Notes from the trip:

1. A McDonald's Playspace in an airport is a good thing.

2. The extra security check at Frankfurt airport for those travelling to America is so disorganized, I can't believe that it's run by Germans.

3. Apparently rows 34 and 35 are some sort of Bermuda triangle for in-flight entertainment on Lufthansa planes. We had no sound on the flight over and had to wait 40 minutes for the sound to be reset on the flight back.

4. Watching Fever Pitch without sound is still better than watching Herbie Fully Loaded with sound.

5. The American Lufthansa kids meals are waaaaay better than the German Lufthansa kids meals.

6. Arriving late is awesome. No congestion at immigration. No wait for a taxi. Within one hour of landing, we were on our front doorstep. And an hour after that I was asleep.

I've been unpacking and cleaning non-stop since we woke up at the crack of dawn the next morning. And going to bed at 10pm. 10pm! That's just ridiculous. I mean that's my prime knitting time that I'm just sleeping away! If I ever manage to stay up later than the boys, I plan to work on my own version of these super-cool slippers that I found at the department store on our last day in Germany.

I got a pair for myself to use as a model and they are so crappily made that they barely fit. I can't wait to make a decent pair. What a clever idea for a fun little sock/slipper!

I must have slipper socks on the brain, because I also picked up this cute little book from Regia with all sorts of funky little sock patterns including instructions for making real slipper socks. Thank goodness, because, I had absolutely no idea how to use the slipper soles that I bought at Fadeninsel in Berlin!

Well, I'm off to do some laundry and then go to sleep. To dream of socks.

Swam at the coolest pool ever. What a view! They had a heated outdoor pool too. (Look!)

Learned to ride a "big bike". With training wheels, versteht sich.

Got caught climbing a tree when no-one was looking. "Oh yeah, I can climb a tree. You didn't know that?"

Found our way through a corn maze.

Went down a mountain in a toboggan. Seriously, you had to take a ski lift to get back up to the top. (See the lift in the background?)

Drove go karts. And a tractor!

Did silly things for the camera. (Check out that old Pan Am hat!)

Finished pop. Hooray! (Pictures taken by S "all by myself".)

In the evenings, I've been knitting along on my Morehouse Merino shawl. It's easy peasy to knit (stockinette in the round), but with over 250 stitches it's slow-going. Still, over a few quiet evenings talking with the in-laws, I have made some visible progress. The Germans have been very curious to hear what it is that I'm knitting that is so large and knit in the round. It's so exciting to explain how it's knit in the round and then cut at one point to make a scarf with fringe. Too cool!

Judging from the size of the remaining yarn ball, I'm probably between a quarter and a third done with the knitting. Can I finish it in two weeks?

Ah, yes, there was a little more to show you from Berlin. The yarn!

For the train ride to Berlin, I brought my Morehouse Merino shawl project. Casting on 250 stitches on a train with no stitch markers was a pain, but after that it was just knit, knit, knit, round and around and around. And since I've learned to knit and read at the same time, I could even plan a few sight-seeing trips for us. With all the excitement in Berlin, I didn't get any more knitting done on the shawl after the train ride though. Standing next to this woman at the Potsdamer Platz U-Bahn was as close as I got to knitting for the rest of the trip.

look, hubby's pretending I'm taking a picture of him!

I did make it to a few yarn stores though. First was La Laine by Savignyplatz.

What a lovely little neighborhood and a sweet yarn store. All the Lana Grossa yarn you'd ever need is here, along with some GGH, Anny Blatt (angora, yuuum!), and stocks of sock yarn like only the Germans can do. I liked this store so much, I went back before we caught the train to get more yarn!

For contrast, let me show you a little knitting/sewings shop we came across while looking for an ATM in the U-Bahn shopping area at Alexanderplatz. It was called Knopfloch ("buttonhole") and was full of lots of primary-colored, acrylic-y yarn and the smell of grandma. This is how the majority of knitting shops and department store knitting sections are here in Germany. Knitting is still pretty much an Oma activity here, so specialty yarn stores like we have in the states are really the exception. And, judging from the few I've seen, the specialty yarn shops tend to specialize in something else as well. La Laine (and the Wollkorb that I visited in Munich last year) both sold boutique-style clothes in addition to yarn. The ones at La Laine were knitted items with really impressive colorwork (see the suits in the window? they're knitted!).

