Cabo- Oct 9, 10

October 9, 2009

Today, we did more of the same. Sun, swim, tried to clean out the fridge, read. Had eggs and toast for breakfast, I skipped lunch, luke ate a leftover hamburger, dinner we had pork chops, cooked carrots, wild rice pilaf. We watched a little of the Twins and Yankees and went to bed.

It was windy today and the waves were really big. It was cool enough in the house to not need all the fans on. We contemplated having the windows open at night and not the a.c.

Our landlords offered to take us out to lunch for tacos tomorrow. Then we depart the next day.

October 10, 2009

This morning we woke, had cereal again for breakfast. We cleaned up a little bit. I read my book in the shade and then took a shower. I had to look nice for our lunch out.

Rod and Barb took us out to Pices restaurant. The exact same place we went a few days ago. Oh well. It was a nice time. We had lots to talk about. Luke had sopas with chicken and beef, lettuce and guacomole, cheese, onions and sour cream. I had the parmasean chicken. A chicken breast was perfectly crusted in parm, served with french fries, a little green side salad. Oh and of course it was served with soup. It was a different soup today. It was a broth based bean soup. It was tasty.

Rod and Barb gave us a road tour of the town. It was very informative. We got to ask a few of the questions we had burning in our heads.

We got back to the house and got to see the parakeet that they are trying to catch. There is a bright blue house pet parakeet that must have gotten loose from someone's house. They have a cage outside and put food and water in it. They are trying to catch the bird in the cage. They havent' been successful, but the bird hangs around and eats and drinks. They will catch him eventually.

Barb showed us the house next door that they are also managing. It will sleep like 12 all in separate bedrooms. It was a whole house that was for rent. I was impressed. The rental fee is only 125$/night. It was a very nice kitchen and living area as well as outdoor area. Looked like a nice place. I'd recommend it.

I was getting hot, Luke and I made our way out of the conversation and suited up and got in the water. I had to get reading. I needed to finish (and I did) my book that I borrowed from the book shelf in the apt.

We took a few posed timer pictures on the beach, also took some of the beach side of the house. We'll get a shot or 2 of the bedroom and bathroom later when we pack up.

Then Luke was getting antsy and “sick of drinking beer” so we packed our bags and the vanilla etc. Sadly we are bringing home a good amount of the food we brought w/ us. We didn't eat 2 boxes of flavored rice or spaghetti noodles. We are bringing home some of the boullion cubes we brought too.

Luke is makig us a meal of hotdogs, corn and ramen. The fridge is empty now except for an onion and some yucky cheese. Luke is working on the cheese in a quesadilla. I will choose not to have one of those.

We'll leave tomorrow morning at 6.30. Our suitcases are packed- we only need to pack the toiletries. I am glad to be going home. 7 days is just enough. We will be glad to make it home and pick up Kaiser.

Cabo trip

October 8, 2009

Good morning. Today I slept in a little past 745 or so. I woke to find Luke out of bed and collecting the trash for pick up. He then informed me that he was going to tuck back in some loose wiring under the rental car before we left for the morning.

We had an easy breakfast of cocoa puffed rice. The rice was so puffed that it turned into much almost instantly. Luke and I had been joking all week that they were chipoltle puffs and not cocoa puffs. Luke swore this morning that they were coffee flavored until he actually tried some. I did agree- it did smell like coffee. So we had a bowl of cocoa rice, toast and juice.

We went into town at about 10 or so. We drove around the 2 or 3 main roads. The town of Los Barielles employs LOTS of speed bumps to keep people in line. I must say it works. We got the feel of the small town by car and then found a safe place to park and traveled on foot. The safe part isn't to protect the car, safe refers to safety from being towed.

We walked past 2 tourist shops and resisted the temptation to go into them. It wasn't too hard. We walked on the sidewalk down 20 de Noviembre Calle until we past all interesting things. We found an outlet to the beach and walked there. The beach was wide and quite empty of people. There were just many boats anchored out a distance. We saw many beach homes boarded up as the owners must have been at their primary homes. We walked on the beach to the next outlet to the road.

