Christmas, Olmsteders Invade Prague, & Silvester

December was a busy month and deserves more than one post, but life's tough. Sorry December 2012. So after we returned from Neil's swim meet, we dove into all of the Christmas cheer Berlin had to offer. With 20+ markets in the city, we had plenty to chose from. We hit a one-weekend market at the Jagdschloss in Grunewald, one in the center of the city, and thanks to a visit from the Shores' of Gdansk, we hit the most beautiful of all at Schloss Charlottenburg. Also, we got a Christmas tree.

Bus to Grunewald

Hike to the Jagdschloss Weihnachtsmarkt

Annika's only visit to Santa this year.
She loved it.

City Weihnachtsmarkt treats.

Schloss Charlottenburg Weihnachtsmarkt

Our tree.

We also had Thanksgiving redux with Annika's boyfriend Guzzi and his parents. (Sidebar: I have to say that all of our German friends do not disappoint in the name department. Guzzi's real name is Gustav and his parents are Rebecca and Georg Von Mitzlaff). We try to get together for dinner every few weeks so the kids can play, and the adults can talk. They had hinted at their desire to have an American Thanksgiving but weren't available for our actual Thanksgiving extravaganza, so we did it a few weeks late. Apart from Guzzi maybe trying to strangle Annika as we tried to get them to hug, it was a great success. Also, it snowed, and I made a really creepy snowman.

Turkey time.

Playing nice.

YOU WILL HUG ME!

Awwwwww.

Yikes. I have no excuse. Just yikes.

A few days later, it was Christmas. It was pretty low-key because the next day we were off on the train to Prague! I had been greatly looking forward to it after James did nothing but rave about the one day he spent there after Thanksgiving. We would also soon figure out that a number of other Olmsted scholars and their families would be visiting the City of a Hundred Spires/Golden City. The Christmas market and all of the Christmas decorations were still in full swing, and it made a beautiful city even more amazing. We sampled some of the delicious and definitely not healthy market fare including some cinnamon-sugar-coated doughnuts which were roasted on a spit over hot coals. I also must say that the Christmas tree was one of the best I saw anywhere, and my picture does not do it justice. Also, we learned what is not allowed in Czech banks.

Christmas morning

Annika enjoying everyone else's gifts.

Train to Prague

Nom, nom, nom.

Christmas market entertainment,

Prague Christmas tree.

No guns...or dogs. I assume everything
else is fair game?

The next day we walked all over Prague...literally. We trekked up to an Eiffel Tower replica and then up the Eiffel Tower replica which offered some great views of the city. En route, we saw a large golden femur suspended above the street. No explanation was ever offered as to why it is there. On the way back from there, we stopped into the Toy Museum which Annika loved...don't mind the picture which indicates otherwise. We also saw the largest straw nativity in the world. That night, we had dinner with the Flammias (Olmsted 2012, Firenze, Italia) and the Johnsons (Olmsted 2011, Ljubljana, Slovenia) in a Czech restaurant and brewery. (I basically never have pictures of mealtimes because trying to coral the monster and also maintain some level of involvement in conversation while eating is about all I can handle). It was, as always, a pleasure to hear everyone's stories and just catch up on goings on in English.

Golden femur.

Mini Eiffel Tower way up there.

Us way up there.

Straw nativity.

Annika enjoying the toy museum.

The following day we did some more walking and took in sights including the Jewish quarter, a giant metronome, and more great views of Prague. We also had lunch at a great bike-themed restaurant. The menus were international and based on the famous bike races of Europe, and they offered a discount with your ticket to the Jewish quarter sites (Yahtzee).

Le Tour menu.

Giant metronome.

Another stunning view of Prague.

Our last full day in Prague we took it easy after what must have been 10 miles of walking over the previous 2 days. We had dinner that night at a train-themed restaurant with the Johnsons and the Musas (Olmsted 2011, Rabat, Morocco). It was a great way to finish our trip there and another evening of wonderful conversation plus the added bonus of the adorable Musa boys entertaining Annika a bit (Again, sorry for the lack of pictures. Just trust me, they are beautiful children). The next morning after a beautiful sunrise run, we grabbed breakfast at a bagel place which not only had a playroom but also adhered to my strict dietary guidelines. Then we hopped a train back to Berlin for the New Year's Eve (known in Germany as Silvester) festivities.

Prague at sunrise.

I love gluten!

