Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder…If you Don’t Starve to Death

Dana and Dylan are leaving for America this week.  They will be in Washington DC with Dana’s parents for 3 weeks on what we call a ‘Grandma Appeasement Trip.’  This was a part of the ‘appeasement treaty’ that we agreed to with Dana’s parents when we decided to move their only grandchild 5000 miles away last year.  

I will be staying back in Germany during this time.  I hope to get a lot of work done and enjoy some Bryan time. When Dana leaves me by myself for any period of time, I usually follow the same pattern.  It begins with 24-48 hours of exuberance from finally having some alone time, followed by the loneliness crash that contains a lot of withdrawal symptoms, and capped off with a mild bout of starvation and body odor.  Dana usually finds me lying naked in a corner somewhere when she gets home anytime she is away for more than 3 days.   And you thought she had her hands full with Dylan. 

To prove that this is not an exaggeration, our close friends have voiced more concern about me being alone in Germany for three weeks than with Dana, who has to travel with Dylan in her lap (twice) for 9 hours.   They have asked us, ‘How is Bryan going to survive?’ and ‘Does Bryan need me to cook something for him during this time?’  (The answer to the second question is ‘yes!’)

Over the next 3 weeks, I will be posting updates on life/adventures with Oscar here in Germany and Dana (hopefully) will be giving her updates as well from DC. 

It could be an interesting month of May.

I'm gonna miss these guys. 

Every Day is Laundry Day

There are a lot of great things about living in Germany - the people, the shopping, the little town squares and the proximity to other really cool European places.  It's also really great that Germans are very energy conscious, although it makes me feel both guilty and defiant when I can't find regular light bulbs at the store and am forced to either buy really expensive energy efficient ones or sit in the dark (side note: I recently learned that old-fashioned energy-wasting bulbs aren't sold in Germany anymore). But two things I really miss about our old place in America are our giant energy-guzzling washer and dryer appliances.

Back in America, we used to save up our laundry and do it all in one day.  Because the machines were large and fast, it was possible to wash, dry and fold 4 loads of laundry in a day, no problem. (Don't ask about the 4th step - putting the clean clothes away.  We're guilty of just grabbing clean clothes out of the basket until we're forced to officially empty the basket in order to refill it with more dirty clothes later in the week.)

But here, every day is laundry day for four reasons. 

1. Our washing machine holds half the amount of clothes as our machine in America.  This means 4 loads per week becomes 8, which is too many for only 1 laundry day per week.
2. Our washing machine is slow.  I believe our clothes get a better wash in this machine ... but it takes 1.5 hours for it to complete 1 wash cycle.  
3. We don't have a dryer. This is the real kicker to having to do laundry every day.  Dryers are not very common here because they use up so much energy.  Much more common are drying racks, which we have 2.  Our drying racks are located in our loft area (aka: guest room / laundry room) and each rack can hold 1 to 1.5 loads of laundry.  During the spring/summer a load can usually dry in a day because the loft gets god sunlight and it's really hot up there, but in the winter it sometimes would take 48 hours for clothes to dry due to no sunlight and it being so cold.
4. The washing machine is in the basement.  This reason just boils down in part to (my) laziness.  I don't want to have to walk up and down three flights of stairs to get one load of laundry, then go up a fourth flight of stairs to the loft to hang everything up. Pure and simple laziness.

So, there you have it folks.  Probably the most boring and mundane blog post yet.  Please don't let this deter you from coming back.  I promise, more interesting posts are on their way. 

Boring photo to go with our boring blog post. These are our two drying racks in the loft. 

4 Reasons Why Dylan is German

Now that we've lived here for 8 months, we're starting to see some changes in Dylan that lead us to believe he might be becoming a little more German than American.  Here are the top 4 reasons why we think this:

