Retreat!

 Crossway Church retreat. We have been attending an International Baptist Church here in Berlin.  What a wonderful group of people. We were welcomed on day one, and not just by the people sitting around us (with masks) but people came from the front of the church and from the back to greet us. It was refreshing. They preach in English, but songs are sung in both German and English, the scripture reading is in both German and English. The friend, Jeff and I are taking German with translates the songs from German to English for us at our lesson.  Anyhow, we went on the Friday night-Sunday retreat with this group. It was so nice to get away. 

The road on the way into camp. It was about a 2 hour trip, just between changing trains and onto bus etc. It was beautiful .

There was a large area for kids to play. The were these drill like systems that moved water into troughs, it was pretty cool. 

There were 2 people that got baptized in the lake. I love to watch baptisms. Makes me a little weepy. Such a powerful statement of choosing to follow Christ. 

These 2 played sand volleyball together most of the time. I just love it when they hang out and  have fun together. 

One of the sessions we had each day on Psalm 118. We broke into small groups to connect for a bit after, it was nice to meet some new people. People from Germany, Wales, Netherlands, Brazil, Nigeria it is fun and far from Fort Collins.

So nice to be able to sing outside. There is no singing allowed inside at the church, so this was a nice change, with everyone 1.5 meters apart and outside, worship could happen!

German breakfast and my first spreadable meat.... Which are those 2 circles under the cucumber. I did not realize what it was, but the first one is liverwurst (the kids thought resembled cat food, and it did) The both tasted it. I don't think it is too bad with cheese and on bread.  Jeff did not try it.  This was the perfect spot to try all this, as I didn't have to buy it at the store and still got to try it. I should have taken a photo of this other stuff I tried, it is sold with the lunch meat, comes in a loaf shape and it a gelatinous with meat and/or vegetables in it. I guess it was a preservation method. It is called schwartenmagen I think, actually I just looked that up. I think that is what my dad would call head cheese. They sometimes call it meat jelly. This had more vegetables in it so it is  Sulze - aspic.  No one else would try this with me. I thought it was good. It has a pickled flavor and is sliced super thin. I'll have to take a photo of it next time. Anyhow, I will try anything once. You never know.

We were in a small cabin, with 4 bunk beds. 3 of us slept on the bottom and 1 still on the top! I was told tt was an old GDR camp, but have not researched to see if that is true.

LOVE THESE TWO SPENDING TIME TOGEHTER!

As we walked up to our apartment we all said we were glad to be home.  Perspectives are shifting. 

Festival of Lights Berlin 2020

 The Festival of Lights is an open air light art gallery through Berlin. It lasts a week, there are 85 locations about 100 light art installations, spread all over the city.  Had I been prepared we would have done this the evening of our anniversary, but I didn't know about it, so we didn't.  The only day we could go was Thursday, so I told the kids to be prepped for a late night, as it all starts at 8pm. I planned out a route for us to take, knowing that frustration in our family is when transportation does not go as planned.  I wanted to take the S bahn down to the Tiergarten and then ride our bike around from there. I mapped out several to see just based on location. 

And so the adventure begins!

Victory Column 

    

                                        

                                                                    Stage theater, I think

                                                                    Potsdamer Platz

    Federal Ministry of Finance

United State Embassy in Germany

The Brandenburg Gate

Berlin Cathedral 

State Opera, St. Hedwig Cathedral, Hotel de Rome, Faculty of Law of Humboldt University. 180 degrees

hard to see panorama

We didn't make it to all the ones that I had planned, but we hit several and made it home around 12:30am.  I will say even when there is a route planned, it doesn't always work out. Sometimes, the gps doesn't pick up that you are going the wrong way until you have already gone 100 meters and then you turn everyone around. I sure miss the mountains in the West, no idea which way I am going here. haha1 It was a fun night, we are glad we went and look forward to visiting some of these places in the day time. 

It is hard, fun, different, interesting, frustrating, beautiful.... ADVENTURES

 Well we have been in school a few weeks. The kids are adjusting well. Milo has tried Lacrosse and Soccer. He is not sure what he is going to do at this point. The sports here are different, they are not really with the school, but they are clubs, but more recreational, not really sure about it all. Working on figuring it out.  He is making friends so that is great. He rides his bike to school, he seems to like it, but I never really know as he doesn't talk too much about it, just when I ask questions. He is in English, German, Math, Music, Sport, Art, History, Chemistry, Ethics, Politics, (funny I listed those together), Science, Biology, 

Lexa walks to school early, stops at a local grocery store to buy herself a latte from the machine for 1 euro. She likes to listen to music on the way. She is in English, German, Sport, Music, Biology, Physics, Chemistry, History, Geography, Math, Computer Science, Drama, Ethics and Politics She went with friends after school yesterday, so that is fun for her. She will be checking out a local theater today, so we will see how that goes. Well I am behind on posting, so she has gone to the theater class, and enjoyed it. These are photos from the alleyway it is in, beautiful.