A couple of days later, we made it out to Kreuzberg - hubby got a Döner and then I visited Fadeninsel. What a great yarn store! They had an incredible selection of GGH yarns - you know the ones you've only seen in online stores and the Rebecca magazine. They also had a mountain of Naturwolle (swoon!) and some lovely hanks of lambswool from which they'd made really cool chunky scarves - four strands of heavy worsted weight lambswool in bright coordinating colors knit together in fisherman's rib (a very popular stitch in Germany). By the way, big scarves are SO in here. I didn't see one poncho or capelet in Berlin, but every other woman practically had a giant wide scarf with tassles wrapped around her neck. (Why didn't I bring my clapotis?!)

The other thing that Fadeninsel specializes in and that made it so cool is socks. They had every kind of sock for sale: handknit socks, machine made socks, hiking socks, tights and loads of crazy striped knee socks. They all looked so fun that I had to get a pair.

for some reason, I was drawn to these same colors in both shops

We had way too much fun visiting my brother-in-law to see the other shops here (like Wollkontor and Loops), and I was way too sensible to buy very much. My Berlin knitting booty was limited to a few balls of Lana Grossa Mix-Up for a scarf, one ball Meilenweit Mega Boots Stretch sock yarn (when in Rome, right?), both from La Laine, and striped knee socks and leather soles for sock/slippers from Fadeninsel. I'm allowed a few knitty souvenirs, right?

Harry Potter fever is alive and well in Germany! In Hugendubel (the coolest name for a bookstore EVER!), they are counting down the days to the release of Book 6 in German.

And from our band of Harry Potter fans:

Katia finished her son's J weasley! Wow! If that doesn't sell you on the Yarn Warehouse pattern, then nothing will. And Micky finished the first of several mini weaselys. Soooo cute.

Elsewhere Mouse's weasley-in-the-works seems to have been hexed, but Erin's Ravenclaw scarf is crusing along nicely. And new knitalongers, Jen and Pixie, both plan to make scarves for opening night of Goblet of Fire. Who else is knitting for opening night?? I may have to add a countdown to the sidebar!!

The bear is a sort of mascot for Berlin and these painted bears are everywhere.

Gedächtnis Kirche ruins

The new glass dome above the German Reichstag. We stood in line for an hour and a half to go up and walk around the ramps inside the dome. The dome itself is absolutely beautiful and provides incredible views of the city as well as peeks into the parliamentary chamber.

And speaking of the German government, here's the latest on the he said-she said debacle that has resulted from the election. The various parties are trying to put together a coalition that would have a majority in parliament. Each party here is represented by a color, which gives the Germans the opportunity to come up with fun names for their government - for example, a Red/Yellow/Green coalition (sort of like the Democrats/ the Libertarians/and Greens) is called an Ampel, or stop light. The current debate is whether the possible Black/Yellow/Green (Republicans/Libertarian/Green) coalition should be called a Schwampel (a contraction for Schwarze Ampel or "black stop light") or, even funnier, a Jamaica coalition. I don't know if I'm really for that coalition, but I do like to say Schwampel.

That's meat. It spins. They cut some off for you, stick it in a pita pocket, and you eat it. The Döner.

In the Berliner U-Bahn: "We can shorten any wait." Romeo and Juliet summarized for the 3 minute subway wait, the 1 minute wait, and the 10 second wait: "Romeo meets Juliet. Love at first sight. Secret wedding. Adults make difficulties. Stupid misunderstanding. In the end, both dead."

Remnants of the Wall at Bernauer Strasse

Although most of the Wall is gone, it's path is now marked into the sidewalks. The diagonal marks here, leading up to a single wall segment, show where it cut through Potsdamer Platz.

An oversized foosball game. The Germans love Fußball!

On a building at Alexanderplatz, from Döblin's Alexanderplatz: "See you at Alex. Freezing cold. Next year, 1929, will be even colder."

At the internet cafe....

Well, that's what everyone here is trying to guess, because it's Voting Day! Looks like it could be a close one. Like I don't get enough of this kind of drama at home.

