Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Pictures Pictures Pictures

More pictures for your viewing pleasure. Please go to my Flickr site at http://www.flickr.com/photos/prettyblackcat.

Here are a few as a preview.













Logan and me in either 2004 or 2005 at the OshKosh Air Show in Wisconsin USA. We are in front of Spaceship One.


















Chris, Logan and Connor in front of our flat.














I love this picture. Logan is looking at me while the train is pulling in.

Remember more pictures for your viewing pleasure at my Flickr site http://www.flickr.com/photos/prettyblackcat.

German Immersion

Last night in class I was submerged in the German language. Yes class is full immersion. It was weird and yet not. I kept thinking to myself that I needed to hear English but then I thought hey I'm living and breathing German everyday so do I really need to hear English?? Once I answered my question with a resounding NO I was more at ease with the class, my teacher and the students around me.

Everyone in the class seems really nice. I'm the only person from the US. We only had two people from the same country; Italy. It's fun to have such a diverse group of folks in one class. The teacher didn't speak English until the end when she wrote the word, "Hausaufgaben" and we all looked blankly at her. She smiled and said I won't speak much English to you but in this case the word I wrote means HOMEWORK. We all laughed. It's weird that everyone in class speaks English. ha ha

So what did we learn? Well, we learned how to say (formally and informally) how are you, my name is xxx (or I'm called xxx), I'm from xxx and I speak xxx. We learned the Alphabet and numbers 0-10. It was fun. The three hours went really fast. We had one 15 minute break (the German's call it a pause) to do whatever we needed to do (bathroom, drink, eat, talk, smoke, etc.). I didn't bring anything with me but on Thursday I'll bring some food and something to drink. I did get myself some water to at least wet my whistle. I was starved by the time I got home at 10 p.m. so I stopped at Dos (nearby Mexican restaurant -- it's okay) for a chicken burrito.

All-in-all the experience was good. A few words and phrases were new to me which was nice and the rest was review. As I've mentioned in earlier posts I've been using the workbook "German in 10 minutes a day" to study the language. What I learned last night is toward the middle of my book. I think the book I have is really for folks who need to speak German NOW 'cus they're going on a trip or are on a trip and need to be able to interact with the folks around them. You get a lot quickly which I liked but half of what I've learned so far from the book we didn't even talk about in class. I suppose since I have German class three nights a week for three hours each time I'm sure we'll get to IT, but I was hoping last night to hear the words and phrases that I've learned so far. I guess I just have to be patient :-) I'm probably going to get what I asked for on Thursday. ha ha

Faces

So is it me or do I see the faces of my family and friends all over the place? I even see TV and movie personalities. Note: I did see (along with husband and kids) Dennis Quaid here in Berlin near St. Hedwig's in Mitte. He was with another man and his two twin babies. He smiled at me as we passed because Connor was screaming at the top of his lungs. The parental acknowledgement of yeah I've got one (or more) of those too was nice. I didn't really think about who he was until after we passed.

I wonder if there is a syndrome or condition or something that ex pats like me see people they know everywhere they go while living abroad. In my travels around the US and Europe I haven't encountered this syndrome or condition or whatever you want to call it.

Hold on let me try a Google search.....

Okay I tried a few different searches but I got nothin'. It's probably my searching techniques and my lack of using the correct words but I'm sure I'm not the first to think about this. I'll have to try again later. If anyone out there reading this post has info for me, please let me know. Thanks.

I'll also look on the ex pat web site I read and see if Christina G has anything to say about it.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

More Days Missing

Once again I've fallen short of my goal to write in my blog everyday. BLAH!

Sunday was nice. We missed the whole "fall back" time change so when we went to Mass we arrived an hour early. No worries. We found a cute coffee shop and had a little "more" breakfast before heading to church. Mass was wonderful as always. Logan gets distracted when Connor and Chris are around but he was better toward the end. Connor fell asleep which is always good as he is a screamer and yeller. He likes to hear the echo. It's okay at the Cathedral though Arch Bishop Flynn addressed Connor during his Homily once which was really cute. Arch Bishop Flynn loves loves loves kids. He couldn't care less if kids screamed during the entire Mass. This is very cool.

Anyway, I've got pictures this time but sadly they are in the camera but I will post this week.

Logan and I took a short bike ride later in the evening which was nice. It was cold cold cold for sure.

Monday Logan went back to school. It was hard for everyone to get up well except Connor. He always gets up early. Logan had a good day and was happy to see his friends. We got homework done and checked played some indoor soccer and a little Pokemon before heading to bed. It rained all day so poor Connor and I were stuck inside but he had fun practicing his walking. Connor helped me do some laundry and cleaning of the flat. He's quite the helper. Now if I could only get Logan to help me too.

Jennifer ist spreche Deutche heute!!!

I probably didn't write or spell the words in my title correctly but, yes yes yes, I will be going to class tonight. I'm very excited. I will go early to get my picture taken for my student ID. I'm taking A1 which is the first class you can take. Even though I know a little German and could have tested at a higher level, I decided it was better for me to start at the beginning. Class is at 6 p.m. and goes until 9 p.m. Should be loads of fun.

Since I'm at class Chris and Logan will take Connor to Music Together class. They will all have a lot of fun too. Music Together ends I think on November 18th so after today there are only 3 classes left. The music class at Lifelines just down the street ends at the end of December. That class was super fun and the kids in the Lifelines class are about the same age. Connor really liked seeing kids his own age and really enjoyed it. I did too. Chris will take Connor next week to check it out. Also the Lifelines music class was waaaaaaaaaaaaaay cheaper. Like 1/2 the cost of Music Together not to mention the no hassle of getting there. I'm really happy about this.

Okay better get going. I will report after class how it went.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Missed Friday Now It's Saturday

Oh gosh. I missed Friday. I'm trying to blog everyday but mother duty calls so...

Friday was a nice day. It was cold but sunny. Chris and Logan went on their first bike ride. Yes it's terrible that it took this long to put the bikes together and get out on the streets. I haven't yet had the opportunity but hope to do so this week. We were planning to get a baby seat but didn't get a chance to do it so we'll try this week and see.

Logan's vacation is over. We got back to more aggressive reading and Math. Chris also reviewed Logan's German lessons. We'll do more today and tomorrow before he heads back to school on Monday.

We got to talk to our friends Beth and Martin Friday via Skype. It worked great. We talked to Martin earlier in the day when Beth and kids (Julian & Xaiver) were at school and work. Later in the day we talked to Beth, Julian and Xaiver. It was fun to see them as well as hear them. I just Love Love Love Skype. The Muellner/Lubell clan is well and having fun in Vienna. It was great to see the kids talk to each other. It's like they never have been apart these past few years. They showed each other their trading cards (Pokemon & Yugi Oh) and Legos.

The evening ended with a little dinner from our favorite place Del Falco's.

Today we did some shopping and napping. Chris and Logan went on another bike ride. It's cold and cloudy here today which is sort of depressing. I better get used to it. The months of November, December, January and February will be more of the same. At least in MN it snows (here not so much) which makes the cold bearable. Also it may be really cold but the sun does come out.

Chris tells me that some flats still use coal for heating. Today I smelled it for the first time. It's smells like a campfire.

Oh gosh music class for Connor and I was really fun. We were offered a spot in class so we signed up for 8 more. Music Together classes end in about 4 weeks so it will be nice to have something else for Connor to do. I missed the Montessori sign up so we'll have to wait until January. It was great to just walk down the street a couple of doors to class. No stroller. If I leave early enough I can have Connor walk there. He'd really like it I'm sure.

It's about 8:30 p.m. here and we are finishing up dinner. We tried to make stir fry but it didn't work out. Neither Chris nor I have made before so that is part of the problem. We'll try again. We need to get a good sauce recipe so if anyone out there is reading this please post something for us.

We'll end the evening with a little play time with the kids and then off to bed. We are all going to St. Bernhard's tomorrow. It's cutting into Connor's nap time but that is okay. He'll fall asleep in his stroller.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Typical Day

A friend of mine (Kristin Fischer Rosel - Hi Kristin) asked what a typical day is like now that we are living in Berlin. To be honest not much as changed from our "regular routine". We still get up in the morning, have breakfast, feed the cats, take Logan to school and then busy ourselves with typical daytime stuff. Chris spends his time looking for a job while I take care of Connor most days. I do laundry, clean the flat, make meals, go on walks with the baby, go to the park, etc.

