Peaceful Monday and the campaign for good beer

Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest, which is was not, so we declared this Monday as a day of rest and slow pace. It was a perfect day for it, with blue skies and happiness all around. We slept in and had a late breakfast with a selection of bread rolls, yum. If you have not been to a German bakery and you are an indecisive person, I would not recommend going, the selection is enormous. A slow day dictates that if a child asks to play a game, the answer has to be yes and so we played a round of "Mensch ärgere Dich nicht", which literally means "don't be annoyed", which can be tough in this game. Sophie won yet again and I lost so completely, I just could not roll a six!



While Johanna went grocery shopping with Oma, Sophie and I headed to the park that is about half a minute from this house. The park, called Innocentia Park, was my stomping ground as a kid, I came here every single day to roller skate, swing and and ride my bike in circles or up the two hills (and down). I also played soccer a lot, I looked like a boy, so I was allowed to play with the other boys. Once I wore a skirt and the boys thought I am somebody different - a girl - and did not let me participate. Every time there was snow, I went sledding there until it became so dark and late, I had to go home eventually. It is amazingly beautiful though, to sled in the dark, with all the cozy lights of the houses shining around the park. How neat to be there with my children - Johanna joined us later and came with cherries, yes, cherries again. It is a little odd though to think about the child molester who loved this park when I was a kid and took a bit the fun out of being there. That memory I did not share with the children though, but I could tell my mother was thinking about it just as I did.

I left the kids with my mom for their baking project and I headed downtown to meet my old friend Consti, we had a coffee in a very interesting store/cafe before heading to a meeting of "Kampagne fuer Gutes Bier", which is kind of like a beer social club with outings, lectures and a lot of beer tasting. Today a guy lectured about Wheatbeer and we got to try a lot of them. The club/campagne was started by another old friend, whom I have known for 30 and not seen in 7 years. Later we sat outside by a canal and had such a good time. I am baffled by how bright it is late at night, it was still not totally dark at 11pm. The long dusk, called the blue hour, is my favorite time of day, couple that with a beautiful evening and sitting somewhere gorgeous with nice company and you get a Monday Night of Bliss. Before we parted to take subways in all different directions, we made some plans for the next weeks.

Tourist corner: Below are pictures of one of the train stations and city hall, both from the back actually.