No idea who might be coming to Berlin in a few months, but I'm actually on my way to Berlin tomorrow. It's very nice here auf dem Land and all, but I'm a city gal. And I haven't visited Berlin in seven years. I can't imagine how much it's changed since then! Most important question: who knows of any good yarn stores in town?? (Wink, wink.)

look, the Himmel über Berlin is full of weasleys!

Update: The results are in and it seems that none of the parties is strong enough to take power and none wants to work with any of the others. Isn't parliament fun?

Don't know anything about German politics? Here's my version of the current parliamentary problem, illustrated through an actual fight between B and S. There is only one Kinder Bueno left (Kinder Bueno is a yummy chocolate bar, which is actually meant to be broken into pieces, like a Kit Kat). B says he wants it. S says he wants it. B has finished his dinner already, so he's sort of earned it more, but S will be done in just a minute or two. No problem.

Parents/Voters:"How 'bout you share the Kinder Bueno?"
B/(major party #1):"No!"
S/(major party #2):"No!"
Minor political parties (pointing in different directions):"We're not sharing with THEM! We are prepared to be in the opposition."

Sounds just like a four-year old, doesn't it: 'if I can't have it, then I just want to be able to complain about it.' My prognosis? Well, I can tell you this - B ended up getting the Kinder Bueno.

Vacation knitting has been successful so far despite not being able to knit much on the plane (the sound wasn't working in our row for the in-flight entertainment, so I decided to try to sleep instead of knitting while trying to lip read Jimmy Fallon in "Fever Pitch"). I still managed enough knitting to complete the first tech guy sock yesterday night.

I can't say enough good things about this Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport! It is so soft and knits up so well. The solids are called "nearly solid" and have the slightest bit of color variation in them. It's subtle, but gives the color a little more depth and richness than a flat solid would. Hubby loves it too: yarn, color, and the short-rowed heel and toe. It's the first time I made a short-rowed sock for him. I think this may be the beginning of a beautiful friendship!

Also up on the list of vacation knitting, is -- drumroll, please -- pop. Yes, I started pop on our vacation to Germany last year. And yes, I swore I wouldn't schlepp the thing across the Atlantic again. But right before we left, a package arrived from knitpal, Sharlyn, who just happened to have two extra balls of the exact yarn that I needed to finish it. So, I packed all the half-finished parts anyway. It should be cold enough here next week for me to even wear her once she's all done.

That's still not everything in the knitting bag. Oh and some yarn arrived at my in-laws too (heh, heh, don't know how that happened). I'll be a busy knitting bee this trip!

"I'm flying!"

"Ooh, is that our airplane?"

"What does this button do's?"

"Flugzeug" by B

After much Blues Clues watching in the car,

loads of fun climbing in the McD playplace,

and even a little sock knitting along the way,

we've finally made it home.

For those of you anxiously awaiting the wrap up of games that were played....

Diamant

Australia

Ticket to Ride: Europe

Louis XIV

Poker!!

Ubongo

Memoir 44

And Tower of Babel, which I somehow forgot to photograph.

Favorite game played this year: Um Reifenbreite. Favorite new game: Around the World in 80 Days.

When on vacation, I always find it good to mix pleasure with pleasure. I may be in Columbus for another of my hobbies, but that shouldn't stop me from doing a little yarn shopping too. I was crushed when I heard that Wolfe Fiber Arts, which I had visited on my last trip to Columbus and was looking forward to patronizing again, had closed. But I heard from some helpful Columb-ians that Knitters Mercantile had bought up their inventory and was opening a new store the very week I'd be here. So first stop on the Columbus knit tour, the grand opening.

Located in a still-under-construction strip mall (the hotel employee giving me directions didn't believe that the store would even be open!), Knitters Mercantile is more store-in-a-box than Wolfe Fiber Arts was, but with comfy couches in the front and luxury yarns decorating the walls, I quickly forgot that I was in a strip mall. It actually reminded me very much of Knitting Hands in Brooklyn inside - just a bit smaller, and in Ohio. They had free cookies out on the tables to celebrate the opening, most of which my boys either ate or touched, and a little shelf of kiddie books in their huge book area that the boys dove into after I banned them from the cookies. B even fell in love with a sample felted hat and wore it for the whole hour and a half that we were there.