Grocery shopping is a little different from what we are used to back in St. Paul. Since we don't have a car we have to shop more frequently. We purchased a little grocery cart on wheels so we can get a little more when we go out. They don't give out bags here so you have to bring your own. We use a combination of cloth and plastic. We also don't shop at one place. We have to go to many places to get everything we need. We are lucky to have two bio stores nearby. The BioFresh and the BioCompany. We also go to Kaiser's which is not as nice as a Kowalski's or Lund's/Byerly's but nicer than a Cub or Rainbow. Once I again I feel the need to show pics but have none sadly. I will take some and post.
Everything takes longer to do here without a car but hey I'm okay with that. I think having a car would be a liability in this city. First of all there are no places to park. No one has garages so it's a free for all on the street. In some neighborhoods like ours you have to pay to park on the street. The U & S-Bahn trains as well as the buses are excellent in Berlin. You can get just about anywhere in the city. Biking is HUGE here too. There are bike lanes everywhere. WATCH OUT! If you're standing in a bike lane you'll get run over by a cranky biker. They are freaks about this for sure.
Connor and I have been to the doctor's which isn't really a part of a typical day but this is a little different too. I think I've mentioned these experiences in other posts but basically the doc does it all. I was a little worried about the shots for Connor and the blood draw for me but all went well. For those that care my thyroid levels are A-OK.
So our typical day is like your typical day. We just happen to live in a European city.
If you would like to come visit us and see for yourselves, please feel free to let me or Chris know. We have an extra room with a nice large comfortable bed.

What happened to Tuesday and Wednesday??

Ha they came and went. I can't believe it's Thursday already.

Logan's vacation is quickly coming to a close. We've gone to the park and to the Fassbender & Rausch chocolate shop and to KaDeWe. Today not sure what we'll do. It's a beautiful day out. It's cold but the sky is blue. We hope to get a bike seat for Connor so we can all go biking together. This is what we are thinking of:

Hopefully we can get something that isn't too expensive. Chris thinks they are about 100 Euro. Yikes! However, it would be nice now that the bikes are built to all go out on a ride rather than just one of us always staying behind with Connor. Plus I might try biking to music class and see how long it takes me rather than riding the rails.

Okay let's go back to Tuesday. Tuesday was a very nice day. It was super warm and sunny. It got to 68. Logan, Connor and I took the train to the "big" park over by Rathaus Schoenberg. Rathaus Schoenberg is where JFK made his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech. You can read about it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ich_bin_ein_Berliner. Anyway, this park is huge. I should take a picture and post so you can see just how big it is. Maybe we'll go today and I can snap a few and post. In fact I have to try to bring the camera wherever I go. Everytime we leave the house it's a new adventure and a picture is worth a 1000 words right?? Logan found a purple kiddie rake and Connor loved playing in the sand with it. When Logan tried to take it away Connor screamed bloody murder. We made it home just before it started to rain and then it rained on and off all day on Wednesday.

Sort of a bummer when it rains here as there aren't any real indoor places to go that aren't cold. All the train stations are open so it gets mightly chilly inside. The shops and restaurants are all heated but you can't hang out in there forever. Berlin has a couple of malls but most of them are super crowded. Everyone has the same idea to get out of the cold. I don't like to fight all those people with the kids and stroller. Not my idea of fun.

So Wednesday we didn't get out until later in the afternoon. We were rain free long enough to get to the train and take it to this really cool chocolate shop/restaurant in Mitte called Fassbender & Rausch. We were there for about an hour. We had some hot chocolate and a chocolate mousse dessert. Everything was great and then Connor peed on me. BLAH!!! Connor was sitting on my lap and I felt this warm liquid on my leg and knew what it was immediately. From that point, Connor started screaming and Logan was running around. I thought I was going to go crazy. We picked up all our stuff and headed to the bathroom. I completely changed Connor and loaded him up to go out to this really cool plaza nearby. As soon as we walked outside it started to rain. More BLAH! We decided not to take the train but take the bus instead. It was a nice ride as Connor fell asleep. Logan sat quietly looking out the window too. Peace at last. ha ha

Monday, October 20, 2008

One more Video of Connor

Getting ready to eat some dinner.

Let's Try It Again

I'm going to try to post these last two videos of Connor. Logan has some video he took of his Legos and Connor but again the files are too big so we need to figure out how to post these for him. More on that later.

Here we go....



One more...