We had heard that Berlin was home to one of the best Silvester celebrations in the world. It did not disappoint. With a child, your New Year's Eve is not as wild and crazy as it once may have been. I have never been a huge fan of New Year's Eve, so that suits me really well. We headed downtown to the main festivities relatively early in the evening just to check it out. There was more food and drink than one could ever hope to sample, so we grabbed a drink, walked around a bit, and took in the entertainment. As we would find out watching at home from the couch, the early evening entertainment is just the main show entertainment doing their sound checks and dress rehearsals. We heard a couple of songs from Blue, a British boy band from the early 2000s making a comeback. We kind of dig them. We then headed home and put Annika to bed so we could enjoy a bit of champagne and awesome German television coverage which included an attempt at the Guinness Record for the most people doing the Gangnam Style dance at once. As with all German television, it was awesome and terrible. We readied ourselves for the fireworks which are legal to buy three days (12/28-31) and shoot off one day a year. You know how when you were a kid on Halloween you would binge on candy because it was really the only time you were allowed to go totally nuts? It's like that but with the stereotypical German strength and vigor. Amazingly, Annnika slept right through it, and around 2:30 we could hear ourselves think as the noise finally dwindled.

Blue killing it.

Brandenburger Tor festivities.

Our fireworks extravaganza.

With that, I am finally caught up on 2012...and only 7 months into 2013! Not too shabby.

Coming up:

• More snow
• Snowy Easter and trip to Bulgaria and Vienna
• The snow ends and we try not to die doing a triathlon
• The great train adventure through the Netherlands, Belgium, and France...and Germany.

Christmas in July...Barely

I think I may have hinted when I first started this blog that I am a terrible blogger. I am inconsistent and tend to get sidetracked by almost anything else. As a person who has a difficult time sitting still, it does not come naturally to me to sit and write/type. I think about a lot of things I want to write whilst doing other things (swimming, biking, running, cleaning, chasing Annika around various European cities), but the actual manifestation of those thoughts as a blog entry are rarely seen. This is evidenced by the fact that my last update was about Thanksgiving and typed in March. This summer is full of travel and visitors, and as such, I need to get my act together or give up. I'm not much of a quitter, so I am going to attempt to do a few quick recaps of some of what we've been doing since last November. Here goes:

So excited that I took a
screenshot. I was so
innocent back then.

In early December we headed to Freiburg for die Deutsche Kurzbahnmeisterschaft (German master's swimming championship) and then to Ramstein AFB for Neil's flight physical and a trip to the commissary. On the way we planned on stopping Bayreuth to split up the drive time for the monster and check out a Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market). It was the beginning of Weihnachtsmarkt season, and I have to admit that as a lover of Christmas it was one of the German traditions I was most looking forward to experiencing, but I'm getting ahead of myself. We left around Annika's bedtime figuring she would fall asleep in the car for a bit. In typical form, she screamed pretty much the entire trip and then decided to shove her hands in her mouth and gag herself...all over her car seat...on day 1 of a 9 day road trip. ..literally 2 minutes from the hotel. The trip was off to a bang-up start, but as an eternal optimist (This is a lie. I am, at best, a realist who leans towards the bright side as long as I've had a chance to run that morning) I had faith that at least it would most likely not get too much worse.

Annika playing/drinking/reading...all
better than screaming/puking.

Fortunately, I was right for a change. Bayreuth was a cute little town with a cute little market. We strolled around a bit and the headed the rest of the way to Freiburg. I had learned my lesson after 45 minutes of car seat cleaning in a hotel bathroom the night before, so I assumed what is now my permanent position for car rides longer than 20 minutes in the middle-back seat next to Annika. It's not the most comfortable but definitely beats the alternative.

We made it to Freiburg with no major incidents and, after a few quick spins around the city due to some construction, found our hotel. Neil had a swim meet the next day, so we took a quick tour of the Weihnachtsmarkt before heading to dinner and turning in. We were all up early the next day, and Neil headed off to the pool. Annika and I headed to watch him swim a little bit later and then headed back to the hotel for a quick nap. I want to take this opportunity to say that while I appreciate that swimming is excellent exercise and recognize that Neil is super-fast, I wouldn't mind if he swam races lasting longer than a minute and a half. Don't get me wrong. They are almost always exciting, but it is stressful to try to catch the right bus to get to the pool in time to actually catch the fleeting event but not get there so early that Annika loses her patience (which oddly enough takes about as long as his race). The whole round trip takes, on average, about thirty times as long as the time he is actually in the pool. I guess what I'm saying is that if Annika decides to be a swimmer, I hope she at least swims some middle-distance races. Anyhoo, after Annika's nap, we stuck around near the hotel until the meet was over. Fortunately, the market was right behind the hotel, so we walked around, sampled some Glühwein, and made some friends until it was time to meet back up with Neil.

Annika in the gutter.

Annika checking out the market.

Annika and her new friend after playing in the gutter

Time for a drink.

