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So, its been a while since we last wrote. Every now and then we think about this blog of ours, but you know how life is, and sometimes blogging isn't that important compared to wrestling with Liv and putting on her pyjamas. Our evenings tend to get kind of short since she's not a big fan of going to bed. Or brushing her teeth. Or...  But, she loves icecream. 

 

We went to Sweden to celebrate midsummer, to meet family and friends and to be present at Emil's oldest friend's wedding. Let's not talk about the weather Sweden supplied us with that week. Sun and warmth was about the only thing we did not experience. It is always great to spend time with family and friends that we, by living in Berlin, do not get to meet as often as we would want to. Our time in Berlin will probably not go on forever, but by living abroad or view of our home country has changed a bit and we are conflicted about moving back to Sweden. Sometimes the grass isn't always greener. 

After 12 days in Sweden we came back home to Berlin, washed and repacked our things and went to Tuscany, Italy, for a week. It was a warm and sunny week with lots of swimming, good food, amazing scenery and mosquito bites. Liv was a champ the whole week and didn't really seem to mind the hot weather and exploring new places. It is different to travel with a child. We decided not to stress things and that we can come back if we feel that we didn't get to do everything that we wanted to. Things do take a while longer since she e.g. insisted on walking on her own quite often.

 

It is also interesting to experience cultural differences. When we told our hostess (we stayed at an AirBnB-home) that we were going to buy pizza at 3 in the afternoon, she immediatly questioned if it's even possible to buy a pizza at that time. Little did we know that many restaurants (except the too touristy restaurants) are closed between 2 and 7 in the afternoon. It was also kind of awkward when we said goodbye to our host and hostess. Since we are rather stiff Swedes, it probably looked as weird as we felt, when we tried to "go with the flow" and do the kissing on the cheek routine. I think I might have kissed the host more on the lips than on the cheek.

 

It is not only Liv that needs sleep - so do we. Goodbye for now! 

 

In the last couple of weeks, we have started running. When one of us is running, the other one takes care of Liv, and then we swap. There is a park rather close to us that is called Tiergarten (super big) which means "animal garden", if you translate it. The Berlin Zoo is at the very edge of this park, and we usually run right past it. As you can see from the picture below, this alows us to see some animals as we run. When the weather allows, it is kind of nice sitting on a blanket in the park as you wait for the running round to end. Liv enjoyed watching a couple of people throwing frisbee. It was super fascinating, if you ask her. It looked as if she was watching a game of tennis. 

 

If there is one thing that Berliners are good at, it's this thing with organic foods. You can find many stores and chains that only sell organic stuff. We are super happy that one of theese chains opened up a store in our building the other week. That means that we only go shopping in our PJ:s nowadays. 

 

Liv turned 8 months today. She can be a handful when it's bedtime. She's in a stage right now where closeness is important. She'll crawl to where you sit/stand and try to climb up your legs. She also loves pulling your hair and putting her hands in your mouth. She is super cute and always very happy and excited each morning as she wakes up. She doesen't like sitting still very long, also when it comes to her stroller. You can notice that she wants to be able to walk. We'll have to wait and see when that will be. 

 

This Friday, Lotta went with her friend Brittany and her baby boy to a Familiencafé ("family café") where there are big areas with toys were the children can play. Such a good concept! Are there any cafés like that in Stockholm?

 

It's been a while since we last ate döner (kebab). I guess the hamburgers have stolen the spotlight for a while. Anyways, we decided to go to our favorite döner place, Balli döner at Alt-Tempelhof, and once again "re-realized" that it's the best döner in the city. Make sure to visit Balli if you ever happen to be in town. 

 

 

A few weeks ago we reached our "One Year Mark" as Berliners. This was obviously celebrated with a burger. Honestly, we do not remember specifically celebrating it, but Lotta's birthday was the day before and one celebration was most probably baked into the other. Emil has a two year contract, so we might possibly have gottne half way on our stay abroad. After one year in Berlin we feel as if we have gotten to know the city pretty well. At least much better than when we just arrived. When moving away from one's safety in Sweden, there are so many things you have to think about. When we a few weeks ago had to go to the dentist, we werent sure exactly how things were done here. You cannot just go down to "folktandvården" and that's it. Lotta is now a mouth guard richer.

 

Berlin hasn't got a china town, but Lotta just read somewhere that we actually live next to Berlins unofficial china town. Within a ten minute walk, we have access to tons of asian restaurants, bonsai shops, souvenir shops and even a Hello Kitty shop. Speaking of asia, Lotta had the opportunity to get a real thai massage for her birthday. At one point it feelt like the massoose was climbing on Lottas back as a little cat. They did a great job, and we really recommend the Nan Spa in Berlin. 

 

Speaking of cats: Katy Perry visited Berlin on her Prism Tour, and we most certainly were there. We dropped off Liv at her babysitter and went to the arena, and it felt a bit weird not having her around. As we were without her, we saw Liv in everything around us and noticed things she would have liked, etc, just as when you are newly in love. We really liked the show! The best part was when she sang "Birthday" and was flying around in the air. At one point she was so close that we could almost tickle her feet.

 

Here are some pictures from Emils phone: