We have been teasing our friends & family with plans for a Seattle visit for months now. Now the rumors can die as we have something even better:
Plane tickets!
We are flying to NYC for the first time and will fit in as much hot dog/pizza/bagel/deli eating, Broadway shows, comedy, art and pictures as possible. I've got a happy little NYC Pinterest board together gathering all the info of things I want to see & do (please feel free to give us tips, we're flying blind). No joke, we're excited.
After 4 short days we will continue the journey home and make our way to Seattle. Freinds & family - prepare for hugs. Favorite dining establishments/bars/venues - prepare to be beloved. However, there is a little sadness as we salivate over some of our favorite places and find them closed.
We poor a little beer out in honor of:
New China Express - our first date was here :(
Casuelitas Caribbean Cuisine
Lunchbox Laboratory
Barracuda Taqueria
Rizzo's French Dip
Julia's
Upper Playground
Roy's BBQ
Art Collective off of the viaduct (I seriously teared up about this one)
Seeing all of these places closed seriously puts a dagger in my heart. Really reminds you that everything is always changing and the place you love does not stand still just because you aren't there. That's why I am going to do everything I can to grab onto Seattle real tight when we're home and give it all my loving, but when we leave, make sure to let go.
I've always liked moving. I guess that makes me a bit of an anomaly. But I like getting rid of all the old things, re-organizing, and making a new Home.
What I do not like, what I am completely and totally over, is looking for a new place. When we moved to Berlin in 2007, we stayed in a total of 2 sublets. It was a relatively inexpensive and pain free experience, so when we returned to Berlin in 2009 it made sense for us to look for sublets again. We have now lived in 6 apartments, been ripped off, and been rejected in our application for our own apartment because we are foreigners. We're tired, so very tired, of this whole apartment debacle. I loathe thinking about how much time, energy, stress, and money we have spent on it.
Luckily, we did sign a contract for a truly fabulous little dachgeschoss (attic apartment) that has 2 balconies(!), skylights, and a view of the Fernsehturm. Serious swoon. It is in Wedding, not our favorite 'hood, and is a sublet until June, but then we are setting it up to take over the apartment. It is also on the 5th floor, something our thighs are dreading. But what's one more floor, right? Especially with a view. The other bummer is that our current sublet is up mid-month and the next apartment is available on the first. What does this mean? Just one more move of course! We have a temporary place set-up to bridge the gap that is actually kinda neat. I just can't wait to unpack one final time.
But before that, we bid adieu to our current apartment in Neukölln. It has some neat features and in a lot of ways we settled in and made it a home. BUT it also put up some resistance with an unexplained linoleum bubble in the kitchen and a mysterious crack in the living room window that appeared overnight. So long deposit....sigh.
Good-bye Neukölln, good-bye apartment, and please, oh please!, good bye to our short-term subletting days.
Apartment #6 Berlin
When our friends heard about the apartment we moved into, they said "Not the barney house?" Ouch. Yes, the Barney house.
This chair on the third landing was for the 90 year old woman who lived next to us. Her 60+ year old son brought her groceries. We weren't to proud to take a seat from time to time.
Bike path to Park
Loved the location next to the Tempelhofer Park.This bike lane to the park was heaven.
U-Bahn stop
UPDATE: Move #1 complete. 'Twas a bitch. But we are excited to be moving closer to NO More Moves! And the short-term apartment in Neukölln near Hermanplatz is pretty badass. Huge rooms (though one is primarily holding our stuff), funky decor, a school across the street....maybe I still have a little love of moving to new places in me. Video coming soon...
1. People smiled!I can't even explain how this lightened our already luminous moods. While the stereotype of Germans being cold and humorless is far from totally true, they don't smile much, especially in the blustery NE corner. The first time we went to London was after a month in Berlin and there too we felt the friendly vibe we didn't realize was missing in our Berlin lives. Obviously this is just our experience, but we always laugh when people talk about how unfriendly the Londoners are or about the rudeness of the French.
