Where to Take Your Parents for German Castles

My parents never intended to go to Germany. They certainly didn't envision spending so much time in Berlin. They really never thought they might have to watch their future grandchild grow up speaking German (hopefully).

So when we can make concessions, we do what we can. On their last visit to see us in Europe we put in some time to see one of their favorite things: Castles!

Note: Not all locations have been tested on our parents, but I feel pretty certain recommending them after our visit.

Babies and parents and instagram - oh my!

The night of the test. We think this is...good news?

After sitting on the news for a whole month - a record for us - we finally told everyone what is up with my not drinking. Preggers.

Though initially terrified (seriously check those faces), we are getting towards the wildly excited end and are doing our best to figure out how to have a a baby in Germany. I am freaking out and keeping the US family informed on a tumblr of random at In Berlin, Baby. If you too find yourself interested in why we have considered the name Clovis for our offspring or what movies we are watching to prepare (movies are the new books, right?) - head on over.

On the other end of the spectrum, the parents are coming! Once again, my brave parents are trekking over the ocean from the American west coast and this time landing in Copenhagen. I will be meeting them up there where we are sure to cry and be fools saying hi again for the first time in almost a year. Ian will meet us the next day in Hamburg and then we will finally show them our new home in Berlin. Thought they've seen it on TV, this will be their first viewing in person. I hope they like it, and will forgive us the stairs.

DBall Baklava - Baking with Dad

Remember 6th grade when all you needed to get an "A" on a project was to bring food? I had one such project on Greece and being the "A" student I was, I took baklava (or rather my wonderful mom bought some for me from the local Greek restaurant). No surprise - I got an A.

Lets make these cookies!

Celebrating our Wedding Anniversary by Burning Down the Tower Bridge

Prepare to die Tower Bridge

You know the saying if you love something so much you have to let it go? This is kinda like that.

Hometown Love

Before I wax too poetic about Berlin (because we've had some pretty unbelievably good weekends of late), it's important to look at our recent trip to the States and our favorite corner - Seattle.

Space Needle

Favorite Part of My Job

After weeks of trying to hang on to a work schedule amid travels (NYC, West Side & East Side of WA), family reunions, and meet-up with friends in Seattle, we returned to Berlin and I, for one, was ready to work. Our internet connection, however, had other ideas.

We flew Seattle-NYC Sunday March 18th, the day after St. Patrick's Day. Strategically, we planned an evening flight. This turned out to be unnecessary as a stomach flu made swift work of the Porter family on Thursday and we were still a bit weak on Saturday. We were only able to handle a few tiny American beers for St. Patty - a sad send off of debauchery. No matter. We said good-bye to family, then friends, only to be dropped off at the airport and note a 6 hour delay. Shit.

Vienna: Much more than a little Sausage

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:

 

Bellatrix Badou

Who is this Bella I speak of? The moronic heroine of a teen series? A visiting dignitary? A foreign princess? NO!

This is Miss Bellatrix. (Doesn't your cat have a full name?)

Gardens in the Rain: Berlin's Botanical Garden

I had a dilemma. My parents were visiting, but Ian worked during the week. What to do that wasn't going to make him crazy jealous, but entertain them. I got it - Berlin's Botanical Gardens!

Unfortunately, there was a hitch. It was raining. A lot. We're from Seattle, but c'mon Berlin. Good sports that they are, they accompanied on my fools errand and we got very, very wet. Trying to keep up our spirits, we tromped though the soggy grounds. I apologized. A lot.

Yeah, those are raindrops

Quilt of Love

As the weather turns cooler, I snuggle under our new quilt. An instant heirloom, my mum gave it to me on their recent trip to visit us in Berlin. Lovingly crafted with my aunt, it is composed of the ribbons I won showing horses. It's amazing.

If you are unfortunate enough not to have a million ribbons from your childhood, a basic ribbon looks like this:

Visiting Halfway Around the World...

Snohomish is a small town in the State of Washington (NO! Not the capital). About an hour away from gorgeous Seattle, it is known for antiques, quaint Victorian housing from it's time as a lumber town, and a charming 1st street that is often used for filming idyllic Americana.

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

Paired with last night's karaoke escapades and tomorrow's flight, I got a little John Denver on the mind:



We are taking the parents to their 4th-6th European country. Flying to Budapest & spending a few days there, then a day in Bratislava, then Vienna. Some new, some old for us, but I am sure it will all be fabulous. Especially since having them here has been so fun-filled in boring 'ole Berlin.

Placing Poland: Szczecin

The parents are here and on day 5 of European travel. We have big plans for a trip to Hungary, Bratislava, & Vienna next week but since we are so close to Poland, why not a day trip? We didn't just want to hop the border for some nowhere, so we set our sights on Szczecin (auf deutsch Stettin). It reportedly had a Duke's castle, a tourist map with red line guided tour, and was only about 2 hours away. Plus - the train ticket was a Brandenburger ticket, meaning it would only cost 28 euro for all 4 of us to travel there & back. Bonus!