1. He speaks German (and understands it): Its true, Dylan also speaks English, but more and more a lot of the words he knows are the German versions.  Here's just a short list of words that he says in German: bitte (please), danke (thank you), Puppe (doll), Auto (car), Oma/Opa (grandma/grandpa), der Ball (ball, but he always says it with the proper German article "der"), brot (bread), Schlange (snake), Pferd (horse), Papagei (parrot), lecker (yummy).  In addition to that, our German friends speak to him in German and he seems to understand it pretty well - better than I do, actually.
2. His Diet - Dylan has a diet like a lot of Germans - heavy in bread and yogurt.  It seems like every meal involves a lot of bread and is capped off by some kind of yogurt.  He also is completely obsessed with mineral/fizzy water, which he calls "bubbles." Nothing is more German than preferring fizzy, carbonated water to regular drinking water.
3. German Television - He loves watching German kids programs on KiKa (German PBS) including SesamStrasse (German Sesame Street) and has learned some songs, mainly from TanzAlarm ("dance alarm").  One song teaches kids the vowels but in German they are pronounced "ah, eh, eee, oh, uuuuuu", so he might be confused when we also try to teach him the English version and pronunciations of "a, e, i, o, u".  Bryan and Dylan watch the TanzAlarm song over and over again and it's not uncommon to walk in on them singing and dancing together. 
4. He Sleeps on the Floor - Well, technically he is on a mattress on the floor, but it's at least been our experience that a mattress on the floor isn't all that unusual here.  The first time we lived in Germany (8 years ago) we only had mattresses and no bed frames, as did our friends and their kids. Maybe we were all just too poor to realize that's not normal, but from then on we always associate a mattress on the floor to living in Germany.

In addition to bread and yogurt, Dylan loves peas.  It's one of the few vegetables that he'll eat, so he gets them a lot.

Going to the fire station nearby and checking out all the trucks is one of his favorite things to do.  He tries to compete with the sounds of the sirens and screams "weeeee-ooooooo weeeeeee-oooooo!"

He appears to be a right-handed shooter.

Foods We Miss the Most in America

One of the biggest differences that we've noticed in living in Germany this time is that we're not so strapped for food options as we were 8 years ago.  Maybe it's because we were living in such a small village the last time that they grocery stores just had fewer options, or maybe Germany is catching up to having more American-style food available in stores.  Either way, we've been pleased with what's available; however, there are still several items we find ourselves craving. 

Kraft Mac n Cheese - This is always at the top of the list of things we ask people to bring when the come to visit. If you are coming to visit us, it's very likely that you will get an email beforehand saying something like, "We can't wait to see you in a couple of weeks, but you are only welcome here if you bring us 5 boxes of mac of cheese. Seriously.  Love, Dana"
It appears that we are ready for some more visitors as we just ate our last box yesterday.

Wendy's / Five Guys (aka: hamburgers) - Germany hasn't really figured out how to make a good hamburger yet.  Yes, our town has a McDonald's, which tastes the same everywhere in the world, but regular restaurants really don't make the grade.  Bryan is really hankering for a Wendy's Junior Bacon Cheeseburger and I am dying for a Five Guys Burgers and Fries cheeseburger.

Ever wonder why Americans are overweight?

Cheddar cheese - The best of all the cheeses is nowhere to be found (for a reasonable price) here in Deutschland.  I have no idea why this cheese has not gained popularity here in the land of Munster and Gouda, but these Germans missing out!  The only cheddar cheese I can find in the stores is Irish Cheddar Slices - so for 1.99 Euros, I can get 5 measly slices of cheddar cheese, barely enough to sate my craving.

Chips + cheese - One of our favorite snacks to make in America was tortilla chips smothered in shredded cheddar cheese and microwaved to melted perfection.  But, natural flavored tortilla chips are hard to come by and cheddar cheese (nonetheless, shredded cheddar cheese) is impossible.

Papa John's Pizza - The Germans have not figured out how to properly do delivery pizza.  The crust is not doughy, the sauce isn't very flavorful and the cheese isn't very cheesy.  If you're looking for a peperoni pizza and order it with "peperoni," your pizza will come with green and red peppers.  The correct toppings to order here is "salami" if you want an American-style peperoni pizza.  If you're not careful and don't know your food vocabulary, you can also get some crazy toppings that don't really work on pizza - like tuna-fish, canned peas and carrots, and shrimp.  We've learned the hard way.

This is how a pizza is supposed to look.

Bagels - Oh, how I miss "Everything Bagels" loaded with plain cream cheese.  The cream cheese I can get here, but the bagels are just plain gross.  Only 1 grocery store in town has bagels and they usually taste stale and flavorless.  Can we please get a Bagel Shop here?

Cheerios - Germans are not into cereal.  A typical German breakfast is a crusty bread roll with cold cuts and cheese and a hard boiled egg, so it's no surprise that they cereal selection here is really lacking.  I find it surprising that in our little town I can find Cinnamon Toast Crunch but no Cheerios.  Our store carries about 6-8 different kinds of cereal total.  I told one of my friends here that the cereal selection at an American grocery store fills both sides of a store-length isle and she couldn't even wrap her head around how there could possibly be that many types to choose from.