We saw a few lime trees and a peach tree or nectarine or orange tree and a fig type tree. We also saw some fenced in dogs. What was funny was that one dog was eating a thigh of some raw poultry. He like swallowed the thigh in a few bites. We couldn't get the camera out quick enough.

We walked past a few rinky dink resorts, a few condo developments. The condos were not close to being built. It was just a gaited huge lot with signs that said 2 and 3 bedrooms starting at 250,000. We saw a real estate sign that had a comfortable beach home furnished for 60,000. We walked past a school, all the kids wore uniforms and knee socks.

Eventually we made it back to the car and headded to the grocery store. We purchased a bunch of white and dark mexican vanilla, milk, ice cream and more beer. We got Modelo light and Pacifico Clara.

We went to eat at a recommended place called Pices. It was an open air restaurant. It looked like you were under a straw hut- but you were really under a roof ( I think). Luke had a taco platter. Fish, shrimp, chicken and beef taco. We got a broth soup with vegetables as an appetizer. I had a beef tostata. It came with 3 tostadas with lettuce, tomatoes, cheese and thin sour cream drizzled over top. The meal was served with avacado and salsa. Luke had a pacifico beer. The meal cost 175 pesos or about 10-12 $.

We headded home and hit the sunscreen and the beach. The waves were kind of active again. We laid out and read books again.

We read and read and moved in and out of the sun. Soon it was cooling off as the sun was going lower into sky. Luke was talking about making pork chops and cooked carrots. I just couldn't fathom eating that. I suggested pizza- expecting it to be shot down. We quick drove into town and stopped at this pre- recommended wood fire pizza place. It was quite good. We ate outside and there was mosquitos around that bit Luke. I didn't get bitten once. We ate quickly, drank our soda and beers and paid. The pizza cost 325 pesos or $28.

Here we are back at home, finishing off the blog for the evening, tending to our sunburned skin. More in the morning. Good night.

Day 3 Cabo Trip

October 7, 2009

This entry will be a short one. We woke up and found a puddle of water coming out of our refridgerator. The back panel inside the refridgerator had defrosted, somehow. Either it had been from the door being cracked open or it just spontaenously defrosted it self. I made double sure I closed the door snuglybefore I went to bed last night. Oh well.

Luke made pancakes this morning. It has been so long since I have had pancakes. They were perfect too. Fluffy and not dry, sweet, the best he's made in a while. I had a few scrambled eggs too but I was just getting too full. I gave luke ½ my serving of eggs. Something I have NEVER done before. I covet my scrambled eggs and my buttered pancakes. We had milk out of a box and orange juice too.

We warmed up some coffee and sat on the patio after breakfast to cool off a bit and get a feel for the day. Then we decided to get some house work done before it got too hot. We did dishes and Luke swept the floor for sand. It wasn't too bad.

Then we went back to bed to read a little bit more to savor the residual coolness of the airconditioned bedroom. Then went to the lounge chairs to talk and read. After a while there we migrated our stuff to the beach a bit and soaked in the water for maybe 30 min or so. I stay I the water until I start to get a little motion sick. I was floating with the two noodles that they have here. I decided I could use one more noodle to go under my knees when the other two are under my arms.

We layed and sat and read on the beach until about 1200 or so. Then came back to the shade and contemplated lunch. The late lunch ended up to be Mac and Cheese, tuna salad sandwich, fruit and yogurt. We were STUFFED.

Then we had to move the beach chairs to follow the shade. I hopped in for another quick dip to cool off. Then read and finished my second book. Still more reading, watching the beach birds glide over the water and not even a wave, wing or claw touches the water. No hermit crabs found by Luke today. He went hunting for them today. He likes to see them timidly come out of their shell when they think danger has passed, just to see Luke staring at them intently.

