Friedenau Playground

June 26, 2012

Right next to the S-Bahn station, on the walk back to the apartment, there is the cutest little playground you can imagine. Nat & Maja say that the play equipment is based on characters from a popular German children's book. But even without knowing the book, it was fun to play there.

Auf der S-Bahn

June 26, 2012

When we were in Berlin we enjoyed taking the S-Bahn & the U-Bahn around town. We appreciated the cleanliness, frequency, and coverage of the systems. Molly started trying to figure out visual differences between the systems (one seemed to have the Brandenburg Gate graphic on the windows and the other didn't, etc). We all enjoyed making up stories about the warning symbol on the elevators. On one ride with Nat we came up with some good ones:

No stinky people?
Don't ride the elevator in windy conditions?
Don't fart on the elevator?
Don't brush the elevator's hair?

Rubber Playground

July 26, 2012

Our first stop in Berlin, after finding our apartment, was checking out one of the playgrounds I had read about. The kids picked out the one that was described as "the rubber playground". Well, to say they picked it out makes it sound like it was a cooperative effort. It wasn't quite that, but it worked out in the end. They both asked to go on their own adventure with one parent, so we paired off and let them choose from the things we had read about. I'm not sure which kid picked the rubber playground first, but of course the other one wanted to do that, too. So we did our best to go "on our own" to the same place.

The playground itself was a hit. It did, indeed, have lots of rubber. And we enjoyed the first of many funky German swings. This one was the hardest to photograph and describe, but basically it was a see-saw rope swing, if that makes any sense.

The other picture of a swing shows the playground at the school next door, which we could see but not go to. I was impressed with how all the play structures were made out of wood on that playground, including the big swing in the picture.

City Night Line

June 25-26, 2012

At last, the time came for us to take the overnight train to Berlin! There was so much excitement about going on this train, it's a good thing we were exhausted from getting up early (to see Nana, Pa, Uncle Seth, & Tante Kristen off) and playing at Parc de la Villette.

We had two compartments, one for me & Clara, and the other for Zach and Molly. Clara and I spent the early part of the evening playing cards, taking a shower (on a train!!) and exploring our cabin. I think Zach and Molly had a dance party, but I can't be sure. Before we knew it it was time for bed and we snuggled up together and went to sleep. Clara slept really well - maybe the train rocked her to sleep, or maybe she was just exhausted. I didn't sleep as well when I tried to sleep on my own bunk, but once I squeezed back in bed with Clara I slept a bit better.

We all agreed, though, that it was delightful. I think one of my favorite parts was being able to spread out, put my feet up, and play cards with Clara.

Pictures:
Our baggage
Our cabin
Playing cards
No bottles allowed?
Breakfast on the train

Parc de la Villette

June 25, 2012

Our train from Rennes to Paris arrived mid-day, but the overnight train to Berlin did not leave until the evening. So, we had several hours to pass while waiting (and going from Gare Montparnasse to Gare de l'Est).

We stashed our bags at the Gare de l'Est and took the metro a few stops over to the Parc de la Villette, which was billed by some as having fantastic playgrounds for the kids. It did have fantastic playgrounds, and we did have a good time there. But unfortunately, many of the playground features were in terrible shape. Some were just worn out, and others completely broken or blocked off.

But, it was a fine way to pass the time - the kids rode on some rides, we explored the gardens, Molly found a digger, and we ate a picnic dinner before heading back to the train station.