Anything Mexican - No surprise that good Mexican food is hard to come by in Germany.  There is an over-priced Mexican Restaurant in town, but it really doesn't compare to the authentic Mexican food we could get at La Nopalera or Los Toros in Jacksonville.  Even a Moe's or Sierra Grill would be a huge improvement from what's available.

Honorable Mention: Buffalo Chicken Wings and Ben + Jerry's Ice Cream - This is honorable mention because ironically about a 25 minute bike ride from our house is a restaurant called The Daytona Roadhouse Bar and Grill, which is actually modeled after roadhouse-style restaurants in Daytona Beach, Florida and they serve plenty of chicken wings.  Their buffalo sauce doesn't have a lot of "kick" to it, but since we can actually get this nearby, it only received honorable mention.  This same restaurant has a mini-fridge stocked with Ben + Jerry's single-serve ice cream cups.

There is, however, some great food here in Germany and we are definitely not starving.  And, all of the foods that we miss the most aren't exactly good for us, so maybe it's a good thing to have a break from them.  Here are some German food highlights, in pictures:

Currywurst and Brotchen (bread). 

Doner's.  We still don't know why these haven't caught on yet in America. Bryan's not promoting world peace in this photo - he's actually eating his second doner in a row. 

Bratwursts.  Currywurst's bald brother.  1/2 meter (19 inches) of heaven.

Daytona Roadhouse.  Satisfying at least two of our cravings. 

As you can clearly see from this picture, ice cream is really good here, but it's no Ben and Jerry's. 

"Ich bin ein Berliner" (Our trip to Berlin Part 2)

Did you miss Part 1?  Click here to get caught up.

Monday morning, I was up and at the nearby Aldi Grocery store buying food for the next three days while Dana was getting Dylan up and ready to go.  We made it out the door together around 9:45 am and made it to the Brandenburg Gate just in time for our Guided Walking Tour.  We were in a group of around 40 people, and were around other Americans for the first time in 7 months.  

The walking tour, from www.neweuropetours.com, lasted 3 ½ hours and took us through the key landmarks of the city.  Dylan was content in his buggy for most of the time and wasn’t too much of a distraction.   We were able to see a lot of the tourist spots and receive the history behind it.  I would highly recommend the walking tour if you come to Berlin. Here are some photos from the tour:

The Brandenburg Gate.  We saw this the day before and had no idea what it was for.  This gate was part of the Berlin Wall and was one of the few points of entry between East and West Berlin.

Right by the Brandenburg Gate is the Hotel Adlon - famous for Michael Jackson's "Baby Dangling" incident.

Here is Bryan at the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe.  This is a series of coffin shaped rectangles that start at ground level, get really tall, then end at ground level.  The meaning is up to your own interpretation.

The parking lot is approximately above Hitler's Bunker - where he spent his final days and killed himself.  Not much of a memorial here.

This building is what our tour guide called "a good example of Nazi architecture" - meaning, it is meant to make you feel very small.  You can see the group of people at the other end of the corridor and how small they are compared to the ceiling.  Even the door handle is at eye-level.

One of the few places in the city where the wall is still standing.

Where the wall used to be is this double cobbled-stoned strip all throughout the city so you always know where the wall once stood.

During our break, Bryan got to chase Dylan around.

After the walking tour, we ate lunch and ate the best Doner’s ever (or we may have been really hungry from the walking tour).  I actually polished off 2 Doner’s in one sitting.  Usually one is more than good enough.  Two was a little too much. We went home after that and put Dylan to bed for his nap.  After that lunch, I napped just as long as Dylan.

Bryan enjoying his second doner in a row. 

We stayed around the house during the evening.  After our lunch, we only needed some French fries for dinner.  We let Dylan run around the yard at night and enjoyed conversing with Iris for a little while (in German…we’re getting better.)  

Tuesday was our (sort of) map/agenda free day.  Although the walking tour/tourist destinations are a necessary part of exploring a new city, learning about the city ‘off the beaten path’ is a better way to really learn about a city. 

Dana was ok with the agenda free day (as long as we made it to the East Side Gallery), but was not keen on a map free day.   Once we made it off East train station (Ostbahnhof), we wandered across the river to a really shady part of town (and I am not talking about tree shade.)  We had unknowingly walked into a squatter/gypsy community.  It was the first time ever in Europe where we felt a sense of danger, but concluded that it still wasn’t as dangerous as our neighborhood in St. Augustine on a Friday night. 