So here we are still outside, though it has clouded over almost completely and it is cool- for the first time it is cool outside. As cool as it can be and still be 80 degrees I am sure. I even put on a cover up. Maybe we'll get lucky and it will rain or storm tonight.

Luke got sunburned. I convinced him to put on 15 on his nose ears and shoulders. He got burned every where I didn't put it. He is happy with it thought. I got a little “color” I call it. I won't admit to being burned yet.

The neighborhood dog Ruby- who can be annoying, went on vacation to the USA today with her family. She came by this morning and said goodbye to us. She smelled the breakfast, came to the screendoor and sat in front of it. Then she found a good place in the sand and comfortably layed down in it. We were lucky not to have her jump on our boards or climb onto our shoulders in the water today. She was a pretty good puppy, though annoying at times. She did lay w/ me in the lawn chair for a bit. I had to flip her on her back and rub her belly to keep her from wanting to play and bite my hands. Silly dog.

Tonight we'll have hamburgers. I am pretty stuffed still, I hope we won't eat much more than that. Tomorrow we have decided to go into town. We are just not sure how. We'll either drive our rental car or rent an ATV from our apt owners. If we take the ATV we can just follow the beach into town. If we take the car it is a longer round about way to get there. We'll see. We already paid for the car- may as well use it, right.

End of Day 2

The wind came up, thankfully, and we went in to swim and suntan further on the beach. We packed a cooler and towel and books and beach chairs. I halfway did the boogie board and it was pretty fun. The waves are still mild, but bigger than we've seen them. The wind is a blessing, otherwise it is quite unbearable indoors and out for that matter. I didn't get sunburned, I am unsure if Luke did yet.

Luke is making Mexican Raman with leftover skirt steak that is being braised to tenderize it. We'll eat the Jello I made earlier and maybe that will be it.

We are watching the Twins game now. We NEVER watch baseball. It is pretty interesting, if they win- they will go to play the division. Luke has had quite a few beers this afternoon. Maybe he'll run out of beer.

That is all I know. Will write more tomorrow- however I think it will be more of the same. It will be reading, walking, tanning, swimming and napping all mixed up and many occuring more than twice. Excellent, just what we wanted. ljf

Day 1 and part of Day 2- Arival in Mexico

October 5, 2009
Today we are in the process of flying to our Los Barielles Vacation. We are flying MSP to PHX and PHX to SJD (San Jose del Cabo).

We spent the night in the cities last night at a Microtel. We didn't have to get up so darn early for our 0750 flight. We woke after a poor sleep and had a nice quiet breakfast of bagel, cereal, juice, muffin. We were on the road right away and off to the Park and Fly.
Our flight was about 3 hours 18 minutes. I was only prepared for a 2.5 hour flight. It was a little longer that I was expecting. I didn't like it.
We made it to PHX and had a pizza en route. Had a 2 hour time change. Now we are en route to SJD. This flight is only 2 hours long. I can handle this one.
We can't wait to get groceries and see the tropic of cancer on our way. We'll just have to get through all the loud Mexicans trying to taxi us or get us to buy time shares.
The flight finished well. As we deplaned the 90 degree weather hit us like a ton of bricks. Our luggage came out pretty quick and we stopped at the car rental desk- then sent us out (past the loud salespeople at the door) and we found the rental place. It kind of took a long time to get the paperwork of the darn car rental squared away. Luke warned me that we were getting a cheap car. He didn't even know if it had 4 doors or 2. It had 4, and it was sufficient for our needs. It is a beige Chevy manual transmission generic car. No electric anything.

We get a “map” of the area. It isn't really more than a brochure. Not good. We turn on the tom tom GPS to find that we are not even on a “road” even though we are on a toll road hwy1. (hwy 1 is the only hwy on the BAJA peninsula) If it's the only road on the strip- we can only be going one of two ways- the right way or the wrong one. We were planning on going to the toll road to get to this Mega store. It is basically a walmart. We had to use the toll road to get there. The toll cost 28 pesos or like $1.20. This is the first toll road that we've been to where there was no wait line.