It didn't turn out exactly as we hoped, but was still an experience. Once again, we have decided to rate the cities we are visiting with our parental units. This town might not have stacked up so well, but there is more to come. 

The Parents are Coming, The Parents are Coming!

It has been a lonnnnnnnggggg 11 months of Skype video chats, e-mails, and occasional phone calls. But today, my parents are an 1 1/2 away from taking the last leg in their long trip from Seattle to Berlin. I am picking up some flowers, then picking them up at the airport. I simply can't wait. I don't know that I have ever been this excited to see them. Ever.

Mum/Father of the Bride

 The parent's visit in Spring 2008:

Hertha game where Dave Ball impressed us by ordering a mass

Wandering around Alex

Family photo at Brandenburger Tor

Our road trip through Southern Germany and through the Rhine...

Burg Eltz

 

Zell, Germany

Countless German vineyards

Heidelberg, Germany

Nuremberg, Germany

And my latest favorite of them in my beautiful home state of Washington:

We are going to do more fun things in Berlin, skip over to Poland, and take a trip through Hungary, Slovakia, & Austria. But best of all, we are getting a little time to spend together. 

Oh - and they are proving word title holders for best parents ever in bringing over our cat Bella! Me-ow. 

Love you mum & daddio!

(To get an idea of the teariness of the hello, check out the good-bye: Leaving for Berlin)

Airport Goodbyes

Oh man I love the airport. Always a bit of tension, but you know you are on your way to somewhere new. I guess that's easy for me to say as I am usually the one leaving.

My mum & dad are visiting my Aunt & Uncle in Northern California and it was so good to see them all. Video chat can often seem so intimate, regular voice chat is the route we usually take. Kinda makes days like today when I do try to look more presentable for our chat more special.

Plus- my mum reminded me to look at some shots she had posted from my nephew's visit.

Look at that handsome family! My dad, Gavin, & Kyle

Here's to you Mum!

It is Mother's Day in the US & nothing makes you feel more like a bad kid than being thousands of miles away. Bad kid! Bad!

Oh well- enough beating ourselves up about it. Tis the life of an expat to be estranged from those you love & cherish- and them from you. What is important to make clear- how important they are to you and how no distance can can between you.

So here's to you mum, mum-in-law, & grand-mum-in-law. We love you.

Mum & Dad at the wedding

Kelly, Grandma, & Ian at the rehearsal dinner

My primary news source, Gawker, explains what your Mother's Day gift says about you.

Newsworthy for Us

The times, they are a changing and events are happening.

Working backwards, this Thursday brings forth a very exciting event in Berlin for American ex-pats- sounds like us! Future president Obama is coming to Berlin to talk about foreign policy and try to forge both symbolic and literal bridges to the east and the west. Where better then Berlin where seemingly innocuous words like "division", "wall", "east and west" still reverberate? It is sure to be an excellent speech and hopefully our first time laying eyes on a presidential candidate. We will be ready with telephoto lens, binoculars, and some American friends that will join us after a picnic in the Teirgarten. My American cynicism ebbs a little when I think about a new president in the White House- come on America!

Post about Obama's Speech and our sometimes apathy about Politics

Excitement for the The TRIP is also building. We bought the (expensive but very worth it) Eurail tickets that will do the majority of getting us around (big shout-out to cheryl & David for their help with the tickets!). It is now less than a month till we take off. Every day a step closer...

Last Wednesday we were able to participate in some volunteering at an English language theatre (Orpheus Descending, Tennessee Williams). We sold some drinks, handed out some surveys, and received free drinks and admission- niccceee! Unfortunately, the theatre was sold-out so two seats were put out for us on the stage! This was a small theatre and there was quite a bit of interaction between crowd and actors, but at times we scrunched back to avoid getting hit by flying body parts. At the end we were able to talk with the actors, two from Vancouver, B.C., and the stage manager. Really fun and a great change of pace for us.

On the way back, things went down hill. My bike tire blew out (little did we know the other would go two days later- schnikey!) and we had to walk home after midnight. Oh well, at least we don't have to get up early. When we arrived home we found an im from my mum, my grandma had died while we are at the play. She had been in extremely poor health and her husband had died about a year ago now, but it hurt all the same. This is just a quick note to say I bear the middle name my mum gave me proudly, I am a Florence not in character, but in heritage and I will remember that.

The Visitors

...and they are here! Both the parents arrived safely and are now sleeping on the couch. They did pretty good making it to the Reichstag, Sony Center, Brandenburger Tor, Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, the Hotel where baby Jackson was dangled out the window, and a bit of Unter den Liden. More places to be seen, more things to be done, but that is enough for today.