day 9::in east Berlin

We spent the day with the kids in the eastern portion of Berlin. The day was a bit overcast and slightly cool. We first went to the Sony Center in Potsdamer Platz where we ate fries (Saffi had butter nudeln). Then we boarded a random bus going into east Berlin.

day 8: five kids went to the zoo

My husband's sister Anne arrived in Berlin yesterday evening with her husband and 2-year old twins - a boy and a girl. They live in the outskirts of Frankfurt and came to visit for 2 nights and a day. They're headed home early tomorrow morning.

Her husband spent the day working and I spent the day making alphabet soup for the kids and a chocolate cake.

My husband and his sister took all of the kids to the zoo. They said that people kept asking them if all five were their kids. Anne said that one lady was nice enough to give the children Haribo gummy bears because she thought that with five kids they could hardly afford luxuries such as candy. No one bothered correcting the assumption that they were a couple because technically the question as asked was answered correctly. The kids were theirs although not all to each.

DAY 7::TO GREAT GRANDMOTHER'S PLACE WE GO

We visited my husband's grandmother today.

ADVENTURES IN BERLIN::DAY 6, MADE A CAKE

I spent the morning, after breakfast, at the farmer's market. It was much larger than the one on Wednesday. I must have gone around from beginning to end at least 5 times. I bought a leek, a few potatoes, quail eggs, and fresh herbs. I planned on making alphabet soup but ended up making lentil soup instead.

Before I made the soup, I needed to use the soup pot for mixing the cake batter. I also needed to buy a whisk, spatula, and wooden spoons since the apartment wasn't equipped with those either.

The cake was a yogurt cake flavoured with lemon zest, vanilla sugar, and vanilla extract. It is the first cake I'm making in my "rustic" recipes...the ones using no electric devices such as a hand mixer, stand mixer, or food processor. Only a whisk and a spatula.

Later in the evening, I walked over the lentil soup to Oma's house. The kids loved it. The cake will be saved for tomorrow when my husband's sister comes to visit with her husband and 2-year old twins...a boy and a girl.

ADVENTURES IN BERLIN::DAY 5, SEARCH FOR A BRIKI

Last night was rough. Our two younger children got sick, as did my husband. It started with Cinnamon throwing up a few times. Then it was Sagey's turn. I was super tired and was so thankful that my husband took care of them. Then he got sick. He would rush them to the shower. I would try to get the puke out of their clothes and find clean clothes for them. Rough night.

Perhaps it was the non-packaged kugli ice cream they ate at the Wannsee. Perhaps it was the extra ice cream they ate at Oma's while we were out having a rare evening without the children. Or perhaps it was norovirus. Whatever it was, it was not fun.

We spent the day with Sagey. Just me, my husband, and our little boy. The girls stayed with Oma. We took a train to Kreuzberg, the Turkish part of the city, to find a briki. It's a special pot for brewing the Croatian coffee I brought along. It didn't take us too long to find one.

After that we took the train back. We first stopped at Conrad's, then KaDeWe. I love the gourmet food floor of that store. Particularly the chocolate section.

Sagey walked the entire time and kept wincing and crying. My husband thought he was just being lazy and didn't want to walk since he's not used to walking so much back home. It turned out that his blisters from the day before popped and started to bleed. My poor little boy. My husband cleaned and disinfected the wounds and bandaged up his feet. We'll need to find some backless (and not too large) shoes for Sagey.