summer overnight.
On Sunday Marty and I went on one of our "Day Dates" into the city.  We went to Mauer Park to look around and then along the Wall Memorial.  It was bright and sunny and warm. What a day!!

When we got home we convinced the kids (it wasn't difficult!) to bike to our newly favorited Italian restaurant which we discovered because our friends, The Kitcheners, stayed right near it when the visited us.  The bike ride was lovely, dining "al

fresco" is now just the new normal and the food was tasty as usual.  Spring, I'm so so happy to see you!! You have my permission to stay around as long as you want.  You can make way at any time for Summer but Winter I'd love it if you stayed away as long as possible.

Hackescher Markt and Goodbyes

On Josh and Jodi's last night in Berlin we met them for a farewell dinner and sweet goodbyes.  The sun was shining, we ate out at one of our old time favorite outdoor eating areas and had a fun time just soaking in the food

friends, drinks and sunshine.  Berlin really does shine so brightly in the Spring time. 
After dinner we found this amazing little ice cream shop that served up ice cream (as many different flavors as you wanted) in the shape of a rose with each pedal a different flavor.  Beautiful.

THANK YOU Jodi and Josh for making the trek.

Espionage Museum and Dinner Dates

Marty and Benjamin headed downtown to meet Josh and Jodi at the Spy Museum on Thursday after school. Benjamin gets out of school at 1PM on Thursdays so they actually were able to get there by early afternoon.
They had a good time exploring the museum but it sounds like the highlight was the laser maze area.  That is about all that Benjamin talked about from the museum so I'm assuming he had a nice time.

After the museum they got something to eat.  Berlin really opens up their outdoor seating area in each and every restaurant the MINUTE the sun comes out.  It really is one of the highlights to eating out here.  It is sad that outdoor seating is so rare in Seattle.
In front of the

restaurant was a huge field where the boys played catch. 
Josie and I were still here in Zehlendorf so we decided to go out to dinner just the two of us.  She opted for Sixteen Bites, our favorite - really the only - Mexican food restaurant in the area. It is mostly just like a Chipotle but salsa and Mexican food is so hard to come by here it serves the purpose.

Sleepy Zehlendorf

 Josh and Jodi trekked out to visit us in our sleepy area of Berlin, Zehlendorf.  We all went and met the kids as they were getting out of school and to stop by the school shop and buy Josh a JFK t-shirt to remember the kids school.  There was no complaining from anyone when we suggested that we head to our favorite ice cream shop - Alte Backstube .  It is funny that we go to this ice cream shop so much.  Well, actually not funny at all as it has the BEST (handmade) ice cream in town, but interesting because I remember looking around the town via Google Earth from Seattle before we moved here

dreaming about where we would be hanging out.  And Alte Backstube was one of the places I figured we would be at often.  And I was right.

House Hunters International - Balance in Berlin

Back in October we did 5 full 12 hour days of filming for an episode of House Hunters International.  After the filming they told us that our episode would air sometime in the next 6 to 9 months.  Well, a couple of weeks ago we got word that our episode was

set to air on Tuesday, April 9th - which with the time change turned out to be Wednesday really early on April 10th. 

Marty and I set our alarms for 4AM so we could watch it.  We didn't know if it would be available later on youtube or not and since we can't record anything from here we figured this was our one shot to see ourselves on the big (or in this case just the teeny iPad)

screen. 
After all those hours of filming it was so interesting to see what they chose to put into and take out of our episode. 

All in all we would say it was a great, albeit exhausting at the time, experience.  It is really super cool to have part of our big move here documented like this.
There was a second showing at 7:30 AM our time.  We normally leave for school around 7:30 but we decided to

let the kids watch the first 10 minutes before they hustled to bike to school on time.

And then the next day our tech savvy daughter pointed out that our episode was on YouTube and we could watch it whenever we wanted.  So, here it is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrz6EI4p0Lk

Sunny Sunday at Mauerpark

We have been meaning to get back to the huge Sunday Flohmarkt at Mauerpark for a long time.  We went with Julie a couple summers ago and when Jodi suggested it for her first full day in Berlin activity we jumped on board. I swear Jodi must have brought the great weather with her.  From the minute she landed Berlin was

bright, sunny and actually warm!! 
Mauer Park is was an enormous Flea Market mixed with new and cool handmade stuff and food stands with food from all over the world.  There is even a craft beer garden.  Aside from the Flea Market there is a huge park

filled with people picnicking, karaoking, live music.  It really is the hip hangout for the Bohemian Berlin cool.
We walked up and down the crowded stands of merchants selling things old and new.  Jodi found some really fun and unique gifts for friends back home and the kids had a great time on the playground

and the lively atmosphere of the park, complete with the bubble strings.
After a quick Italian lunch we decided to revisit Treptower Park where we had just gone with the Kitcheners just

Jodi didn't like the pic of herself so
she "edited it a little"  haha

a few days previous.  When we went with the Kitcheners it was a Thursday afternoon, the weather was sunny but on the cold side and the park was all but abandoned.  We even doubted we would be able to rent boats.  Well, when we went with Jodi and Josh on this very sunny and nice (first sunny weekend of the year) the park was PACKED. 

Within minutes on the train ride back Josh was out.
Way to hang in there on your first full day in Berlin!

And the line to rent the boats was a mile long and would take us 2 hours until a boat was available to rent.  When decided to bypass the boats but the walk along the river and the ice cream cones were worth the trek. 
Again, Josh and Jodi really hung in there and you couldn't even tell that they had just arrived, presumably battling jet lag.  They put us to shame.  It takes us at least a couple of days on either end of that trip to feel even somewhat put together.