Eis Eis Baby

I was wrong about the Holy Spirit Holiday. That is next Monday, and all the kids will be off. Today, just Justus, and Louisa were off due to testing of the older kids (I think it was like the SAT's) Lina had to go to school but it was just for an athletic competition. Her team did very well. Marcus, who is a medical doctor was off work today, but Almut has to work very late and then has a meeting at Church so we may not see her today.  She is the director of the children's program at their church. Lina is home from school now. Its about 4 in the afternoon.

Today when we finally got going we went the the Allied Museum. It's in the location of the former military headquarters of the US troops in Berlin in their sector of Berlin. Grandma lived here with Sissy's dad when they were married and he was in the Service, so she has lots of memories here. There is a piece of the Berlin Wall, a replica of Checkpoint Charlie, a plane from the airlift, the old movie theater where Grandma learned to speak English and lots more inside. Maddie took a lot of pictures, I will add a link to them below. In the photo below they are in front of the plane.

I really enjoyed the tour. I was the last one ready to go, and could have stayed another hour. The story of the airlift in the late 1940's was interesting. How the cold war played out in Berlin was not something I had spent much time thinking about. There weren't many places where Russia and the US were in this close proximity. That the Allies agreed in Potsdam (near where we are staying) to such an arrangement with the capitol city of Germany is interesting to me.

The wall was built in 1961. Markus remembers the US soldiers and tanks in the woods by his house when he was a little boy. I hope to go see the Berlin Wall museum while we are here.

We stopped back by the apartment around noon to pick up the dog, Bruno. The kids had a small eis before we went to the Garden with Uncle Hanzi.

Markus is a doctor, and Sissy had asked him to check her throat, which she has complained to her mother via email (but not to us). He prescribed this ice cream to make her feel better. It did the trick.

The Garden is an interesting place. Its in Spandau in the former West Berlin. 80's music fans remember the Spandau Ballet music group. The closest thing I can think of to describe the Garden is a "lakehouse," but it has served as a lot more than that over the years. It was "owned" by Grandma's parents right after the war, and it is where they grew a small plot for food for their consumption. It was passed down to Tanta Nanna, Grandma's sister, after their parents died. The state actually owns it, but it is leased to the families on an annual basis. Its very near a river that ties to a lake where Hanzi likes to sail. Its surrounded by what seems to be 100's of other similar small houses with small yards separated by a little fence. People can stay the night in these little "efficiencies" but they are not allowed to live here. This photo of Louisa and Maddie is at the gate to their Garden. Hanzi and Nanna come her a couple of times a week during the summer to take care of this place.

Right after we arrived, a little shower blew in bringing cooler weather. We were going to go sailing, but decided against it because of the weather. We had pizza for lunch and then came home. Maddie wanted me to get a photo of her holding Uncle Hanzi's beer.

The boys wasted no time eating the pizza. It was a familiar taste they welcomed. They washed it down with Apfel Schorle (that apple-mineral water mix I mentioned they liked).

On the way home we stopped at their favorite ice cream shop called "Florida." I doubt if the ice cream in the real Florida is that good.

Allied Museum and Garden