We made our way back to the hotel to meet Neil and the Wahls (the Olmsteders in Freiburg) who had just returned from some travels of their own. We made our way to a delicious dinner and then back to the hotel so Neil could get ready for day 2 of the Meisterschaft. The next day the Wahls graciously opened their home to us and we spent one more night in Freiburg. Annika was entertained by Liv (their adorable and patient dog), and we saw some of the sights courtesy of our wonderful tour guides. After safely completing a guest picture for them, we headed back for a Mexican feast. It is always great to catch up with other Olmsted folks and see what everyone is up to in their respective cities. Thanks again Joe and Trysta!

Neil, Annika, and the slightly-too-tall hotel tree.

Deutsche Meisterschaft

Annika & Liv

The next day, we made our way to Ramstein via Karlsruhe so that Neil could get his flight physical and we could stock up on necessities like cooking spray, non-granulated brown sugar, and chicken stock. We hit the Karlsruhe market for lunch and continued on our way. We also got to see our first (and sadly far from last) snow of the season. We met up with a few people from Neil's squadron at McChord and watched a man with a keyboard sing (being diplomatic with that word) some Christmas favorites. To be fair, he was singing in what may have been his third language, and I could definitely at least tell what song he was singing. We made it home without incident and got ready for our first Christmas in Berlin.

Karlsruhe Schloss

Weihnachtsmarkt lunch

Waiting for the Ramstein shuttle/getting
use out of the snow boots.

Ramstein library during Daddy's dentist appt.

No Bing Crosby, but a valiant effort.

Coming up:

• Christmas 2K12
• All the street food one can eat in Prague
• Snowy Easter and a trip to Bulgaria to warm up...obviously
• More swim meet travels
• The Hoff tries to save the East Side Gallery
• Midwest Senkowski visit/Berlin 70.3/Warsaw
• Northwest Europe by train
• Whatever else I can squeeze in before we leave for Denmark in a week.

Berlin Thanksgiving 2K12

I'm not sure where to start with this one. What follows is the story of how what initially was going to be a Thursday with a slightly bigger dinner for Neil and I became a multinational Thanksgiving weekend including a lot of food, a lot of booze, a lot of shopping (for me), and an evening at "the hottest club in Berlin."

Growing up, the Tarone Thanksgivings were always pretty low-key. We had all of the traditional elements: turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, pumpkin pie, the Macy's parade, etc. Other than that, it was usually just the four of us (Mom, Dad, James, me) with the occasional other guest(s) as the rest of the relatives were scattered around the country. Once I started working, I never had enough seniority anywhere to get the day before or after Thanksgiving off, so, save for the Delaware years, it was just another day which sometimes included Neil and a big meal and sometimes not. So when we moved to Berlin, I anticipated making some of the staples for Neil and I but figured we would probably have class and other goings on to contend with because in Germany it is just another Thursday in November. Shortly after we got here, my brother and my friend Colleen floated the idea of a Thanksgiving visit by the two of them which later came to include Amanda, a friend of my brother's from college. I had heard-tell of Fakesgivings/Friendsgivings, and they always sounded super-fun so I was totally on-board.

Everyone arrived safely on Wednesday, and in spite of James wearing basketball shorts, Germany and Colleen allowed him to enter the country. We didn't plan much for that day because I figured between jet lag and preparations for the next day, we would all want to conserve energy. We did venture out to the Bundestag because it requires very little effort and offers nice views of the entire city. What I did not account for was the effect of cold outside temperatures on a glass dome full of people. Think fogged-up car windows on a Fall morning. Nevertheless, I think everyone got to see some of the city's sites from above, and no one fell asleep. Afterwards, we picked up some Döners and rolled back home. The visitors went out for some German beer and I stayed home to put Annika to sleep and prep for the big meal the following day. I should backtrack at this point to explain that we had added a few more diners to our Thanksgiving feast. We had a babysitter for Annika for a few months last year named Alice. Alice was here from the UK during her gap year between high school and university. She would normally have been babysitting Annika on a Thursday while I was at class, so I decided to invite her to dinner. Speaking of my German class, Siggy is an American who has been living in Berlin for over 20 years. She is a jazz singer and actress, and has toured all over Europe and Germany. I asked her if she had plans, and she seemed excited to swing by for some home-cooked, American Thanksgiving staples. The last addition to our party was Caroline. Caroline is the granddaughter of the woman who babysat James and I when we were children. Her mother married a Swiss man and has been living in Switzerland since before any of us were born. The whole family would come to visit every summer for 6 weeks, and since we were close in age, Caroline, her brother Chris, her sister Lisa, James, and I became friends. Long story longer, Caroline lives back in Switzerland now but used to live in Berlin, and through the wonders of Facebook, we figured out that she would be here for a visit over Thanksgiving. It had been nearly 20 years (if I had to guess) since any of us had seen one another, and I was thrilled that she was able to stop by for a bit. That made a total of 8 adults and one monster for dinner.

A blur in an adorable turkey dress...thanks Ama!

I could get into the trials of trying to cook a Thanksgiving meal for 8 adults in a Euro-sized kitchen, but that could take a while. I had figured out a way to get a turkey and some stuffing in the oven, two chickens on the grill, mashed potatoes & brussel sprouts on the stove, and pies made the night before...problem solved. On Thanksgiving day, our only plans were to do some sort of run/walk combo in Tiergarten and hit the grocery store for a few last-minute foodstuffs and a lot of booze. Tiergarten is Berlin's version of Central Park, littered with running/walking paths and a handful of historical monuments and buildings. James and I decided to run, and Colleen and Amanda opted to take Annika in the jogging stroller for a brisk walk.

CC and Annika at Brandenburger Tor.

Mommy, Uncle James, and Annika pre-run. 

We miraculously all made it back to the apartment at around the same time allowing us to put Annika down for her nap before Neil got home from class so we could hit the grocery store. The beautiful thing about Thanksgiving at the grocery store in Berlin is that it's not Thanksgiving in Berlin and thus there are no crowds or clamoring for dwindling supplies on the shelves. Once we got back, I got to prepping all of the birds and Colleen went about concocting our signature cocktail for the evening...bourbon and some other stuff, it was delicious! Around this time, we decided that we could use some ice cubes for said signature beverage. This is no small task in Berlin, and James, armed with the phrase, "Haben Sie Eiswürfel?" headed out to the stores. Sie hatten keine Eiswürfel (no luck), but James found some plastic bag ice cube making things, and that did the job.

You're only getting the before picture because I took
no after picture because I was drunk.

Business end of the bird.

A few hours, a few glasses of wine, a couple of trips to the wine store,  and a few bourbon cocktails later, dinner was ready and all of the guests had arrived. In addition to the booze, Colleen took over appetizers and brussel sprouts and music (obvs) which kept everyone busy until Neil got back from class and all of the birds were cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. We took a couple of pictures to prove that it happened, and then we all ate and drank and talked and laughed and ate some more. It was perfect.

Neil, Alice, Amanda, Caroline, James, me, Annika, Colleen, and Siggy...and the food.

The next day, James and Amanda headed to Prague for a quick trip. Colleen and I headed out to explore some of the shopping Berlin had to offer. When it comes to traveling and shopping, Colleen is a true professional: efficient, focused, lethal. I made a decision a few years ago that before I buy any article of clothing I ask myself, "What would Colleen think of this?" It has yet to lead me astray. Nevertheless, I had Annika in tow, so I could only hang for few hours. Colleen rocked Berlin all day, and for that reason, when Neil got back from swim practice that night, we decided that we would head out for a nice, casual dinner and get back early enough to be well-rested for a day of Flohmärkte (flea markets) and more shopping on Saturday. It started out as planned, and we decided on a restaurant that I had been wanting to try mainly because when we asked to see menus they brought us free drinks. After dining on polenta and wine, the place had pretty much cleared out save for a very drunk man in a suit, another man in black jeans and a leather jacket, and their friend who appeared to be slightly more drunk than the first man. The man in the suit was the proprietor of the Porsche boutique and acted as such. The man in the leather jacket didn't speak much, and the other friend spoke a lot in a mix of drunken German and English. After renaming us Kaleenka and Ginalisa, the Porsche clothing salesman told us he wanted to take us to the "hottest club in Berlin" which apparently was "gleich um die Eke" (right around the corner). We would be drinking White Russians. I should note here that Berlin is known for its club culture and that I live .5 miles from the restaurant and the hottest club in Berlin is definitely not anywhere in the vicinity. Curious, we hopped/were shoved into a cab and headed to Universum Lounge, a small bar attached to a shady casino. As our humble Porsche salesman friend punched a code into the door keypad, he told us the club was for Charlottenburg and Grunewald (nearby sections of Berlin)VIPs only. Once inside, there was a middle-aged white man with a Macbook playing some decent music. The club was full of a bunch of slightly older men with slightly younger blond women with lots of makeup in tight pants and 5" heels. In spite of Porsche man's outright disapproval, Colleen did not order a White Russian. Quiet man in leather continued to stand nearby and not speak, and I started to wonder if we were getting involved in some kind of underground escort market/sex slavery ring. It got weird when he took Kaleenka's hair out of its ponytail, rearranged it, and refused to let her smoke. We stayed for the rest of our drink and some more solid hip hop before calling it a night and heading back home. I don't get out much, so as far as I was concerned it was a pretty spectacular evening.