 I went with her the first time as it is in Kreuzberg, so I wasn't going to go home as it is about an hour by S bahn. I decided to walk and check out the area. I feel like everyone says they live in Berlin but there are several neighborhoods like this, similar to suburbs. whereas in Colorado you would say you are from whichever suburb it is, Arvada, Aurora etc. 

Cappuccino is a must at the market down the street and one of the many cool building you see while wondering around. 

I walked to a Mediterranean market. I watched as several men shopping picked this up so decided I should too. Still not really sure what it is exactly. It is some aged meat. Lexa and I thought it was ok, Jeff and Milo not so much.

Jeff is trying to get settled in, to say he is frustrated would be an understatement.  

I am hanging in, trying to figure out what my purpose is here and what I should be doing. Working on getting into a routine.  I start my day trying yoga on Youtube with Tim and then time with Jesus.  My main thing each day is going to the grocery store and figuring out dinner. Quite different from the fast pace of claims life. I see the natural disasters going on and am thankful I am here and not on storm duty, but there is a fulfillment that comes with working. Interesting how so much of ones identity comes from work. I know where my identity should be coming from, and working on seeing that. I am thankful for the new people in my life here. I am here a short time, so I figure need to dive in if I am going to get connected.

 Jeff and I go to Uschi for German on Tuesdays and we are learning so much from her and I am blessed by our time together, it may be hard to imagine but we laugh a lot as we learn. (Probably because I sound ridiculous and my facial expressions of scowling help me with the accent) She always has cake (or sweet treats) and coffee. I do enjoy that Germany tradition!

We try to have people over for dinner every couple weeks, so that is fun. This is a couple that came over with us from Loveland CO and a family that is here in Berlin. Silas has become a good friend of Milo's and Holly was such a blessing leaving me voice messages before we even arrived. 

It's the little things. NEW SHOE RACK, oh ya.  The ground we walk on is gross, so taking your shoes off is something we do now. 

We met another friend, who has a 7th grade son, who is Milo's friend and he agreed to take us on a bike tour of Berlin. It was a lot of fun, we ended up going about 20 miles. 

This is the former city hall of West Berlin. It was here that President John F Kennedy gave his famous speech to the Berliners.

Apparently this is a very famous Currywurst place. 

There is such variety when it comes to types of foods here. So fun!

Rainy day out. Have my rain coat so I am set. Although I need to remember to bring it with me. We were riding home from church and got soaked I had to wring out my bra, we were drenched. haha. 

I went on my next adventure to see my cousin Gretchen. I rode my back on a 24 mile round trip. I went through the Tiergarten and saw some cool things, but didn't take many photos as it started to rain and I needed to get there. It was beautiful. Getting into the heart of the city on a bike was a little nerve wracking, but I would latch to the experienced biker in front of me and go where he went worked out pretty well. I will say I was pooped when I got home. Here it is flat and low elevation so my lungs were ok, my body was tired. In Colorado it is the other way around. 

Back side of Brandenburg Gate

Next adventure I went on with a new friend Miya, we went to explore Fredrichshagen which is in East Berlin. We walked the area and had a nice lunch. She also drove, which was lovely!  Below is liquor that you get at a little boutique store, you buy the container to put it in.

In front of Lake Muggel

This was the oldest brewery in Berlin until it closed in 2010

This is the Spree Tunnel from the 1920's. You cross under the Spree from Friedrichshagen to Kopenick/ Pretty cool.

There are so many of these natural areas throughout the city. Makes you feel like you are not in a city. 

Fun restaurant in the middle of the Spree

Jeff and I celebrated our 22nd anniversary at a wonderful Italian restaurant. We brought the kids. 

We had a burrata to start, mmmm. I didn't take photos of everything just a few. It was a fun evening, but it took us awhile to get there. The S Bahn by our house was under construction so we had to take a bus, and we got on the wrong one.... We made it. Lexa had been at acting so we gave her address and she met us there. I think she did better navigating then we did.  On the way home, we didn't have great luck either, we got on a train that stopped for awhile, then went back the direction we had just come from. I thought it was comical, but no one else did. By the time we got home it had been 6 hours.  Everything just takes longer. 

The next day Lexa and I decided to go to Mauerpark. This ended up being a 26 mile bike ride and she was not happy with me. We had a fun time at the market, but she forgot how much fun she had when she had to bet back on her bike to come home.  I would say this was about my limit, I was tired when we got home. We also walked a lot once we got there. We did not take enough photos, next time I will stop more often to enjoy what is around us. These were a couple of things. 

Lexa has been making friends. Makes me thankful when I hear all the giggling, British accents (that they do all the time) and talk of Harry Stiles.  Here's to new friends and new memories. We sure miss everyone in Colorado, but am thankful new ones are being made here too.

I will not wait so long next time to fill everyone in. This was a long one.