Gartnerstrasse

Last day in Friedrichshain. Took the opportunity to make a quick run to Gartnerstrasse where there really are a couple of great shops when you have children – or need to buy presents for children you know. Siebenschoen has great toys, books, stickers and a riding horse to keep your child busy when you’re looking for presents. Also very challenging when you want to leave and get your kid to come with you without making a huge scene.

Next door there is Dolly Rocker who have great soft and comfy kids clothes (lot of scadinavian) and they have their own line in clothing, Or at least they make their own warm children’s hats. Also great postcards and decorative stuff. Too bad we will not be living in the neighborhood, although I guess Prenzlauerberg should have lots of great kid shops as well. 

Kollwitzplatz

Oma and Opa are visiting. We wanted to take them to one of the places we visited first time we were in Berlin together: the farmers market on Kollwitsplatz. Still a lovely place, but the market is not quite as charming anymore as I remembered, or maybe it’s just not as charming as the farmers market on Boxhagenerplatz we visited the two Saturdays before. Still a nice place where you can get your groceries, eat some really nice sausage, sauerkraut or grilled fresh fish, but if you need to make a choice I’d choose Boxhagener for less touristy and more choice if you come for groceries instead of a bite to eat.

PS check out the guy on the right, only saw this after putting him on my blog…

Little Girls

Little girls are growing up too fast. Sneaking into closets.  Secretly eating cheese in a corner. Walking in mommy’s shoes. Who can only hope these little girls will love the adventure we started.

Obst und gemuse

Question: Why are German fruit and veg so much better than Dutch? They have more color, more taste and if you buy the fruits unripe they actually will be ripe in a couple of days (instead of going from unripe to rotten in a couple of hours)

Two post in a row in favor of Berlin vs Amsterdam. And it does always annoy me when Dutch people go abroad and starts nagging about their own country. Well. This actually really is something Germans do better than the Dutch.

Empty Spaces

Berlin is a huge city with a lot of recent history. Especially the Eastern part, which is one of the main reasons we hope to live in this half of the city. Because the city only so recent started to restore and develop huge parts there are still so many undeveloped and old places. Old barns, fabrics, breweries and so on. These places give a lot of room for people to be creative. Today I walked past these empty buildings and heard the most wonderful jazzy music coming from inside. Me and my girls have been standing there and listening for at least 10 minutes, loving the music and loving the fact we now live in a city where this kind of surprises are possible around every corner.