We navigated to the Mega and parked- put our valuables in the trunk. We were kind of culture shocked a bit- but we followed some Americans in the store so we could emulate their behavior if needed. The store has lots of brands and is bright and shiny and sells home goods and groceries. We were in heaven and on a time clock.

Luke found some HOT off the skillet home made fresh tortillas. They were wrapped in paper and he put them in my hand and said look at these they are still hot! I took them right out of their hands.” I didn't know what he was talking about- I assumed it was cheese. Sadly – in my opinion, it was corn tortillas. I like flour tortillas better. We bought several varieties of cheese, got some milk in a box, rice, chipoltle in a can, canned veg, a pepper, some onion and blood oranges. We bought hamburger patties, some pork chops, a skirt steak, hot dogs, chorizo and lunch meat. It was interesting to see many of the US brands Hellmans, a generic canned vegetable, oscar meyer etc. That made me feel more comfortable buying them. We got mayo, butter, mustard, bread, some buns from the bakery, some canned beans, tortilla chips, salsa, beer, orange juice and pop. Luke selected a pre mixed can of tequila and the pop squirt. He loved it! I found some Mexican ramen and got the picante flavor for lukie! We found the prices not a heck of a deal but not high certainly. Luke just quoted me that the 24 approx fresh made tortillas were only $.50. WOW.

We were in kind of a hurry and could not dally – like we wanted to. We had to drive an hour to get to our place. We drove – down hwy 1 the other direction toward La Paz. We drove on the curvy and hilly 2 way road. We saw lots of 10 ft tall or so bushy brush trees. Saw some weird cactus, also saw lots of COWS. Yes COWS. They had wild cows grazing willy nilly. Some had bells on them, they would be grazing or walking in groups along the road. We only saw one dead giant bull on the side of the road. He was just absolutely HUGE. We think hitting a moose or a deer is bad- it probably toasted the car it hit. The bull looked intact unless the affected side is what he was laying on. Who knows.

We stopped at the actual point- the tropic of cancer. This meant a lot to me when I read it in the guidebook cause my sign is Cancer. So, we saw a sign for it, the monument for it was an ugly ball of concrete, no sign that says what it is or a text of information or anything to tell us of it's significance. So, we took a let down picture since we were stopped and then back tracked to the road sign and took a picture there. The road wasn't busy at all – that was nice. Luke also got his picture taken in front of a derelict Tecate' beer sign. We got back in the car and kept on going.
We saw lots of derelict housing on our way, some cookie cutter small apartments/ condos all in a row. They had gravel roads and I think they all had air conditioners. We saw lots of shacks. Literally shacks- mish mashed tin roofs the walls were made out of scraps, no doors, no running water. Basically just a shelter. We also saw lots of road side food stands. “WELCOME” they'd say or “tacos”. They looked like shacks too. We kept on driving, but made jokes about them when ever we saw one. “Can we please stop?” - that kind of thing.

We got to the turn off to the apt- it was gravel. Using gravel to term this road is too nice. We'll just call it desert floor. It had lots of ruts in it, Luke says it's from the shocks of cars that make the ruts. We had to drive pretty slow through winding brush surrounded road. We saw a chipmunk with a nut in his mouth, saw lots of garbage, a cow peeing (we took a picture). We kept on going and saw a sign with our name on it and an arrow. How nice. We kept further and saw another. I was pleased. That was nice. We came upon the first houses we'd seen on the 3 mile “lane” they were our apt and our neighbors. They are loosely fenced w/ barb wire and no trespassing signs. We saw the first penned cows- they must be owned by the Americians in the community.