We have a WINNER

In our search for a Catholic Church Logan and I met a very nice priest named Father Markos. He gave me the name of another priest Father Gillisson at St. Bernhard's in Dahlam. I called Father Gillisson and he told me to come to the 11 a.m. Mass on Sunday. So Logan and I went yesterday to St. Bernhard's. It was a lovely train ride to Dahlem and a short walk to the church from the train station. The church is very nice inside and it was great to finally hear Mass in English. Logan and I have been going to various churches around Berlin. Mostly to St. Hedwig's in Mitte. They at least had the Readings in English even though the spoken word was German.

Logan and I also were able to go to Confession after Mass which was a real treat for both of us. We haven't gone to Confession since we left the US in July. Logan said as we left the church that we were back on God's path.

After Confession we met with Father Gillisson. I wanted to know about homeschooling Logan religious ed. Logan gets religious ed 1 hour a week at JFK but I miss our time together. I homeschooled Logan in 1st and 2nd grade. It was a lot of fun for both of us and we both learned so much. Father invited us to come back next weekend (he wants to meet the entire family) and he would introduce us to other families in the Parish. Some of these other families have similar interest so I get the feeling they don't have a program yet but would like to do it. This could be fun organizing if enough families are interested. If it doesn't work out with St. Bernhard's Logan and I will still do it on our own. I can order the books from findingGod.org. It just would have been nice to interact with other kids and families. Logan likes the group activities and of course snack time.

Next weekend we'll bring the camera and take some pics of the area and the church. The train station has some weird looking benches that Logan and I thought were really funny.

One More and I'm Going to BED

My last post of the day/night. I've got to get to bed. I'm so so tired. I still have my cold and while I'm feeling better I have a cough now. I'm sure I'll have it for the next couple of weeks. Dang!

Here are some cute pictures of at least two of my kiddies. You can see more of course on my Flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/prettyblackcat.










Sunday, October 19, 2008

Der Baader Meinhof Komplex

Chris and I went to see "Der Baader Meinhof Komplex" yesterday. You can read about it here http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0765432/ on IMDB and Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Baader_Meinhof_Komplex
and here is the official web site http://www.bmk.film.de/. If you Google it too you can read more about the film and I'm sure the RAF. Here is a link to the Wikipedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Army_Faction. Anyway, it was good. It could have been better but all-in-all I liked it. I had done some reading about the RAF and the "key" players like Baader, Meinhof, and Ensslin. Pretty crazy folks for pretty crazy times so when I saw the movie I was expecting more and the film didn't deliver as I had thought it would. The performances from some of the actors were fantastic and I wish the writers/director would have spent more time on the main characters. I really felt as if I didn't get to know these people very well and what drove them mad to do what they did. Okay so go see it and tell me what you think.

Chris and I had a nice discussion on the bus ride back to the flat but our thoughts soon were of our boys and our new babysitter. Did they all survive the last 5 hours? Apparently they did. Connor seemed happy to see us and Logan was busy watching the end of a movie. Clara (our new babysitter) said she would come back. YEAH!!! More dates for Chris and me.

Technology STINKS

Okay I'm trying to upload more videos but IE decided to choke so no more videos tonight. I'll try posting the last two tomorrow. Sometimes all this technology just stinks. BLAH!!!

No I LOVE IT REALLY!

Connor Walks Videos

We took some video of Connor walking today and I wanted to try to post some of them here. Hopefully it works out. One of the videos is big and was taking a long time to upload so here is a shortie and I'll get the larger one out on the web somewhere. Stay tuned.


One more very short clip.



Okay I got the bigger one to work. I have two more I want to post and will try to get them up but I may have gone over my limit for the day so I'll have to do it tomorrow. Let's see what I can do. One moment.....

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

What's Happening????

SICK AGAIN?
Connor's mucus is extremely potent. I swear I have been washing my hands like crazy since he got a cold a few days ago but wouldn't you know it. I managed to get a cold and a sore throat as well. Gee wiz. Like I don't have anything else better to do with my time than baby a cold. BLAH!

GERMAN
Two weeks from today I'll be heading to my first German language class at the Goethe Institute. I'm so excited. Over the past week or so I've been brushing up on my German using the book "German in 10 minutes a day". It's really a great book. Here is the web site http://www.bbks.com/ if you want to check out. I think once I get a little German behind me I'm going to brush up on my Spanish and Italian and maybe even French. We have lots of folks living in the neighborhood that speak these languages and it would be cool to speak with them in their native language as well. Fun stuff learning new languages.