We went a market near our AirBnB flat 2 different days and were given freebies both days, recognized & greeted with a smile. That would NEVER happen in Berlin. Ian goes to the same currywurst stand almost everyday and struggles to get the same amount of fries. In addition - check out that respect for the elderly! Here in Berlin we see teens push past old ladies with canes to take the last seat on the UBahn. In Paris, the elderly seem to move in a bubble where they are taken care of first, greeted with respect, and seem to rule the city. Ian is hardened against the old Berliners. He says maybe if they had taught their children to give up their seat, they would be sitting down now.
2. Butter Sandwich. What the hell France? You have delicacy upon delicacy (hello macaroons!), yet insist on putting butter on perfectly good sandwiches. Dislike.
It seems an additional insult to American women who go for crazy diet fads and low-carb foods and here are all these fabulous Frenchies putting gratuitous butter on their jambon and fromage
(ham & cheese) sandwich.
3. The French live in houses. Before we moved to Berlin, we had never stepped foot in Germany. Nervously, we had studied on our new home to be. Learned about the graffiti, the nightlife, and the city's massive size (4 times the size of Paris!) . Upon arriving, we were relieved to find out how spread out the city is with green space on practically every street. But there are about 3.45 million people in Berlin. So where do they all go? Apartment buildings - sometimes big ugly block houses known as plattenbau.
The city of Paris has a population of over 2.2 million, with a metropolitan population of over 12 million. Damn! So different from the sprawling Berlin cityscape of apartment after apartment, we were just 30 min out of the center of the city and already rolling past single family houses. It reminded us a bit of London suburbs and had us missing being house dwellers.
4. No personal bubble. Though we bumped up this a few times (get it), Ian was made painfully aware of this phenomenon during our wait for Thunder Mountain Railroad in Disneyland. For about 65 minutes, a pair of slightly drunk, smoke-laden, middle-aged men cozied up to him from behind. Trying to talk to Ian was useless. He was too focused on the passive-aggressive American reaction of grinding teeth and muttering about murder under his breath.
5. Less graffiti than Berlin?Even with our expanded tour of the city from our first visit, there is so very much we didn't see. We've heard the suburbs is where the graffiti is and were surprised at the mostly immaculate city center. Even in the area we stayed, the Latin quarter (full of students), there was nary a hair out of place.
In Montmartre we finally spotted a little in the form of altered signs. Irreverent, fun, and totally mischievous.
6. Government Regulates Baguette Price. If a baguette costs .45 cents it cost .45 cents everywhere in the city. For absolutely no reason at all, I love this.
7. You know more French than you think. Ian is a language genius. We arrive in a country and by the time we have left he is ordering tickets in that language and making little jokes with the ticket sellers. He is AMAZING. He is a one-man tour company and has helped guide me across much of Europe, and impressed our visiting friends and families with his know how. I was prepared to lazily lean on him like usual, but was surprised how much French my dumb dumb mind has observed throughout the years. Was it tv/movies, prevalence of French food, or just American's general fascination with the French that had allowed these words to sneak in? No matter - I was delighted to find I didn't have as much trouble with menus and getting around as I would have thought. Words like:
adieu - means "until God", but is used like "farewell"
Au revoir - "Goodbye"
à la carte - "on the menu". French restaurants usually offer a menu with choices for each of the several courses at a fixed price. If you want something else (a side order), you order from the carte.
Bonjour - "Hello/Good morning/afternoon". Always greet when entering a shop or restaurant.
Bonsoir - "Hello/Good evening"
café au lait - "coffee with milk". Yes please!
c'est la vie = "that's life". My favorite French phrase
du jour - "of the day". Another helpful menu phrase
encore - "again".
Est-ce que vous parlez anglais? - Do you speak English?
Excusez-moi - "Excuse me"
faux pas - "false step, trip". Something that should not be done, a foolish mistake.
je ne sais quoi - "I don't know what". Used to indicate a "certain something," as in "I really like Ann. She has a certain je ne sais quoi that I find very appealing."
Merci - "Thank you". One of the most important words in any language
Oui/Non - "yes,/no"
par excellence - "by excellence".
rendez-vous - "go to". In French, this refers to a date or an appointment
S'il vous plaît - "please". One of the most important words in any language
8. Multicultural. E gads - Black people! As kids from small town Washington State and even Seattle, there are a limited amount of black people in our background. Not that we we are without friends of color, there just aren't a lot of them to choose from.