We met our apartment owners and they are very kind normal 50+year olds. Their property is very very nice. All paved nicely and everything matches etc. They showed us around the apt. We have direct TV, a pretty well put together kitchen- it is only missing a decent can opener. There is a juicer, two blenders, an electric espresso maker, toaster, toaster oven and crock pot even. There is a wicker couch and love seat in the great room, seating for 4 at the bar and 3 at the table. Then in the next room are 2 queen sz beds, a walk in closet w/ tons of extra blankets and pillows as well as misc. beach items. The bathroom is nicely put together with a little sample basket with all kinds of products in tiny sizes just in case you need it. There even is a tiny bottle of nail polish remover. Very nice. We were instructed to place toilet paper in the trash can as they have a sensitive septic. That is a hard practice for me to get used to. I guess habit is habit.

After we were left on our own, we put the groceries away and then stripped to our swimsuits and went for a quick swim. We were surprised how warm the water was. The air temp was still around 90 degrees at 5.30 pm. The sand is clean- there aren't any shells or any rocks or yuck. Luke says he's seen some small fish out deeper, but I haven't seen a one. The waves were big enough to be fun- not scary or annoying. Our water shoes worked pretty well for us.

When we were done swimming we set about getting dinner ready. Luke drank some of the complimentary beers in the fridge. They were Pacifico Light and Modelo light. He liked the modelo light the best. Luke grilled the skirt steak that tastes like pork. We had spanish rice that took a strangely large amount of time and water to cook. We also had a fruit cup and some white Mexican cheese.

It was just past sunset and Luke was putting the cover back on the grill, when he heard this soft donging sound. We looked and it was 4-5 cows walking on the beach in front of our place. I tried to get a picture, but I wasn't close enough for flash and it was too dark to take w/ out. So maybe we can doctor that one later.

It was Monday night football and a big game- so we had to watch the Packers and Vikings. The Vikings won! I hit the sack before the game was over. I was falling asleep.
The beds are PERFECT. There is a memory foam mattress and I just LOVE it. We turned on the AC in our bedroom. I am glad we did. I slept just right. Just a sheet.

October 6, 2007

Slept well this night. I haven't really been able to sleep that well this last few weeks- so this was a nice change. We decided to keep the bedroom closed up with the fans on, shades closed and AC off to see how well we can keep the room “cool” . When we stepped into the living room- the heat and humidity hit us like a wall. YUCK.

The sun wasn't up yet, so we went out to watch it rise and ended up going for a beach walk. We saw lots of critter prints. One looked like a tiny tire tread. All regular and tiny. It had to be some thing with lots and lots of tiny legs. We didn't run into it in person however. We saw lots of boats getting going for their fishing day trips. We didn't walk that far- but maybe it took us 20 minutes. We were hot. We stayed outside to cool off a bit on the lawn chairs and I went back inside.

We pretty much went right back into the bedroom to read our books for an hour or so before breakfast.

Luke cooked us scrambled eggs, chorizo (Mexican sausage)- it was not too spicy, toast for me and tortilla for Luke. Luke made little mustard, egg, chorizo and spanish rice burritos. He is so clever.

We did the dishes from last night and cleaned up the kitchen. I decided to make some Jello- nothing tastes better when it is so hot.

We sat in the shade of the overhang from the patio and talked a bit. Then we got dressed for the day and took a swim. The neighbor dog, which we were warned about, LOVES water. LOVES it! Ruby, that's her name, Ruby followed us into the ocean and swam with us. She tried climbing on my boogie board. I couldn't believe it. I helped her on as it was a novelty. She is kind of a big puppy and it sinks when she's on it. So you have to hold it up and balance her. Then she'd fall off and swim around us, she would try to climb on your back so you could pull her around. I didn't go for that, she scratched my arms already- I was not going to have her scratch my legs and back. So we had to get stern w/ her and send her away. She was kind of getting annoying. Luke snorkeled a bit and looked for fish. I let the waves rock me until I got slightly motion sick. Then back to the shaded lawn chair.