CONNOR
Connor and I will go to a different music class this week. I think I may have mentioned this in another post but there is a cute baby store about two doors down from our flat and they also have music and montesorri classes. I signed us up for both. Connor and I get to "try it" before we "buy it" this Friday so it should be loads of fun.

Connor continues to take more and more independent steps. He thinks he's king of the hill.

LOGAN
Logan's conferences this week are going well. Nothing new. We hope we can get his teachers talking to us and to each other. We'll keep you posted. I'm getting the feeling though that this is a Germany thing. Unfortunate really.

Logan and I went to see "Wall-E" last week. It was really a cute movie. We both recommend it.

SKYPE
We got Skype working on my laptop. If you don't have it get it NOW. http://www.skype.com/ Calls between Skype members are free and signing up is free too. Chris, Logan, Connor and I talked to Matthew, Tally and new baby Nicole Jane yesterday. It was fun to be able to see each other as we were able to successfully video conference. You don't have to video conference with Skype it's just a nice benefit if you have a camera.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Tom and Ted go outside

Today was such a beautiful day we took Tom and Ted out for a walk. Ted did great. We actually walked down the street a bit (this is all at night btw) to the grassy front lawn of the neighbors for a munch and then back home for a little tuna treat. Chris took Tom out for a dragggggggggggg. Tom did walk back to the flat on his own. Yeah, good boy!

Living with All BOYS

Let me think about this one for a bit and get back to ya all.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Connor's Stats

I forgot to add in a previous post that Connor is 26 lbs. and 32 inches tall. He's like 87% for weight and a 98% for height. Kid is growing like a weed.

This is scary but Logan fits into my shoes. I wear an 8-1/2. Yikes.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Conferences for Logan Monday, Oct. 13th

Fall conferences are just around the corner. There will be no surprises we hope. Communication has gotten a little better with the teachers but we are still concerned about Logan and how he is doing. It was a tough start for Logan. He has 6 different teachers and none of them talk to each other. There is little communication with parents. At Linwood, Logan's school in MN, we received a parent letter every week telling us what was going on that week. The teachers talked to each other and created similar lesson plans. We are also concerned about the discipline. It appears that each teacher does their own thing which is a HUGE problem. Some teachers YELL at their students and are just plain condescending and mean. Both Chris and I have been witnesses to these events. None involving Logan but classmates. I'm just furious about it. Chris and I plan to discuss with the teachers next week. Keep your fingers crossed that all goes well and that I don't cause too much of a ruckus.

More Shots for Connor

We had another visit to the doctor's office today. Connor had his final two shots. Here in Germany the max shots they give is two. Last month Connor had his MMR and today he had everything else. Seven different kinds of drugs. Yikes! None of them are live viruses so we are hoping he won't get a fever like he did with the MMR. Connor didn't really cry on the first shot but did the 2nd one. Ouchies!!!

Rainy and cold today. Fall leaves are falling from the trees. Lots of yellow, brown, red and orange. Very pretty.

How to become a Facebook addict

Yes I've become an addict, that is a Facebook addict. Do you have a Facebook addiction? Here let me make it easy for you if you don't http://www.facebook.com.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Sleep

Don't get enough of it.

Monday, October 6, 2008

TP

Another missed item is my lovely Charman TP. Oh the agony.

My fantastic cousin Karen sent me a HUGE package of TP. I mean HUGE. I've got a picture of it in the camera and will post. I'm so proud of it. It's a vision of white fluffiness. Oh the simple pleasures of life.

Karen my dearest thank you so much from the bottom of my tushy!!! You are a GEM.

Thank you thank you thank you!

More Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday to our friend Jeremy Wilker. It's his day today. He and his wife Meghan (and daugther Trixie) are expecting a very special person today too. Their 2nd child's due date was today. Any news? Can we welcome the next Wilker into the world???

Stay Tuned.

Here is Meghan's Flickr site http://www.flickr.com/photos/irishgirl/. I'm sure she'll have something up as soon as the baby is here.

All the best guys and again Happy Birthday Jeremy.

I LOVE SHOUT!