The next day, Kaleenka and I did some Annika-free shopping. I do not possess the endurance to hang with Colleen, but I marvel at her skill and eye for beautiful things. We scoured the Flohmarkt and headed to Primark which is kind of like H&M but awesomer. I survived the day, and James and Amanda survived Prague. That night, we all went to an adults-only dinner. After dinner James and Colleen went HAM on some Berlin bars and clubs while Amanda and I joined Neil in heading back home early. Neil had the excuse that he had a swim meet the next day. My only excuse was that shopping all day wore me out.

Sunday arrived, and everyone decided to sleep in. Uncle James managed to stay asleep on the couch even after Annika woke up and decided to play not-so-quietly on the floor next to him.

At least she shared her stuffed animals.

We managed to get out the door in time to catch Neil at his swim meet. After that we did some of the standard sightseeing things in Berlin...Checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin wall memorial on Bernauer Strasse, and Topography of Terror. Annika got lugged along and eventually fell asleep. We made it back to the apartment in time for the Pittsburgh Steelers game, and Colleen did a heroic job of not killing herself. She loves sports but is not a Steelers fan. We donned our freshly minted Berlin Thanksgiving t-shirts for a few more pictures, and then we brought the weekend to a close.

Colleen's favorite part of the football game.

Yes, that is a turkey drinking a beer and holding the German flag.

I've got nothing for this one.

Everyone headed back home on Monday, and we got back to normal Berlin life for about a week before heading back to the southwest for Neil's flight physical and German Masters National Championship swim meet. I am almost as worn out from rehashing the weekend's shenanigans as I was at the end of the actual weekend, so it may be another 3 months before I get to telling the tale of that trip.

Now that's the sign of a good weekend.

Coming up, when I recover:

• Weinachtsmärkte, a totem pole, and a swim meet.
• Christmas and an Olmsted-filled trip to Prague
• New Year's Eve AKA Silvester AKA Best. Foreworks. Ever.
• What happens when I ski for the second time ever and the first time in 16 years...you can guess how this one ends.
• There's this thing called the sun, and I think I might have seen it last week...then again...

There Are Always Words

When I took Annika to the ER over the weekend because her fever wouldn't go down, and her breathing was getting too congested for my liking, this blog was practically writing itself. From taking the train to an ER without a pediatric physician to the taxi not being able to drive us the 10 minutes to the next hospital because we didn't have a car seat, to taking the train back home to get the car, to going to the other hospital and waiting for hours to see a pediatrician, to waiting another 45 minutes for lab results during which time a bonus ear infection was found, to finally getting up to the room at 126 then waiting another hour for the results of the blood work before her IV finally got put in, to finally falling asleep between her crying and the other poor baby in the room crying and monitors buzzing whenever the two of them were quiet, to the nurse coming in to give Annika medicine when everything was quiet to the mural of Winnie the fucking Pooh on the wall staring at me the entire night, to my phone running out of batteries, to not knowing when we would get to leave, to the nurses rolling their eyes when I would ask them to repeat certain things again or slowly (because to dispel another myth not everyone here speaks English fluently. They start to learn in the 5th grade and continue through their formal schooling which is sometimes 12 years like in the US and sometimes 10 years. Unless they actively keep it up, by the time they are 30+, they speak about as much English as you do whatever language you took in high school, which is totally fine. That's why I'm continuing to learn German), I had a lot of material to work with. It was also Neil's first official weekend of class for his program which consists of scattered, intensive weekends during which he stays on location, so I had the whole "he always misses the good stuff, even when he's not really in the Air Force right now" angle too. Instead, I crammed it all into a paragraph containing one really long run-on sentence because by the time we were heading to bed after returning home on Monday, all I was feeling was incredibly lucky.

Finally back in our apartment with Annika bathed and napping in her bed, laundry running, and WiFi functioning, I thought it might be nice to check in on what I'd missed in the world of social media during our journey through the German Krankenhaus system. Apart from being amazed that anyone cared about the Pro Bowl, I began to read cryptic and concerning posts to a friend's Facebook wall. Neil sometimes gives me a hard time about checking Facebook, but it is not always a mindless voyeuristic view into the lives of people I have known in varying degrees throughout my life. It is a way of staying connected to people about whom I care, whether we see or talk or message to each other frequently or not. Nevertheless, I began feverishly searching to see if I could find out what was wrong. Bit by bit, the tragic pieces of information began to fall into place. My PT classmate Jana Evers Rojas and her husband Jaime had lost their young daughter Elysa suddenly and without warning after taking her to the ER for symptoms not unlike the ones I had noticed in Annika days earlier. (I debated whether or not to use her full name, but I have done so because I would hope that everyone would pray for Jana, Jaime, and their other young daughter Isla).  Elysa would have been 3 next weekend, and her family is holding her funeral tomorrow. Initially, I was at a loss for words. Then, I couldn't stop saying and thinking words.

• My God, how could this happen? 
• Please God, give them comfort and peace during this awful time! 
• It could just as easily have been Annika. 
• Why did this happen to them? They are some of the kindest, gentlest, most loving people I know. 
• What can I say/do to help?

That last one is always the bugger. In a time like that, all I can do is think about what I would want to hear, if I would want to hear anything at all. No matter how busy life is, how terrible my day is going, or how awful the scenario, the only thing I always come to is prayer. I know not everyone believes in the power of prayer or in God at all, and I think that's fine. There are days and weeks when I have to look long and hard at my faith, and I think that's ok too...maybe even good for me. All I know is when I pray for someone, and I let that person know that I am praying for them, it can only help. Even someone who doesn't believe in the same idea of God as I do isn't harmed by knowing that I'm here lifting up thoughts and prayers on their behalf. At the very worst, it's a wash and doesn't effect them either way. Even when I feel totally helpless, I can send up a prayer for someone and ask others to do the same. I sent out a few emails and posted on Facebook and Twitter asking for prayers for Jana and her family, and the response I got from people all over the world was overwhelming. In the process, I heard about another little girl, Ella, who was being taken off life support, and I added her to my list. Another loss this week was Luc Gruenther, an F16 pilot from Aviano Air Base in Italy whose wife is due to deliver their first child in a few weeks. They are getting prayers as well. 

It has been a terribly sad week. Every day I have been trying to just be happy that Annika is here with us...a task that she does not always make easy. I have felt guilty for trying to enforce what discipline is possible with a 20-month-old and then guiltier for getting frustrated with myself and her when it doesn't always pan out. I type this with a heavy heart. I type this, in part, for myself because living here I don't have close friends on hand with whom to discuss these kinds of things. If I did, I am pretty sure I couldn't verbalize all of this in German that any German would be able to understand...and they're not that big on feelings anyway. In general, I type this blog as though no one is going to read it because I think I can be more honest that way. Usually it allows me to be funny or sarcastic without fear of offending one of the 6 sets of eyes who might be reading (which, if it's you and you're still reading and you like Winnie the Pooh, I'm so sorry). Today, it is letting me cry all over my keyboard and maybe getting one more person to say a prayer for Jana, Jaime, Isla, Elysa, Ella, Luc, and the Gruenther family.

To close, I'm pasting in a prayer from my mom's cousin in Canada in response to my mom forwarding the prayer request that I initially sent. Her name is Sally Ann, and she has never met the Rojas family. In fact, she has only met me once...maybe twice. At a time when there may truly be no words able to console or comfort, I think she came pretty close. If you think you're no good at praying but want to give it a shot, I think this may be a good place to start.

Dear Gracious Heavenly Father,

Together we lift up Jana, her husband Jaime, their daughter Isla, and all who love them, and ask Father that YOU would wrap YOUR loving arms around them, and provide for their every need in the coming days and weeks and months ahead, as they grieve the unexplainable loss of their daughter Elysa.
Father please give them the strength to endure and carry on for Isla. Father, all of us who are parents, can not begin to imagine their overwhelming grief and loss, but we know that YOU do, because YOU gave YOUR very own son Jesus, as a sacrifice to the world. I pray Father, Jana, & Jaime know how much YOU love them and always have, but especially NOW. Your words tell us,"You are precious and I love you". (Isaiah 43.4). I pray Father, they feel YOUR arms wrapped tightly around them, through their family and friends, who are there with them comforting them as they grieve. Your word says, "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed" (Psalm 34:18), I pray Father, that they would cling to YOUR promises for their little girl that one day, "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4), and they will one day live with her in paradise for eternity.
Dear Father, please give them the strength they need to look to YOU for their every need. Please comfort them in their grief, and reassure them that she is in the loving arms of Jesus, and he will watch over her forever more, as he cares for all of his little lambs.
Dear Father, you bring healing to the brokenhearted, and I pray, where there are no words that anyone can truly say to comfort Jana, and Jaime in their grief, that they feel YOU tugging at their hearts drawing them near to YOU. Your words tells us, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you". (Hebrews 13:5). Thank YOU Father, for loving Jana and Jaime, and out of their love for each other YOU gave them the precious gift of their daughter. Father, we don't understand WHY, but we know that you hold our future in your hands. We claim YOUR promises Father, that one day we will be reunited with all who we have dearly loved and lost, for those who come to believe in Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and saviour. I pray that in their times of sorrow Jana and Jaime would be flooded with precious memories of their little girl.
Father, please bring comfort and healing to Jana and Jaime, for as a parent and grandparent, I can only imagine their broken hearts. I pray that you would place people in their lives who too have lost children to be a source of love and comfort to them. Thank YOU for the blessings that Jana is to Jaime, and Jaime is to Jana, please give them all that they need to lift each other up when the sorrow and sadness is too much to endure. Please give them the grace they will need to carry on. Please be with Isla, as she may not be old enough to understand why her sister is gone, and why mommie and daddy are so sad. Please use her to help comfort them in their loss. Father God, we do not understand why you needed this precious little angel in heaven, but her parents and all who love her entrust her to your caring. Thank you for the precious time you gave her to Jana and Jaime. Thank you for Isla, and the blessing she is and will be for Jana and Jaime. Please watch over her and guide her in all your ways. Thank you for all the people you have placed in Jana's and Jaime's life who love them. Please use them in a might way to bring comfort and healing to them at this very time.
We ask this in the precious name of your son Jesus. Amen

