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Some notes from Northern Europe


Brisketexan

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Shit Brisket, I thought your son was in junior high.  Do you have another one or am I just getting old?

We’re aging, dude. He’s 16 now. And his German really got pretty strong on this trip. He’s contemplating college here. I’d be down with it - we love this city.
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22 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:


We’re aging, dude. He’s 16 now. And his German really got pretty strong on this trip. He’s contemplating college here. I’d be down with it - we love this city.


The city is nice, but the price for college in Germany (for people who can speak German) is even nicer.


PS- I hope that Parents' Weekend isn't in mid-January.

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Dinner tonight - his host family loves flammkuchen, so that’s what we got (dark pub, shitty light).

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Mine had black pudding and caramelized onions. The other had bacon and goat cheese and other stuff.

The boy got some really good kaesespatzle.

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And kaisershmarn for dessert.

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Tomorrow, Potsdam with the wife’s ex.

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And we did the boat ride around Potsdam, and went into town, but didn’t just hit the usual places. Spent some time in the old Dutch quarter - built to echo the Netherlands 200 years ago when they imported Dutch workers.

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Found one of the buildings that still hasn’t been fully restored (Potsdam was in the east, so remained shitty). You can still see the pockmarks from bullets/shrapnel from the war.

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She was upset. He was comforting her. Just seemed worth an image.

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And yeah...we got some strawberries. They’re so goddamned good. Seriously, they make every American strawberry I’ve ever had taste like sour sadness.

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In case our official family position was not clear: FUCK WALLS.

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All images from the East Side gallery. Also...if you think Austin construction is booming, we’re pikers compared to the crane activity in Berlin (primarily the old east side). I thought the juxtaposition was interesting here:

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I’m sure brisket had a good reason for peeing off that bridge !

Dude...when in Berlin...or something like that.

 

Went to the German History museum. Typical Germanic European stuff...lord so and so and emperor such and such stuff...till you get to the horrifying modern era. Germany really had themselves a swell century from the late 1800s till the wall fell.

 

Also...this dude (architect of the peace of Westphalia) made me chuckle.

 

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The nazi stuff...not so much. Won’t go too CR here...but the museum has the introspective view of a people who gave into their worst nature. And that perspective is fucking chilling.

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My account must be screwed up. Not one pic of your donor, currywurst or food/beverage at Pratergarten is showing up.

Nope, didn’t go this time. Got our biergarten fix yesterday. Today we spent with my daughter’s exchange sisters. Did the museum. Got some doner (no pics,the girls are all in em). Did some shopping (damned chocolate and trinkets). Had sushi for dinner (it’s what they all wanted), had some drinks and laughs. Went to some hip and trendy ice cream joint near Rosenthaler Platz.

Some street scenes:

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Sounds like an awesome trip.  Is your son over there for a Summer exchange program or something else.  Spaetzle  and a cold beer is the definition of comfort food.

The boy did his exchange this summer. We met him at the end. And, as a cool bonus, his host family came up from Koblenz with him, and we spent a great day together.

 

We had a kaesespatzle our first night at a tiny pub that was as glorious as it gets.

 

This is my daughter’s third summer in a row to spend time in Berlin. She has friends here, takes off and spends time with them, and truly treats it like a second home. Today, we just just spent some time hitting some of her favorite neighborhood shops and such. It’s a great city, and I can absolutely see one or both kids living here at some point.

 

Still...it’s been uncharacteristically warm here. Mid 80s today, getting up to nearly 100 tomorrow. Hell, I got a bit of a sunburn on my face yesterday. Grateful to be headed for the Norwegian coast.

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Went to Runde today. Hiked to the f’n top to see puffins. That was, umm, not a short hike. But, saw all kinds of cool critters: skuas, sea eagles, and yep, the puffins were coming in. My daughter was so happy she teared up a bit. To be honest, they were pretty damned cool.

 

My legs hurt so much I teared up a bit.

 

On the way back, we had a Norwegian road trip dinner: Norwegian hot dogs, Norwegian strawberries, paprika chips, and sliced brunost.

 

Pics to follow.

 

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He beginning of our hike - a pretty old mill stream.

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At the top of the damned mountain that is Runde. Yes, we’re in a cloud.

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Hiking across the peat at the top.

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The prize: sit on the edge of the cliff and watch all the seabirds come in.

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Puffins! Seriously, she loved these.

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