Despite their very impressive inventory of Jamiesons, Colinette, Peace Fleece, Maggi Knits, Rowan, Jaeger, Karabella, America's Alpaca, Reynolds, and Plymouth yarns (most still bearing the WFA price tag), I didn't find anything that I absolutely had to take home. Oh, there was so much that I could have gotten! But I did put my name in for a grand opening door prize. Fingers crossed! Sure hope this store is still around when we come back next time....

What Knitters Mercantile may be missing in atmosphere, Temptations (scroll down) in the suburb of Dublin, has in spades. This store is jaw-droppingly gorgeous, with yarns of every kind divided in different rooms of an old house. There's the baby yarn sitting room (with coloring books for the boys), Noro/Lamb's Pride/Lopi living room, several bedrooms filled with yarn upstairs and downstairs, a sock yarn closet, novelty hallway, and the needles and notions bathroom! And they also sell antiques, so the yarns aren't just in bins, but in beautful old pieces of furniture and lovely baskets and bowls. Yummy! The boys loved all the colors and textures.

True to the store's name, they tempted me. I almost carried off some Debbie Bliss alpaca/silk, some Noro I'd never seen before, Reynolds Frisky, Karabella Vintage Cotton, and South West Trading Company's optimum wool, but somehow I left here empty-handed too. After a day of yarn shopping, S was as disappointed as I was that I didn't buy anything. Back at the hotel he concluded: "They didn't have the right yarn for mommy. They only had the other yarn."

The next day, I decided to stop by the last yarn store I'd gotten a tip about, the Yarn Shop. I'd been told it was more of a crochet/acrylic store and didn't really have high hopes of finding "the right yarn for mommy", but - now, don't hate me, yarn snobs - but I think I liked this one the best. It's totally in a strip mall and is definitely crochet-y (check out that crocheted pillow on the fouton behind B in his "hat du store"!). Despite the low-end look, they've done a fabulous job of mixing an excellent selection of good, inexpensive yarns with a respectable selection of high-end, designer yarns. I've never seen so much Sirdar yarn and patterns in one place! And right between all that Sirdar and and a couple of walls of Plymouth Encore were the new Rowan cashsoft and cash/cotton yarns, beautiful Karabella yarns, lots of Jaeger yarns, even Colinette and a huge sock yarn collection. I can really see this store being a terrific LYS both for women who've been knitting forever as well as young, hip newbie knitters. And they had the best little kids playarea of all three stores. The boys actually told me that they didn't want to leave when I said that I was paying!

Yes, you heard right. Paying! I did find a little something to take home. I almost came home with a bundle (I had a hard time releasing some Cascade 220 and Touch Me in beautiful blues that I'd never seen before), but I restrained myself. Because seriously, how much more yarn do I really need? Not so much, apparently. Unfortunately for you, my one little Ohio knitlife souvenir yarn is all packed away already, so you'll have to wait until next time to see it!

The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.

Eeewwwww!

Look, intarsia sheep.

Heckmeck am Bratwurmeck with worm tiles and dice.

Around the World in 80 Days via trains, boats, balloons and the occassional elephant.

Walk the Dogs with dozens of tiny dog figures that you keep in the "doggie bag".

Quackshot, with pigs and ducks and plastic arrows, oh my.

COSI. A giant museum to entertain the boys for five hours!

A Tab! I haven't seen a Tab in like fifteen years.

Cool game bits. These are from Um Reifenbreite, 1992's German game of the year.

A crack. Not as uncommon a site in a gaming room as you'd like.

New York Super Fudge Chunk in a NY rest area.

This little lifesaver can be found at Exit 24 off I-90 in Erie, PA.

Smile, we're almost there!

Vacation! It's time for our bi-annual trip out to Columbus for a big boardgaming convention. Since my usual knitting time will be filled with gaming for the next week, I won't have any knitting progress to show. So I'll be on blogging vaca for a week and a half! I still might sneak up a picture or two, because, well let's face it, I'm a blogging addict, but there won't be knitting, I can tell you that.

See ya next week!