....And then, we'll take Berlin!

 A long few days preceding take-off, including more than one trip to the vet which really borked up our timetable! Not least because I was trying madly to finish a sweater to take with me.

And finish it, I did. The shoulder seams are less-than-perfect, as are the last 3 inches of the second side (I was seaming on the SkyTrain to the airport!) When we got to YVR, Mr.Q had lunch while I finished weaving in the ends, before we went through security.

 

Waiting to board...KLM was a delight to fly with! And not only because of the free booze.

 A long, long layover in Amsterdam...Mr.Q slept in a lounge chair while I gawked at the many, many cheeses for sale. (I also had a bit of a nap, but not nearly as epic as his!) Passport Control was painless (and cute! As in, adorable. I swear the guy was only about 20.)

Waiting near our gate, I had a very fine cup of coffee (with complimentary chocolate bon bon!)

 

Arrival in Berlin last night was also painless, and the taxi driver (unlike what we're used to in Vancouver!) didn't try to kill us. We've rented a studio apartment for the week, and our hostess was most helpful in getting us settled. Before she left, she made sure we knew how to get to a nearby grocery, which we hit up for some essentials before we went to bed: cheese, bread, wine, beer, and some breakfast fixings. A quick snack when we got back, and we fell into a coma.

Happily, we seem to have largely escaped jet lag, and we woke up to a sunny day, and a view of the courtyard we hadn't seen in daylight.

(My derp! moment of the day: waking up, looking out the window, and exclaiming "It's so quaint! So charming! It looks so European!" Mr.Q just gave me a look. "Oh, right. Hahaha! We are in Europe!"

Cooked up a hearty breakfast, put on our walking shoes, and headed out to explore the neighbourhood. Found a lovely little cafe, whose baristas were most understanding & helpful when Mr.Q ordered for us...See, he speaks a little high school German, enough to get by, but not much more. Me? I tell him what I want, and he translates for me. So the baristas were quite accomodating. One spoke some English; the other spoke German very slowly, with many gestures. We ended up with some fine coffee, and a sidewalk view of Prenzlauer-Berg on a Sunday.

(Thing I loved best about the place: the fleece wraps laying over the backs of the outside chairs!)

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 Back "home" for a bit of a nap for me, while Mr.Q went out exploring for a bit on his own. He came back with flowers, and more beer.

 

 

 

 Now getting ready to head out to his first gig...and our first attempt at using transit here! The adventure continues!