Self-Loathing and The Barefoot Contessa

The only thing this post has to do with living in Berlin is that I made some brownies to take over to Annika's German boyfriend's house when we went there for dinner over the weekend. Basically, this will amount to a fleeting thought which is slightly too long to be expressed via Twitter or Facebook. If you love Ina Garten, you should stop reading now. If you continue on, please know that this is more a judgement of myself than of you, her true fans...though I can hardly understand how she has any of those.

Jeffrey just loves fresh tomatoes.

I was all over The Food Network in its heyday. Maybe it's still in its heyday, but I feel like there was a sweet spot before Rachael Ray and Guy Fieri were shoved at me from every direction ad nauseam...not so great when their main purpose is to get me to try to cook food like them. At any rate, I hit 30 Minute Meals, Everyday Italian, and Semi-Homemade hard. Giada and Bobby Flay were my culinary crushes. However, there was always the issue of the Barefoot Contessa. The sound of the intro of her show sent me diving for the remote faster than the "clunk-clunk" at the beginning of Law & Order. I found her incredibly condescending and her friends all seemed like jerks. One day, while I was getting a dental cleaning no less, I was forced to watch the tail end of her show all the while wavering between interest in what she was making and wanting the television to come unchained from its bracket directly overhead and end my misery (and I'm not talking about the hygienist). She was wrapping up her beauty outdoor dinner with her Outrageous Brownies. Coffee was an ingredient, and everyone at the finely adorned table in the sand seemed to be enjoying them.

They really are delicious.

When I got home, I decided to check out the recipe online. Much to my surprise, it was relatively simple (I say "relatively" because there is always the option to just add an egg and some water to a mix and call it a day). Since Neil is a chocolate-lover and he was due home from a trip in a few days, I decided to give them a try. Much to my simultaneous dismay and satisfaction, they were delicious...an instant go-to should I have to bring a dessert somewhere. Herein lies my dilemma. I make them fairly often, and, not to toot my own or Ina Garten's horn, people tend to like them and ask how I make them. I am always compelled to give her credit, and yet I also feel the need to make sure people know that I would never under any other circumstances make one of her recipes. I realize that this all seems ridiculous. That I should feel so strongly about this (probably) very nice lady who just likes to throw elaborate dinners and lunches and make it seem like they are casual meals that didn't require a team of assistants and lighting experts to pull off is insane.

Ah, but I've forgotten to tell you the worst part about the recipe...a detail that is the perfect illustration of why I feel the way that I do. The second-to-last sentence of the instructions reads, "Do not overbake!" Really? Thanks for that tip. Also, in the show, she has on-hand (because why wouldn't everyone) plain white Chinese takeout cartons so she can send everyone home with a couple of her cherished brownies.   I'm sure Jeffrey appreciates that she sends all of the extra brownies away. I'm not saying it's not a cute idea, but would people complain about a paper plate with some foil or a ziplock bag?

Also, she trademarked her favorite phrase, "How easy is that?" Trademarked. She is the worst.

Pretend It's A Little Over 3 Months Ago

When I set out to write this post, the title was "Pretend It's 2 Months Ago," and I felt terribly behind. Now it's a new year, and in keeping with my general life resolution to not make New Year's resolutions because I think they are dumb, I made 2 resolutions this year. One of those was to keep up with the blog better. I said I would do that when I started the blog, so clearly it's been going really well. My point is, taking an arbitrary day like 1 January to begin or stop doing something is as pointless as it is any other day unless you are truly motivated. I enjoy writing, but I have found it to be somewhat difficult here. There are a number of reasons for this including but not limited to:  having a toddler, trying to learn German, the fact that in trying to learn German I am losing some of my English word-smithing abilities, and I like television. I have never felt the need to apologize for that last one, and I'm not going to start now.

