Snow (kind of)

Not a lot of snow on the mountains yet. Almost none in fact. No matter.  There was just enough for a bit of tobogganing and a quick snowball fight before we packed it in and had snacks in the sun.

Weekend-ing

I (we) survived a week of me flying solo. Hurrah! In the midst of the week there were two, yes two, sleeps through the whole night. I will not say it loudly but I do believe we may, perhaps, if we are very, very lucky getting semi-close to E feeling safe and secure enough to go it alone between the hours of eight and six. It has been a long journey but she is an impressionable lady and the suggestion that she might be able to sleep through the whole night - just like Otto (her cousin) - seems to have worked where the thousands of other methods we've implemented over the last two years have failed.

So buoyed by two nights solid sleep, M's return and some beautiful winter weather, we ventured to the Zoo and the beach.  Not a bad way to spend a weekend really.

rejuvenate

Sometimes you do get what you want. A long weekend and a very special birthday for my Mum had us hopping on a plane down to Melbourne and spending a wonderful Labour Day weekend with my family. The sun shone! We ate, we celebrated, we relaxed. I felt the warm embrace of family. It required an excel spreadsheet to coordinate cars, baby seats, sleeping arrangements and catering, but aside from a few frayed nerves when we realised that another trip to the shops was required because somehow a dinner's worth of meat got left off the shopping list, the weekend was pretty much perfect.

weekend-ing

After a week of cold weather the sun finally came out to play this weekend. We ventured out to Gunaroo, a small town a short drive from Canberra. Apparently it's where all the cool-kids from Canberra go to play on the weekend.  E slept there, charmed the socks of everyone while we ate our pizza and then slept on the way home.  We declared the afternoon a success.

weekend-ing

We took a day trip to Potsdam on Saturday and wandered through San Soussi park. Just before I took the photo above I had a little "I'm a grown-up now" moment. Standing in front of me were friends that I've know since we were fresh out of school and really only pretending to know who we were and what we wanted, with kids of their own.  "When did that happen?" When did I start doing day-trips on the weekend, leaving in the morning (before a proper sleep-in) with two prams, a back-pack full of snacks, a spare change of clothes and it all seeming perfectly normal? To be perfectly honest it still doesn't feel that long ago when the person in the pram was me.  

But it was a lovely day! And perhaps made all the more fun with the addition of two little people. Everything started earlier and took a little longer than before but the laughs and giggles more than made up for it. San Soucci is really beautiful in the summer - all the flowers were in bloom and walking through the park and spying the Orangerie and the Chinese Tea House through the trees was really quite magical. 

And I still got to take my Art-sy photos, which made this Mama very happy indeed!

weekend-ing

This weekend marked the end of my first week as a solo-parent. I'd like to say I survived with grace and charm but I think in reality it was more like fumbling in the dark and hoping that both me and Emilia survived the experience. The week has definitely left me with a new found appreciation for single-parents and parents who's partners travel a lot. By Sunday afternoon when Matthias got home I was ready for a little Emilia break and some adult conversation. So while Emilia slept quietly by our side we indulged in some Sushi at my favourite Japanese Restaurant in Berlin, Sasaya.  We were almost finished before my little colicky girl came back to life and we needed to make a quick dash for the exit... have to say that I'm looking forward to that magical 3 months when colic is supposed to disappear!

weekend-ing

Long slow walks through our neighbourhood; Raspberry and Chilli Tea to keep the temperature down; an evening spent at the Friedrichshain Open-Air Cinema watching Almanya (highly recommended); hot chilli pasta; another trip to Neuensee and quiet contemplative waiting. 

A completely satisfying weekend for mind, body and soul. How was yours?

weekend-ing

 

Thank you to everyone who complimented my fine "making skills" on Friday. I'm pleased to say that the making continued through the weekend, but, with a little encouragement, I did also manage to venture out and see the world.  

