Teo has become such a part of our daily lives that the concept of time before Teo is a bit of a blur (that might be because with the 2 boys we have been mentally and phyically pushed into a completely different zone, or just that we can’t relate to time without our lovely brothers). While the party may have been on the smaller side, it was certainly sweet. Great food and drink and a very special present for Teo (and his brother Kai it seems) from Grandma and Pop Pop. Arigato!
It was an unexpected holiday. There was a flash 48 hour Internet sale and there happened to be a hotel on the beach in Tel Aviv for $87 per night. And then there also happened to be some frequent flyer tickets available. So without much investigation we were suddenly off to Tel Aviv for 4 nights. We started doing our homework, checking in with friends and contacts, and researching the Internet. We read the news reports that it snowed in Jerusalem just the week before (wondering if our beach front hotel was now an out of the way destination). Even as we were taking off, we didn’t know what really to expect.
We were more than pleasantly surprised. Our fears of intense airport security policies were completely wrong (in fact when Kai fell asleep during check-in on the way home they never asked us to take him out of the stroller). Weather was sunny in the 60’s the whole time. The city and the people were incredibly child friendly — the candy hawker in the market was more upset with us than with Kai when he kept sampling the candy — “let him enjoy, he’s a kid”.
We ate well through the trip. Our friend Babak took us to a great local hummus place built in an old synagogue. We dined with our friend Matan a local chef’s place which could have rivaled any joint in Soho. When we sat down at the Old Man and the Sea at the Jaffa Port, with two minutes we were presented with the obligatory 20 salads (yes 20). And they were fantastic. And we even managed to indulge in some fine patisserie delights at a beautiful restaurant/bakery.
We decided to take a day trip to Jerusalem even though we couldn’t find a babysitter for Kai. We rented a car which worked out fine — the traffic however was intense both ways. Both boys cooperated for the most part during our explorations in old city Jerusalem. Kai slept shortly after arriving. Needless to day, the old city was not the ideal place for a stroller. Overall, it was a bit heavy on the tourist souvenirs (the entire inner city is a middle eastern marketplace) but it was good to connect with the past. When we were flying in, the Israeli next to me commented on my first trip to Israel, “you are closing the loop that is over 2000 years old”.
It was a great trip, and certainly on the radar for a revisit.
It was a very pleasant celebration for me this year with a lovely dinner at home followed by a nice dinner with friends. With a family as lovely as this, there isn’t much more that you need.
It’s taken a couple of weeks to recover from the adventures and get to posting. While we did have some challenges, it was so great to spend time with family and friends who we can’t get enough of…
So we had a fairly smooth start (although Chika and I barely slept). Check-in went smoothly and we made it through the first flight without much issue. A nice break in Heathrow (a great kids play area in Terminal 5), and then had the perfect setup with bassinet for the flight. The kids even slept a bit. But by the time we descended Kai’s cold had stepped up and then Kai’s ears were hurting 🙁
We spent the next 2 days in Boston attending to our patient, but getting a bit of time to catch up with our friends there (even some shopping too). Luckily we had gotten an upgrade to a junior suite at the Westin so it was like a big indoor playground.
On Saturday we drove down to Mystic to meet the grandparents and had a nice (but windy!) day exploring the aquarium before heading to Foxwoods for our friend Cat’s wedding. It was a beautiful event at a winery, but still cold. Mom and dad watched Kai (who in just a few hours wore them out completelly, but we brought Teo to the event. He was a great trooper and slept though most of the event.
Less than 24 hours later we we off to NYC. As we checked into the new hotel in midtown, it began to feel a bit cramped after the luxurious space in Boston. But we got cosy and made do. Unfortunately now, Teo had gotten Kai’s cold. Which meant we ending up spending more time than planned in the tiny hotel room. Thanfully the boys didn’t mind as much as we did.
Thursday was the big event however, Kai’s first Halloween. This year was the year of Spiderman. And Spiderman got the royal treatment with his Cousin Sydney (aka Princess Kate) and together they conquered the neighborhood.
We spend the last days relaxing and enjoying good food at mom and dad’s house. By the end, it was hard to say goodbye, but we know we will be coming back again.
It was a slow start morning and then the tram was severely delayed. The result was we missed the morning circle start, which meant we had to wait. Rather than just sit around, we went to a local coffee shop, Oslo Coffee, which Kai had been before. It was a great time just hanging out and having a morning break. The barrista was extra nice and didn’t even charge for Kai’s steamed milk. As the saying goes, when life hands you lemons, make lemonade.
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We love Kai’s kita (the pre-school here in Germany). Except when it comes to holidays when they always seem to be taking the liberty of staying closed even when the holiday is over just because its Friday. So since Kai was out of school, we decided to make a long weekend of it. Our friends suggested a beachside resort on the Baltic a few hours drive away. A good alternative to getting us all on a plane somewhere, and had been on the agenda for some time so we were in. It was a good first run experience — overall, the car rides went smoothly — the biggest issue was missing on of the exits on the way up (and getting stuck in massive traffic jam for 40 minutes). The place was nice and really well prepared for kids. They had a kids club where we could drop the older kids off after 9am — good fun for them, and a bit more freedom for us. The sit down meals weren’t perfectly serene, but we managed to enjoy part of it. And the town was quaint with a nice promenade in front of the beach. We had some fun, learned a lot, and got to forget about some of the day-to-day issues which don’t add much value.
We are getting quite comfy with our Sunday morning routine — our friends drop their kids at our place whom we leave with Kai’s teacher, and then we head off with Teo for a relaxing brunch. This week we decided to venture to the California Breakfast Slam. It’s not in a neighborhood we traditionally head to, but we are growing more bold/confident in our Sunday excursions. It is actually housed in a place which is a bar in the evening — the large communal table in the room where we sat was actually the pool table under cover. But it turned out to be fitting environment — homey, cozy, with good portions of comfort food. They even provided you with water without having to order it by the bottle — almost unheard of in Berlin. Not all the eats were perfect — the poached eggs on the eggs benedict were a bit overpoached — but still a good change of pace from the traditional Berlin brunch fare. Will venture again.
Who would have believed that we would go to two food festivals in two day with offspring. But we did it. The second time around it was just Kai, Maki, and myself going to check out Bite Club. From a food perspective, it is quite similar to Street Food Thursdays, but the atmosphere is a bit different. It’s directly on the spree, part on land and part on a boat. And it happens to be next to a floating swimming pool/beach venue which tends to draw a more partying crowd. We got there at opening at 6, so it was still a bit tame. But by the time we left at 7 it was getting packed with long queues. Best food of the day: pulled pork bbq sandwich on a grilled long hot dog bun with pickles and creme fraiche and crumbed bbq potato chips. YUM!
So we decided to experiment going to the Street Food Thursday with the whole family. We figured there was a play area and enough variety to find something for Kai to eat. Overall, would give the experience a B — we did eat good food, no casualties from the excursion (I did stain my shirt with taco sauce, but some quick spot work at home did the job), and I think everyone managed to have something special (personally, the cheesecake from Elephant was checked on my wish list and was as good as I anticipated). With hindsight, I think we can make the next trip even better.