As waiters, we did have a favorite manager who is black, lesbian and from New York City. She stood out from the Seattle landscape and we adored her. We were all driving to an event and as she got in the car, James Brown's "The Boss" came on. She squealed,
"You little white kids DID NOT just put on JAMES BROWN!"
Somehow, we managed to move somewhere even whiter in moving to Berlin. Paris was a complete 180 as we saw people of every color. No wonder Paris is so cool.
9. Recycling & Trash bins.Germany has recycling covered. As a former recycle educator, I am continually impressed with the availability of recycle bins and programs that recycle goods. While Paris was far from terrible, it is hard to match the German excellence in this arena. And those crazy "trash cans" that are just bags on a hoop? We looked it up - these replace traditional concrete can holders
after a bunch of bombs were put in them in 1995.
10. No need to Tip Big. I don't know if we will ever get used to just rounding up the bill as a tip. It is pretty much the same here in Berlin, but tipping 10% or less can seem so woefully inadequate.
However, Frommers says "By law, all bills in cafes, bars and restaurants say service compris,
which means the service charge is included. However, it is customary to
leave 1€ or 2€ depending on the quality of the service."
A few other miscellaneous tips from our trip:
Just buy a map! We can be cheapskates and at first we just
couldn't find a map we liked. Then they were too expensive. We never did
buy a map and were able to get around with a guide bok, Ian's excellent
navigation and planning, and the frequent maps that are osted around
the city. Don't do like we do though. Just buy one.
I still want to go to the Sewer Museum. Included in the truly great deal of the museum pass, this museum is not open on Thursdays & Fridays. Those are the days we had the pass. We'll be back Paris!
Reserve tickets for the Eiffel Tower. We have resisted some of the more touristy stuff on earlier trips to the city but caved on this trip and went up. It was magic. One night, reserve your tickets. It's easy, but you must do it at least the day before and need to be able to print your tickets.
Airbnb - We've now used the service several times and continue to be delighted with it. We stayed in the Latin Quarter (student area), just off from a very busy dining/shopping/bar street. Location was ideal, and we had our own tiny (and I mean tiny) apartment with bath, kitchenette, & elevator for under 250 euro for 5 nights. Here is Peirre's flat.
Buy a Metro Pass! We bought a week transport pass, Navigo Découverte, which I highly recommend. This was a stress-reliever as we could go anywhere in the city with an easily scanned pass. It also offered huge savings at 33.40 euro
for 6 zones (which includes the airport & disneyland). RER train
tickets to the city from the airport and out to Disneyland were each 9
euros so this was a great deal for us. Only caveat to this pass is
that you must buy a card and pay a one-time fee (€5) and have a
stamp-sized photo.
I already posted about our trip to Disneyland Paris, and will post about museums & eats in Paris. But for now, gratuitous shots of the Eiffel Tower and other Frenchie stuff.
Eiffel Tower from the Arc
Eiffel Tower from the War Museum
Eiffel Tower times a million
Père Lachaise Cemetery
In front of Jim Morrison's grave
La Basilique du Sacré Coeur de Montmartre
Montmarte
Montmarte
Arc de Triomphe
Stairs within Arc de Triomphe
in the Arc de Triomphe
...from Arc de Triomphe
We arrived for our trip up
View from the Eiffel Tower
Notre Dame de Paris
Notre Dame
Notre Dame
Louvre
Parthenon
...from the Parthenon
Happy PorterBalls
If you are an absolute glutton and haven't got enough of the Tower or Paris or us,
Ian & I were excited to return to Vienna as we have been there several time and indulged in the cafe culture, oohhhed & ahhed at Stephansdom, and ate and ate and ate. But returning with the parents this time, we realized we actually hadn't spent much time in this Austrian wonder. In our usual whirlwind fashion of travel we had been here on our way elsewhere, but only actually stayed for 1 or 2 nights. This was an egregious error that needed correcting and we couldn't have been happier with our latest experience.
As always, what follows are our highly unscientific, capricious ratings of "The City of Dreams" (home to Sigmund Freud).
