Side trip to Berlin
Carl had a talk to give at Founder’s Pledge in Berlin, so we decided to make a trip out of it and pull the kids out of school for a few days. We had a great time, with lots of substantive experiences learning about the DDR and World War II. This was Willa’s first exposure to a lot of these topics and opened her eyes quite a bit. We also were able to spend a lot of time with Joe and Stefanie and their twin boys. Joe and Stef were a classmates of Carl’s at Princeton, and they are taking a sabbatical year in Berlin. We explored several museums, landmarks, and memorials, as well as a lot of the street art and culture of the city. Kids explored an adult-free adventure playground with fire and sharp tools while we had drinks nearby. We ate a lot of Vietnamese food (prevalent in Berlin due to a big Vietnamese community that started to grow even before the Vietnam war), enjoyed a robust public transportation system, beer gardens, lovely street markets, and very beautiful springtime weather. Unfortunately, we were then beset toward the end with illness: both Willa and Lex got very sick our last day with fevers and some prolific barfing. In our rush to pack up amongst the sick kids draped over the hotel room, we neglected to pack Willa’s beloved Bunny, who has been with her through thick and thin since birth. When we finally arrived much worse for wear at 1am after a rather uncomfortable RyanAir flight, only to discover we had left Bunny behind, Willa’s grief was significant. The hotel has yet to find Bunny. In the meantime, Lex recovered mostly by the next day but Willa’s fever still raged, and I ended up taking her to a hospital as we were concerned about her breathing. She has some kind of virus and will be fine, and hopefully her heart will mend, too.