We continued to take the next possible right hand turn to get out of the gypsy area.  I kept thinking that the people that live here don’t believe in money, but would only be interested in taking my money if I asked for directions.  Is that irony or ignorance?  

We made it out of the gypsy village and found our way to the East Side Gallery.  We were able to get some good pictures there.  That was really the last time we saw other English speaking tourists.   That’s because we walked over the Oberbaum Bridge and wandered the artsy district of Kreuzberg.  I use the word ‘artsy’ because it’s the best word to describe it.  It was a fascinating area where everyone seemed to be either a hippy or an artist or both.  We felt so out of place, that even using a baby stroller seemed too mainstream for this area.

Dylan running along the Berlin Wall at the East Side Gallery

Family photo at East Side Gallery.  We're actually on the "graffiti" side of the wall.  The "gallery" is on the other side, but it also looks like graffiti.

Bryan and Dylan on the gallery side of the East Side Gallery.

Famous painting.

This is a very good representative photo of the squatter/gypsy camp that we wandered into.  So, not quite as unsafe as our neighborhood in St. Augustine, but close.

After eating a great falafel for lunch, we continued to wander through the streets of Kreuzberg.  At one point, we arrived at more burned out buildings/warehouses.  Instead of looking like a gypsy camp, there were other German tourists walking in and out of the district.  Having not learned from our previous mis-directions from the previous two hours, we walked in and found some really cool sites. 

The deeper we walked through these old buildings, the more we saw.  Our tour concluded on the other side of these buildings, where auditions were being held for the X-Factor Berlin.  I couldn’t get Dana to try out for the show (you should hear her belt out “The Itsy Bitsy Spider,” it will bring tears to your eyes) but it’s just a matter of time before the world will behold her brilliant voice.

Kreuzberg district in Berlin.  Very artsy / bohemian.

Any old street corner will do for a diaper change.  Dylan is getting used to it.

Famous Berlin graffiti - across the street from where Bryan was changing Dylan's diaper.

Weird really big bench.

An old hollowed out bus - Dylan could have stayed here all day.

Maybe he will grow up to be a bus driver.

Dana and Dylan on the bus.

We found the nearest subway station and headed back to the apartment for Dylan’s nap (I say Dylan’s, but I actually took a nap every day as well.)   After D’s nap, we rode back up to Hermanplatz, another area that seemed to be only occupied by Berlin residents (and not tourists.)  

We ended up walking the streets in this beautiful district and enjoyed a snack at the street *kiosk.  *Tourist Budget Tip; A great money saving tip is to skip an overpriced restaurant and enjoy your snack/appetizer at a kiosk, where you can sit outside at a table.  We were able to people watch and enjoy an appetizer at a fraction of the price of the next door restaurant. 

We continued to wander the streets, and settled on a nice outdoor café called Goldberg’s to eat dinner.  We didn’t know where we were on the map because the streets were not on our map, but quickly found our location on the map by matching the restaurant name “Goldbergs” to the general “Jewish” district on our map.  This dinner was our nice dinner (if you can a couple of sandwiches that) of our trip, and we stayed out until nearly 10 pm with Dylan, which was unheard of.  We pushed him to his limit, but he was pretty good.

Dinner at Goldberg's.

The next morning, we were on our way out of Berlin, taking the same 6-7 trains back and arriving in Borken early in the evening on Wednesday.

Although I wish we could have stayed a few days longer, we learned that it is possible to travel with a crazy and energetic 22 month old without losing our minds.  We are planning on a more extensive trip this summer and feel that we can proceed with our plans to book it.

Here are some unofficial highlights of the trip:

• Me whistling the Scorpions “Winds of Change” most of the trip.  Found out today that the song was about Moscow.  Maybe David Hasselhoff brought the Berlin wall down after all. Hmmm.
• Dylan pulling his shoes and socks off and smelling his feet in the middle of a full train.  His “Ew!” could be heard a couple of train cards away. 
• Starting to grow the Hockey Playoff Beard while on the trip.  It’s working.  They won the first round 4 games to 0. 
• We taught Dylan how to ‘bump it’ on one of our many train rides.  Now, he will say, “bump it” and give us his fist.  We just hope he is not becoming a McPoyle from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.