Vienna Ratings:
Ratings will be done in schnitzel. I know- too easy - but how could we not?
Transportation
cheryl 5 schnitzel - We still had our rental car – but no need to use it in Vienna. We could easily walk most places from our downtown hotel. It was also convenient to ride the trains when we wanted to, thanx to our ever-faithful navigator, Ian! I wanted to ride the Ring to get an overall view of the city – but we got too busy to make time for that.
Dave 5 schnitzel - Didn’t even need to use much transportation. Everything was within walking distance.
Ian 4 schnitzel - It's not necessary to use the transportation here as the Altstadt is very walkable. Got a daypass & enjoyed the UBahn & tram system. Handy for getting to places out of the center of the city such as Schloss Schönbrunn. Coming from Berlin, the metro system was super spic 'n span.
ebe
4.5 schnitzel - Getting into the city and around could really not be easier. We drove in with my parents craning their necks to see all the very tall & very grand buildings and easily located a space near the hotel. We walked, took UBahn, and trams. There is also a ring tram around the city that we planned to take a load off and check out the city, but never quite got to. Transport - piece of Torte.
cheryl 4 schnitzel - We found this hotel online and it had some reviews that were less than glowing, however, the price was very good for Vienna which can easily run over $300 per night for a small hotel room. The hotel was quaint, easily located, paid for our parking during our stay and gave me one of those “can-only-happen-in-Europe-experiences” that seemed to happen
View from our room
quite a bit in Vienna. We had a set of French doors out to a balcony from our 3rd floor room that caused us all to have an insane happy dance. There were cherub statues on the side of our building and across the street was the Votive Cathedral – which was grand and imposing. We could look up and down a main street and one side street and the views were all of what a downtown city view should be, people strolling, trams running, honking, cars, music playing – just fascinating. On the other hand – there was some remodeling going on, the bathroom definitely needed some updating, breakfast was only okay (but filling), the room needed some repairs – but the view made it all worthwhile. If I were fortunate enough to return to Vienna I would try to stay again at the Franz Pension.
Dave 4.5 schnitzel - Wonderful – even though it was an older hotel and had some quirks. Just to walk out on your balcony and see a cathedral across the street was fascinating.
Ian 4 schnitzel-
The hotel was in a very old building and had a nice antique feel, even though it was a bit rundown. Decently priced. Absolutely amazing view from our balcony.
Cherub on our balcony
ebe 4.5 schnitzel -
That view...I've never had a hotel room with a showstopper like an enormous wrap-around balcony and a cathedral just outside of the window. Awesome.
Location was also superb in walking distance to the Rathaus. Parking is free with a voucher you get from the desk on the weekend (small charge weekdays).
However - we had the pimp room. No other balconies compared to ours. We had 4 people in one room (2 beds) which was a great deal at 100 euro a night. The parents worried about crowding & snoring, but it worked out fine with enough room and wifi in the lobby just off our room.
The place was made-up like a historic estate, but unfortunately a little ragged. Looks they are putting work into vamping it up. We heard other guests complaining about a variety of issues, but didn't really have any ourselves. A big thumbs up for me.
Sights
cheryl 5 schnitzel - Vienna
is beautiful. That is such an inadequate statement for how
breath-taking it truly is. The buildings are “so European” and so much
more beautiful than anywhere I’ve ever
been. The city reeks of financial security – in a very good way. They
must collect a lot of taxes to keep things so pristine and welcoming.
The castles, cathedrals, restaurants, shops, horse-drawn carriages
(never have I seen so many!!), walkways, fountains, statuary - -
everything is just so
inviting you want to stay and linger and find out more information about
each individual one.
We did see some early Roman ruins from the 4th century. I have been to
many museums and
have seen many historical exhibits – but this one really moved me. It
was apparent that the city had started excavation to build something and
came across the ruins. They preserved them by building a wall around
them and now traffic, both cars and pedestrians, have to navigate around
the ruins, which are now a tourist destination. The Rathaus and theater
area was incredibly beautiful.
Parliament
Dave 5+ schnitzel - Amazing! Breath-taking! Had trouble not dropping my jaw all the time as everything was so intricate and beautiful. Could never get tired of just looking around. The detail work on the buildings was incredible.