I think the absolutely best stain remover is SHOUT. I've been battling my wash machine here in Berlin since we got it oh a month or so ago. I can't seem to find the right setting or the right detergent. Well I finally found a decent setting on the machine. I wash everything on the sportswear setting. Weird that a wash machine has that type of setting but that's okay. There are others that I can't read and Babelfish has no idea either. I stay away from those (at least for now). I can wash my clothing in cold no problem but was having a hard time getting stains out that I had not had problems with in the US. I found a passable substitute for SHOUT at the Bio Company. I also went online and found that lemon juice, vinegar and the sun are good at getting stains out too.

So I was sad and frustrated that I couldn't get this blueberry stain out and I asked my wonderful Mother to send me some SHOUT. She sent me TWO and a OXY stick pen. Oh JOY! Now even old stains are coming out after a couple of washes. Oh boy oh boy LIFE IS GOOD!!!

I LOVE SHOUT!

Thanks again Mom for sending :-)

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Happy Birthday Grandpa Pete

It's Grandpa Pete Macgowan's birthday today.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Connor, Logan, Chris and Jennifer miss you and wish you a very happy day.

The Imperfect Parent

This is a "must see" web site. Loads of funny stories.
http://www.imperfectparent.com/

Connor Walks

Well folks my little baby Connor is growing up. He's finally decided now is the time to walk. He thinks it's pretty cool too. He took about 10 steps yesterday in the hall of our flat. I think he thought I was holding on to his shirt but I wasn't. He's still the fastest crawler I've ever seen but eventually he'll be up on two feet and running around trying to catch Logan. Oh my!

Recycling in Berlin

In Berlin it seems we can recycle just about anything. Our building has a number of recycling bins in the back for glass, paper, plastic, and compost. I feel so, I don't know, liberated from trash. It's a weird feeling knowing that I can recycle just about anything. Chris and I keep forgetting that we can recycle the plastic packaging our food comes in. I have to pull it out of the trash (which is gross) but I'm doing right by the planet. Hey, and all of it gets reused. Boy the folks over here got it right. This is one of the things I will miss when we go back to the US.

Friday, October 3, 2008

German Reunification Day

Happy Reunification Day Germany!

Today marks the 18th year. Crazy that it's been that long already. Logan has the day off of school. He woke up at 5 a.m. this morning to finish building a new Lego set he bought himself yesterday. It's the AT-TE Walker from the new animated Star Wars movie "The Clone Wars". I made him go back to bed. Connor followed him out into the darkness of the morning and he too was brought back to bed with a little early morning milky. Connor was happy and Logan not so much. They slept another hour or two. As much as I don't want to wish their lives away and have them grow up to soon, I can't wait for them to be teenagers so they'll "sleep in" until noon. :-)

I wanted to include a link to the festivities of the day here but since I don't know German it's tough to find something English. I could have refined my searches in Google but I don't have the energy at the moment. Must be my anemia :-) or that I was up at 5. Anyway, here is a link to Wikipedia http://berlinadventures.blogspot.com/. The best I can do at the moment. The paper says that there is lots going on at the Brandenberg Gate so we'll head over there after Connor's nap.

Since today is a holiday there isn't much open. Connor is out of Soy milk. I was supposed to go out at around 6 p.m. last night to get my meds and milk but forgot as I was making dinner. Shit! I sure hope something is open at the train stations. Maybe we'll go check out Hauptbanhof.

More later.

I forgot the camera :-( I'm so sad. I wanted to take some pics at the festival but with all the crap we take with us we forgot it. Oh well.

The crowds were deep deep deep. It was way worse than the MN State Fair. BLAH! In fact at times we would be at a standstill. I hate large crowds like that. Anyway, we finally made it out and got some food. I had this beef goulash with noodles that was very good. Chris and Logan had wurst with pommes (sausgage with fries). Connor ate off our plates. He really likes fries. Later Logan and I spotted the Haribo booth and treated ourselves to 10 Euros worth of candy. Yummy. We also stopped to get some crepes. Chris and Logan had cinnamon and sugar while I had bananas and Nutella (chocolate). All very tasty and Connor loved it all too. The only thing on a stick was either candied or chocolate covered apples.

There were a couple games and one ride (ferris wheel) that we could see. They had a huge bandstand and lots of large screens everywhere so you could see what was happening on stage. Lots of beer and fried food stands mostly.

Chris and Logan went back Saturday night but said the place was dead. It was cold so I suppose most folks wanted to be inside.

Connor and I stayed home in the warm comfort of our flat and went to bed early.