On Saturday night we ventured down to Wannsee for what should have been a balmy mid-summer nights Summer Party. Unfortunately the weather man didn't agree. It was very chilly and with rain threatening no one stayed very long. We stayed just long enough for me to become mesmorised by the clouds before scampering back to central Berlin and watching Biutiful. Well, Matthias watched it and I fell asleep on the couch, but there's nothing new in that.

Other than that expedition there was a trip to Schloss Charlottenburg and the consumption of about 3 kilos of stone fruit - cherries, peaches, mangoes, apricots. I'm eating fruit with everything and anything - breakfast, lunch and dinner and quite often multiple times in between too. Everything is in peak season and I can't get enough!

weekend-ing

I'm a little late in posting today. The day seems to have got away from me. I all of a sudden realised that it's almost 'thinking about dinner time' really before I've had a chance to think I've started the day at all!

We spent a lovely weekend in Vienna attending a quite traditional Austrian wedding. The reception was at the Kunsthistorisches Museum and we were lucky enough to be able to take a guided tour through the new Duerer, Cranach and Holbein exhibition. I don't usually like 1500s paintings but a lot of the portraits in the exhibition were of couples, painted to celebrate their nuptials and I got quite caught up in the moment imagining these new pairs embarking on their lives together. Matthias and I also got a chance to practice some of our new dancing skills. The consensus is that we're much better than we were in January, but still need a lot of practice. Especially in managing to avoid banging into other people. Ahem.

Sunday morning we were back on the train again and 10 hours later, back in Berlin. Lots of time spent reading, snoozing, knitting and enjoying drinks in the dining car.

weekend-ing

This is what I've just snuck away from to write this post - a glorious summer morning and my lovely European man sunning himself in his dressing-gown. On any given day, you can see half a dozen men sitting on their balcony doing the same. Matthias doesn't quite understand why I find it so curious and, well, funny. But it does make me smile. Everytime.

So the weekend is continuing here on into Monday. A lazy sunny day full of reading and snoozing and generally enjoying life's pleasures. To which I must shortly return. But not before a few pictures from last night's evening spent on the banks of the Spree.

Neuensee

I discovered this little spot on one of my walks this week. It's Cafe am Neuensee in Tiergarten. It's a little fairytale oasis in the middle of Tiergarten where you can rent boats and drink beer (what else!). It's actually quite a popular summer drinking spot and hardly unknown, but it was a first for me. Won't be the last time though. Think there are another few afternoons left where I can read and drink Apfelschorle and Alcohol-free Beer beside this lake before July comes around. Yes, I'm quite getting used to this 'growing baby' business!

This weekend is another long weekend around here but think it'll be a quiet one for us. Matthias is still working hard trying to rid the world of dangerous food-borne pests, which for him means another weekend spent at work. Don't envy him really. Meanwhile I'm planning on taking a break from ticking things off my "to-do" list and getting back to the important business of relaxing pre-baby. 

How about you? I know Australia is celebrating a royal Birthday and a few other catholic countries must be celebrating WhitSunday. Does anyone have any exciting plans?

weekend-ing

We had plans to visit one of Berlin's lakes this weekend but once all was said and done we instead decided on a rather smaller expedition to our local park. The lack of water didn't distract from the experience at all. We ate. We slept, read, knit and slept some more. I'm not sure what it is, but there's something about picnics which always makes the food taste so much better. The tomatoes were the best of the season so far. The cherries were the juiciest. Even the baguette, which had somehow got wet, didn't distract from the deliciousness of our little feast. I'm tempted to say that it was almost the perfect way to spend an early-summer Sunday in Berlin. Except that I'm not going to - because that might jinx the weather - and I'm hoping for lots more days like this to come.

weekend-ing

It's been a bit quiet around these parts the last few days. Plenty of slow and steady pottering about. Lots of time spent on the couch with my feet up and my eyes closed. Relaxing evenings cooking this risotto and this delicious rhubarb recipe. I have this on the needles, destined for someone's little one, although if these websites are correct then it won't be mine as all signs are pointing to a wee little fella coming this July. What did you get up to this weekend, anything exciting?