Other things from January

January started off a little rocky. On January 1, we pedaled to the Grunewaldturm to check it out. Someone (I won’t say who) complained the whole way there, leaving me in a very grumpy mood. Then when we arrived, I discovered I had forgotten both my bike lock and my phone. So I couldn’t go in, and I didn’t have anything to do while I waited for everyone else to come back out. Thankfully the cafe loaned us some locks so we all went to the top, and then got cake, which always helps. But I still didn’t have my phone, so there’s just these two photos that Peter took.

January 2 was not much better. I (mistakenly) thought that the big Weihnachtsmarkt by the Gedächtniskirche was open past New Year’s, and I had saved it for last. Alas. We arrived at Zoo to find wooden stalls in various stages of deconstruction and not a Waffel to be found. Worse, the Gedächtniskirche itself was closed due to water damage, so we couldn’t even have a moment of historical education. I hope it reopens before we leave, it is one of the monuments that I find most moving and the kids are now old enough to understand it, at least a little.

So instead we walked along the Ku’damm a bit, and found a giant M&Ms store, and wandered into KaDeWe to get a fancy snack but were too overwhelmed to stay. It wasn’t bad, but…no Glühwein.

Peter started working through a new cookbook he received for Christmas, which is quite good: Deutschland Vegetarisch. He also bought himself a Spaetzle grater, and the results are so good that we cannot remember to pause and take a photo before starting to gobble it down, yum yum!

A few leftover things from the holidays – sushi restaurant gift, fancy chocolates from Santa Barbara, and the cutest jar of Nutella ever (that I didn’t notice until January, because I eat less Nutella than the others).

Also on delayed fulfillment was Schatzi’s birthday outing to see a real live pig. Knirpsenfarm had quite the menagerie and was not at all busy on a rainy Sunday, so we received some special attention from the staff – personal introductions to the sheep and goats, and background on the Minischweine (miniature pigs), named Paul and Paula.

Our other outing to see the oldest tree in Berlin was not as well received…

Finally, Schatzi had a ballet recital/demonstration where she got to wear a fancy costume! She has been enjoying dance classes and working on her splits.

After the recital, we went home, changed, and left for the airport to start Winterferien in Norway (!) which will be the focus of another post.