I think it's funny, that whenever Luke gets up from his lawn chair- Ruby the dog takes his spot. She is always close by and just hijacks the spot. She gets sand and water all over it. I would be mad if I was Luke, he seems to be taking it well. Luke was getting antsy at about 1200. He decided he was going to go for a run. I was worried about heat exhaustion and him getting lost. The desert roads were real confusing with little off shoots all the time that probably lead nowhere. I made him promise to be gone only 30 minutes. He complied and looked pretty good when he came back. I would have looked red cheeked and pale. I wouldn't have made it.

Luke fixed us a ham sandwich, strawberry yogurt, chips, salsa, and a mini cheese plate for lunch. 2 of the 4 cheeses were not appealing to me at that moment. Yuck. One tasted like a Brie (you know kind of moldy tasting) and the other was just weird. One looked and tasted like string cheese and the other a greasy swiss type cheese. We made some lemonade and the Jello is not set yet. Luke is tired so he went out to try to take a nap in our shade.

I smartly put on sunscreen today- even though I haven't purposefully gone out in the sun to tan. Luke did not. It is too hot to be burned so early in the trip. More later.

Thanks for reading!

April 20, Monday

April 20, Monday

Another slow day today. We got up lazily. Luke went right to making breakfast. Now we are trying to use up our left over miscellaneous foodstuffs so we don't have to throw any food away. That just kills Luke inside. So, we had the “American style bacon” and the 2 left over eggs, 1 slice of toast w/ our crappy bread, and the remaining hollandaise sauce. Luke thought he read on the package that the hi-c style container could be microwaved. Well, that was a negative. It sparked in the microwave. Luke also made espresso with the stove top espresso pot we brought with us (and coffee too). I am so glad we did, otherwise where would we be @ 7 am. I remember we couldn't get dressed in Rome with out 3 espresso.

Today our 7 day Metro ticket was expired so we had to get a day ticket at the automated machine in the subway. I takes credit cards- or coin (but only German credit cards). We only had like 1€ in coin. We did find someone's credit card in the machine- left there. We were going to leave it, but decided we would keep it safe or destroy it so no one else could tamper with it. We did destroy it. That didn't solve our problem with no coin for our €6 one day ticket x 2. We went to the Balzac Coffee and bought a coffee and got some change. The gal who helped us was very kind and we got some change for the blessed ticket machine.

We did some compromising in regards to the itinerary. We went first to Bendlerblock Resistance Museum over by Potsdamer platz. We walked a bit to get there, it felt like we walked a good amount. And then the entrance was kind of ambiguous. We found it amid a military facility of some kind- we saw many men in uniform. The museum was located where the German soldier's office was located. It was adjacent to the location where they were executed for their treason.

It was about more than VonStauffenberg. The museum highlighted resistance from young people, people who left the country before it really got bad and decided that they needed to help, the Jewish Resistance, people of the German Military etc.

The museum was free, as was the audio guide (you secured deposit with your passport). The audio guide was not comprehensive. The museum had a lot of information that I wish I could have read German. They had binders of documents and memos. I wish I could have seen what was in those memos. Oh well. I was satisfied with the museum. I was glad we we went.

We then took a double decker city bus to Alexanderplatz. It was fun to ride in one of those. I don't think I had seen a double decker city bus yet. We did some more walking once we got off the bus.

We were headed to Karl Marx Alee. This is the parade route street that was used by Stalin. In fact it had once been called Stalin Alee. The tall uniform buildings had been destroyed and then rebuilt in the old style. I liked them because they were all straight lines and neat- everything in its place- I think I said.

We walked and walked down the grand street that was 4 lanes on each side and was not busy. The sidewalks were very wide as well. I could imagine people lined up for communist parades. We stopped at the Cafe Sybil. It is a historic cafe that has a little mini museum dedicated to the history of the Karl Marx alee. They had statue Stalin's ear and part of his moustache in a case. It was interesting to see pictures of the street.