Ian 4.5 schnitzel -
Few places have so many beautiful historical buildings in such a compact area. We touched a few of the highlights, but there are many more to see. the only drawback is the expensive prices for everything.
ebe 4.5 schnitzel- I mean, c'mon! It's VIENNA. Playground of kings, imperial city, impressive extraordinaire, the city looks luxurious at ever turn.
Ample architectural eye candy was paired with one of the most wonderful shows I will ever see - the Spanish Riding School. This is the most unusual and spectacular equine event I have ever had the pleasure to see. Ian took me here on our last trip through Vienna and while it was magic, it was just this morning work-out. My parents treated us to a full show. My family is notoriously sentimental about animals, especially horses. The Lipizzaner danced, capriole'd, courbette'd, and levade'd across the ring. Don't look at us, we just all have a little something in our eye.
Dining
cheryl
3.5 schnitzel -
Vienna was much too wonderful to be expected to have good food, too. However,
we did find great food – it just wasn’t as convenient as we had hoped and our hotel breakfast was a bit ho-hum. We did go to one place that served tiny sandwiches in flavor combinations that were terrific. We also happened upon a place that served schnitzels that were exceptional and as big as the plate. It was very crowded and noisy and we were asked to share our table – and the food was good, but I found the couple they seated with us was more interesting in the long run.
Dave 4 schnitzel -
The dessert at the Hotel Roth was incredible. It was expensive, but worth it. Did have trouble finding a place one night.
Ian 3 schnitzel -
No doubt Vienna has great cuisine, but the outlandish prices and table covers distract from the experience. I'll eat that riesen Schnitzel any day, followed by some coffee and cake. Finger sandwiches for lunch aren't bad either.
ebe 4 schnitzel - The only bad part about living in Berlin, we always say, is traveling elsewhere where everything seems to cost a fortune. This is especially true in a place like Vienna. Despite that, we dined well in the city of schnitzel.
Starting off with the mandatory kaffee & kuchen (coffee & cake), we eventually made our way back to Trzesniewshi, full of locals and tourists and itsy bitsy delectable sandwiches. Once the haunt of Franz Kafka, the place serves open face bites in a wide variety of spreads like cheese, salami, herring, tomatoes, lobster, and about 20 other combos. Standing room only, you are hustled through the line in which you make your selections. The official motto of the company is Unspeakably good sandwiches, a reference to the Polish name of the founder, which is said to be unpronounceable to most German speakers.
Trzesniewshi
Another memorable spot was Figlmueller. Incredibly busy, they fit us in quickly and we dined on schnitzel literally bigger than our head. I was pleased to find that the best schnitzel I ever had came from here. Though it initially appeared a little more fine dining than we liked with grand wrought iron and elegantly attired waiters, that was quickly dispelled by the hopping mad atmosphere and cacophony of swears and reprimands coming from the kitchen. Who needs a show when you have some crazy Austrians to entertain you?
Overall
cheryl 5 schnitzel -
Vienna is a destination spot and if I were to venture to Europe again, I would like to revisit Vienna. It is clear why the citizens and tourists both adore it. The drawback, a major one – is the cost. Vienna is quite expensive. It also is a very large city and we saw primarily one area – and the summer palace. I agree with my husband, the Spanish Riding School, was a ‘Top 10’ of my life highlights that was so completely worth every penny and seeing it with Eryn and Ian was magical.
Dave
5 schntizel -
Vienna is just an incredible place. It is a little bit like being in a fairy tale with so much to see and take in. We needed much more time than we had allotted, or could afford. The Spanish Riding School was awesome and was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. A very well-maintained, pretty city.
Ian 4 schnitzel -
Already having been to Vienna 2 times, I am surprised at how much more there still is to see. Really is a world city and I can't wait to go back...except for the prices.
ebe 4.5 schnitzel-
This city still holds the mantle as one of my favorite cities in Europe. While I don't think I could live there, the horses, the food, the loveliness of it all still enchants me.
Opera House
Parliament
Spanish Riding School
Spanish Riding School
Super expensive box seats at Spanish Riding School
