Spargel und Erdbeeren

On our first morning in Berlin, we held a family meeting to find out every person’s first choice for what they wanted to do here.  C.C. chose the Natural History Museum.  Alec wanted to go to Checkpoint Charlie.  For me it was a toss-up between the Winterfeldt Market and the Jewish Museum.  And Milo?  Legoland. 

We have been fairly successful thus far at avoiding a certain set of kids’ attractions that have the effect on me of making me feel like jumping out the window.  We have not been to Disney World, Sesame Place, or Sea World.  The kids love Chuck E. Cheese, but have only been there with Blanca.  I once got as far as the door, but had to turn back. But we said everyone would get his or her first choice here in Berlin, so on Thursday morning we bit the bullet and set off for Legoland.  There was no worry of me jumping out of a window because the Berlin Legoland is the first ever completely indoor Legoland.  Not only is it indoors, it is also completely belowground.  Why not compound the noise and chaos of hundreds of small children with a space that gets no natural light or fresh air?   I will say this—they did have a few massage chairs that you could stuff 2 euros into and get 10 minutes of vibration.  And I did see several weary parents and grandparents slumped over newspapers in the café.  It seemed like the kind of place that you could actually just let your kids go while you grabbed some shut eye or caught up on your reading.  But we did not.

We went on the dragon ride, through the “lego factory,” and viewed the miniature Berlin made out of Legos.  We sat through a show at the 4D theater—just like 3D, except there is also wind and rain.  That’s right—at the wet parts of the show you feel as though someone is shooting you with a water pistol.  Not my favorite.  But the kids loved it, and we remained true to our promise.

Hungry and needing to recover, we lunched at Vox, a nearby restaurant, where we learned that it is the very beginning of asparagus season here in Berlin.  Asparagus here means the thick, white variety, and it is surprisingly tender and flavorful.  Vox has an entire asparagus menu.  A plate comes with a healthy portion of the spears, along with perfectly cooked waxy boiled potatoes and, if you wish, a side of protein—salmon, scallops, ham.  Our waitress told us that everyone orders the asparagus now—it’s the first week of a 6 week season, and, after 10 months without it, folks are jonesing for it.  I ordered mine with an Italian ham similar to prosciutto, while Alec had his with lovely thin slices of a local truffled ham.  You choose either melted butter or hollandaise sauce to pour over your asparagus.  We got one of each but the hollandaise is really what you want.  We had clearly left the land of the Mediterannean diet.  I had a crisp Riesling to wash it down, and we sat outside.  The weather has been gorgeous—almost too hot given what we packed (jeans and long sleeve t-shirts) and , and bone dry.

We walked from there to the Reichstag, knowing we would likely not get in.  Our friends had told us to make a reservation in the restaurant in order to get up into Norman Foster’s dome, and we had tried, but it’s completely booked until after we leave.  If you come to Berlin, try to get a reservation to get in online, or book a table at the restaurant, which is open all day.  We walked through the Brandenburg Tor and down the Unter den Linden until we were all hot and tired and needed to go home.

Alec suggested I try to get a yoga class in, so I did—this one with some English—while he and the kids chilled at home.  Our lunch had been large, and late, but I knew we would get hungy again at some point, so I popped in to Knofi for some quality Turkish take-out to bring home. I also got some strawberries, which are in season, at the market.  We ate them straight out of the box. And so goes another day in Berlin.