We walked back towards a nearby metro stop, saw a little market and stopped in. I was actually hungry at this point. We bought ready made cooked meatballs that looked like big chubby hamburgers in the deli case, some bread and Luke had to have a magnum ice cream bar from the freezer section. That cost about €4.85. We then found a metro station and found our selves at home at the apartment. Luke was getting antsy in the pantsy as it is his last full day here, and he doesn't want to waste time. He told me he just wanted to eat things. Mainly he was obsessing over Turkish pizza and Doner Kebabs.

I told Luke that we had food that we needed to eat at home. He was kind of crabby to hear that, but he knew it was the truth.

We had leftovers; ham salad, liver pate, cold sandwiches, Luke had a “hamburger/meatball” sandwich, beer, ice tea, cheese, etc. We texted Paul and this time asked him to reply to our texts so we knew he was getting them. I didn't believe it but he did reply and said he'd be her in 10 minutes. He picked up the key and left. A few moments later he texted us and told us to have a safe journey home. Whatever.

We packed up a little bit and got our stuff together and throw stuff away that we did not need. Luke made bread crumbs out of the yucky bread he bought and we decided to go to a park and feed the birds.

We took the 240 bus to Rosenthaler platz. Apparently there is a nice park near there. We arrived there and were amazed at the sunbathers and picnic-ers. The locals had their blankets out and their shorts on. A little man made pond was near by with 2 ducks in it, the water was quite disgusting scummy and had garbage floating on the top.

We took the bread crumbs to a more discreet area and managed to find 2 pigeons that wanted some bread. We fed them so much they got full and left. We dumped out the bag of crumbs and left, a dog will probably have a fantastic meal.

Luke and I walked toward the sunbathers and copped a squat. We sat for a few minutes and then walked to our bus stop. We saw a decent sized grocery store, and ducked in. We bought a .5 L carton of milk, a yogurt, canned corn and a carton of cream and iced coffee.

Then, we caught our bus home. I pressed the button for our stop, but I guess I didn't press it hard or long enough and the bus drove right by our stop. The next stop was a long ways away so we caught the next bus in the other direction and got off at the right spot this time. Oh well.

Now we are home, Luke warmed up those meat patty's and made one of packages of mashed potatoes and gravy, and a can of corn. I have to pack a bit and I really want to read my book. Just read read read.

Luke is drinking the Sangria in a box that Dad was unable to drink. It is very mild, tastes like juice. Speaking of wine in a box we found the brand of wine in a box that we had on the first night were in the city. We didn't buy it though.

I will do dishes and gather more of our crap together. We'll buy our bus tickets on the bus and leave maybe around 0900 or so.

Sunday April 19

Sunday April 19

Today is the day Mom and Dad leave for home. They are all packed. They had a a quick breakfast of coffee and toast with nutella. We walked them to the bus stop at about 8.30. I hope their day goes smoothly.

Since it was so early,Luke and I went back to bed. We are like high schoolers. I don't think he was able to sleep. I think he read his book. After we got up we headed to the prenzlauerburg area markets.

We tried to take a tram/ U/S-bahn route there. Once we walked a ways to find the right tram, we took it for only 1 stop before we had to transfer, why we just didn't walk there, whatever. So we decided to quit looking for bus/tram routes and just walked there. The weather is nice today cool, breezy sunny.

We eventually got to the Sunday markets. The market goers had their big Ikea bags and were scouring for deals. We didn't find any. It was a busy busy area. The vendors were selling all kinds of things but mostly like garage sale style and “vintage” things. Not really vintage, but like some cool shoes or clothes that were from the past. Some people sold some more handmade stuff, jewelry, bags. Also sold bikes, chairs, some glassware misc. items. None was anything to really stop and look at. One person made handbags out of deer pelts. One made simple handbags out of painted leather to look all cool and mod.