So as I was not saying, a little over three months ago, the Chicago Senkowskis (Neil's parents, to be specific) traveled to Germany for a visit. They were our second official overnight visitors. The first was my friend Mary's ex-boyfriend from college and his five-year-old daughter...obviously. Nevertheless, it was exciting to finally have family coming to stay for a while and to have an opportunity to show off our new digs. We decided that while Berlin has more than enough things to do to occupy a ten-day trip, we wanted to venture a bit ourselves and drag Ama and PopPop with us. We gave them a day and a half to get time-adjusted and promptly headed off to Dresden. I had been wanting to visit Dresden for a while, so I was pretty pumped. We found a nice apartment hotel with 2 bedrooms and a Kinderzimmer which was perfect. As a sidebar, we have found that these types of accommodations are relatively cheap, and the value of being able to stick Annika in a totally separate room to sleep is immeasurable. Add in a refrigerator, free wireless internet, and generally a friendly staff due to the small-business nature of most of the places, and it makes for as pleasant a traveling experience as one can have with a toddler who is somewhat sensitive to change (to be diplomatic about it). Back to the point, it was within walking distance of all of the main sights in downtown Dresden and totally perfect.

Annika and PopPop lounging in the hotel living room (yes, that's right...hotel living room)

Once we had settled in to the hotel, we headed towards downtown. We came to The Zwinger, an old palace which has been converted into a group of museums. It was getting late in the day, but given how much actual time one can spend in a museum with a sixteen-month old, we decided to give it a go. Between the Old Masters Picture Gallery, The Porcelain Museum, and The Armory, there was plenty of variety and change of scenery. The section with old scientific and mathematical tools was closed, so we might have to head back to Dresden one of these days. The Armory was particularly interesting with displays of suits of armor, old weapons, a fencing demonstration, and a "fashion show" which was supposed to feature clothing from the 14-17th centuries but resembled a cross between a renaissance fair and leather S&M costumes...good family fun either way. After we were museumed-out, we headed to a dinner of traditional German fare. It was delicious, and Annika got a cardboard crown, so everyone was happy. After dinner, we strolled back through The Zwinger grounds which were absolutely beautiful at sunset and with almost no one else around.

Annika with her crown. Thrilled as always.

Annika, Ama, and PopPop

The next day, we headed to the center of town again to check out the town square and some of the other famous landmarks. First, we headed to the Apple Store, so I could exchange my defunct iPhone for a new one that worked...for now. After that we checked out a Herbstmarkt (Autumn Market) in the town square. It was adorable and a little preview to whet our appetites for the Weihnachtsmärkte (Christmas markets) to follow in a few months...by which time this blog entry should have long since been written. Then we headed to the Frauenkirche which was the main attraction I wanted to see in Dresden. It was almost completely destroyed by the firebombing of Dresden during WWII and left as a memorial ruin until after the reunification of Germany. It is a breathtaking now as it is completely rebuilt but with intact portions of the original church included. It also has a stellar view of the city and surrounding areas from the top.

Portion of original structure.

Frauenkirche.

Looking east up the Elbe.

Looking west down the Elbe. 

Looking down on Neil, Annika, and PopPop

Later in the day, we headed to another place I had been looking forward to seeing, Pfunds Molkerei, the most beautiful dairy in the world. I heard about this via someone I follow on Twitter. I generally try to find a Twitter account for the various cities in which we live or to which we travel. There are typically some pretty good feeds, and through one you can find others and get good tips on restaurants, festivals, and things to see and do. (Social media: not just for memes, GIFs, baby pictures, weird filtered food pictures, and the Kardashians folks!) It was the the new part of town, so we hopped on the tram and headed over. I have to say, for me anyway, it did not disappoint. Apart from the super-pushy tourist group of Spanish middle-aged ladies, it really was beautiful. We sampled some buttermilk which Annika enjoyed more than any of the adults, and headed back to eat again and get a good night's sleep before heading back to Berlin.

Pretty nice place to buy cheese.

Just a wall in a dairy.

 

Pillar at the cheese store...obvs.

Mmmmmmm, buttermilk.

When we got back to Berlin, we actually did some Berlin touristy things with Ama and PopPop. We checked out the standard stuff like Checkpoint Charlie, other wall-related things, the Topography of Terror, and the Bundestag dome. Truthfully, it was just nice to have loved-ones in town and have a chance to relax and enjoy a piece of this amazing experience with them.

In the Bundestag dome.

On a bus...not actually flying.

Whew! I really feel like I'm back on track here. In upcoming posts, you may be excited to hear about the following:

• Berlin Thanksgiving 2K12
• SW German road trip 2.0 complete with a swim meet, a flight physical, and some vomit...tune in to find out whose!
• Weihnachten und zwischen den Jahren trip to Prague
• Silvester AKA New Year's Eve AKA most amazing fireworks ever

At this rate, you'll probably hear about the New Year's festivities after the birth of Annika's sibling...and I'm not even pregnant.

Seriously...no sibling on the way...I'm really enjoying European booze.