Kai and I decided to go to the gardens next to the Imperial Palace after school. Even though rain threatened, we ventured on and were able to make it to the ice cream kiosk seconds before they closed.
It turns out that there are a lot of bakeries in Kanazawa. A lot of really good bakeries. Will do our best to search out the sublime, but there are the constraints of time and the physical toll of intense morning carbs (but hey, I’m on holidays right). Today was Donq, where I had a curry bun with soft boiled egg inside (how they got it perfectly done inside a doughnut shell, I’ll never be able to fathom). Kai is growing up fast. He picked both his targets (a cheese flatbread and a sweet bean doughnut) and knocked them down without much help from papa, even though I was begging for some of that tasty looking doughnut.
The brief stop in Philadelphia was quite short, so mom and I arranged to have day in the city together. I was also restaurant week, so a good opportunity to try new places. We ended up choosing Le Cirque — beautiful place, fantastic service, but the food was not mindblowing (although the creme brulee was one of the lightest I have had). Afterwards we went up to the Guggenheim. A great exhibition on James Turrell who explores the art of light and perception. Definitely worth going. A quick bit of shopping, and we had mom to the train right on time to make it home to prepare dad’s dinner. A great day.
Since my phone had broken before leaving forcing me to use a backup, I haven’t been getting the quality of shots I would have liked. But without Kai and Teo, its all a bit mundane anyway. I have been surviving my kid-withdrawal by enjoying my friends children. It’s amazing how becoming a parent makes you love all kids.
With one week left of solo Berlin, I am trying to cover as much ground as possible. Street Food Thursdays was on my list — an old class markethalle taken over by creative young chefs every Thursday. At first it is a bit overwhelming — where to start when there are so many amazing food (and drink options). But after taking a full walk of the place, we slowly dived in. The Taiwanese pork belly “hamburger” was the winner — the soft fluffy white steamed bread combine with succulent pork belly, various pickles and vegetables, peanut crumbs, and sauce was perfection. But will need to head back more often to cover the variety of foods. The good news is that there is a kids play area in the middle, so I am thinking after school adventures for Kai and family when we are all back in August.
At 7:00am the family was on the plane and there I was on my own. I grabbed a chocolate croissant from the bakery in the airport and a coffee from Starbucks and jumped on the bus home. Back at home, I finished a bunch of little projects — getting pictures copied onto the PC, a few posts, started doing insurance reimbursements, getting ready for terrace cleaning project with our cleaning person, etc.
I met another local papa who had come back from an overnight camping party by a lake and needed “hangover help”. While it wasn’t my plan, we ended up going to the Bird for massive burgers. It was well executed — snagging outside seats without much hassle. And I ate the whole burger, which I usually share with Chika. A mistake, as I ended up going home and lying in bed for a while to recover. I think I heard “moo” every time I opened my mouth. Finally I did make it for a short gym workout until my colleague Mark pinged me for our planned dinner (which I was not vaguely hungry for). I proposed we bike down to the canal in Kreuzberg to an asian restaurant, and with the long summer days in Berlin we had a pleasant ride down to Chan. Decent food, not amazing, but pleasant place to sit outside on a summer evening. We decided to do a bit more exploring on the way home riding down the canal searching for one more drink. We didn’t succeed (the sake bar was closed), but ended up stumbling on a pool hall (a serendipitous event, since Mark had just asked 10 minutes earlier if I shot pool). We couldn’t ignore the omen, so went to check it out. My rusty skills magically came back to some extent, and even won the first game. Finally it was time to head home — we decided to be safe papa’s and bring the bikes back on the tram.
We had showed up the week before without a reservation and were turned away, and now we know why. Amazing coffee, the best charcuterie/cheese plates in town, and killer cakes. Worth a visit for sure to Pakolat.
Kai didn’t take a nap again Sunday (a scary trend), so instead of just heading to the playground we jumped on the bike and cruised across town to the zoo. In the past, I wouldn’t go solo to the zoo with Kai. Too far to travel without a stroller, and too difficult control both an energized Kai and a stroller at the same time. But in principle, the bike could work. And it did (although Kai did decide opening my backpack on the way home and threw out my German coursebook twice — unfortunately, I only caught him the first time.) The thanks you get as a parent, even after a chocolate ice cream cone.
While our McDonald’s experiment failed miserably, the 1st May (Labor/Workers Day here in Germany) hot dog was well received. Kai is definitely right — I am done with fast food too.
While Teo is big news, his older brother is dazzling all of us as well. We’ve been hitting the streets a lot to give mom some space, and it’s been a lot of fun hanging out in Berlin, trying new dining options, and exploring new parks. Even at home, we are settling back down into routine of bath, books, and bed. Yesterday Kai was so exhausted he was asleep before 10pm for the first time in a week. Hopefully the trend continues!