The crowd was big and close in, so we looked down a few aisles and I got us out of there to people watch from the adjacent Mauer Park or Wall Park. We couldn't figure out why all the aerosol cans were around, well, it was because of all the graffiti on the wall. Here is the thing, we couldn't figure out if it was just a brick wall or if it was the wall. So, I didn't take a picture or anything.

We sat on a bench and people and dog watched. We must miss our dog dearly. Poor Kaiser. We saw a group of three dogs running all around playing. 2 of the bigger dogs would hump each other occasionally while playing. Then the one getting humped would bite the other one. We did see some naughty dogs today. Prior to today we had seen only good dogs. We saw some that weren't listening or ones that would bark at other dogs or pull on leashes. We walked up toward the wall and along it for a short time, we saw a Hund Weise-. It was gated and we saw people and dogs behind it. We couldn't figure out how to get into that part. We figured out it was a dog park.

One thing we also noticed is that we've seen no stray cats or dogs on the street. We have only seen one vet however. We had on the list to find this beer garden type restaurant that is kind of close by this area. We found it and were real disappointed. It was a cafe w/ outdoor seating and a giant long table inside. No food on the menu, just drinks/ beer. Oh well, we had a beer anyway. Sat and people watched some more.

We hopped a tram, and decided to go to Alexanderplatz again. We were there earlier this week, but we wanted to see a bit more. We thought there was a mall inside one of those buildings but we were wrong, it was just a food court area beside the subway stops. Oh well. Luke insisted that I pick where we ate. I wasn't happy with the places in that building or around on the street for that matter. We did get a crepe though. I got a cheese and ham one. It was expensive, but it was really good. Luke got his standby- Nutella und Banan. They guy was quick and good. The gal in front of us in line took a few steps and dropped her crepe on the ground. She was crushed, I don't even know if she got 2 bites off it.

We sat at the bus stop and ate our crepes and also had a special treat of Fanta from our bag. We packed Fanta instead of h20 today.

We figured out the proper tram to take home and took it and then a message came over that said all must get off as this is the end of the line, it was not the end of the line but I suppose those tram drivers need to get off shift somehow. So we got off and were going to wait for the next one to come by, but decided to go explore this little area. Supposedly it was a “market area” but it was just many nice restaurants with outdoor seating. Everybody was out. It was nice in the sun, but too cold in the shade. Luke figured we could just walk home the rest of the way. We were in the area of the Pergamnon and the Altes Museum from the other day. It was nice to see the street and street level. That is one thing that the subway steals from you is the street view.

We went to the apt and still hadn't had anything but a crepe and beer for lunch. Luke went to our crutch restaurant right next to our apt door and ordered a ½ rotisserie chicken and pomme frites. Would you believe it cost only €3.50? We brought that in and shared that. We also agreed that tonight we'd make Kase and noodles, home made mac and cheese with all our butter Kase. Sounds good.

We have the duty of trying to use up all the food in the fridge. Tomorrow is our last touring day. It will be a funner sight seeing day like today was.

Luke is reading his book now and I even took a 20 min nap before I began the diary.

I am feeling a bit better now, I can breathe through my nose and am not coughing so much. The wood floored apartment needs to be swept in a MAJOR way, but we have no broom. That pale wood shows all the dirt, as do the bottoms of my feet.

Mom left her string bag here. I worry about all the little incidentals that we'll have to bring home. We'll see. We really haven't bought anything other than Buenos. OH I guess I did buy 2 children's books. Only because they had furry animals in them. One was titled “Why do rabbits have such long ears?” Like I could pass that book up! Luke let me buy them. I love furry little animals.

We texted Paul to meet and give him the extra key. Then we'll be able to just leave on Tues and not have to wait for him before we leave. He'd be late and we'd miss our plane. We won't do that.

Luke is almost asleep now. I will read my book now. We may go out locally for a beer tonight. Who knows. ljf

LUke made us mac n cheese with Butter Kase. It was delish- see picture below. Oh, we even had a vegetable that wasn't saurkraut or cucumber!