Waiting for a train, April 23, 2015, 5:37 p.m.
Well, I haven't wanted to write this, but I have to come clean. I have lost my voice. It started out with just a little tickle in my throat, but now I've got almost nothing left. My German, which was sketchy at best, is now completely incomprehensible.
But, I didn't let it get me down. Today's adventure took us to nearby Babelsburg, home of the famous Babelsburg Studios. In the early days of film, the product produced here rivaled that of Hollywood. Their big claim to fame was the Fritz Lang masterpiece, Metropolis. This was before he came to California to direct The Return of Frank James, a completely forgettable motion picture.
Maria from Metropolis
Anyway, next to the studio is a little theme park, so we took bus, train, and tram to come out for the day.
Traveling along the Wannsee gives the Berlin visitor a very different landscape to contemplate. For the first time, we see individual houses, with yards and such. Many of the houses are older looking, and some are pretty shabby. But, some people have taken the old-timely houses and made pretty beautiful dwellings out of them.
Beautiful Girls!
The theme park was hardly crowded, even by 2:00 p.m. or so, by which point it was probably at its fullest. There are no actual "rides" as we Americans think of such things. But there is plenty to see, and the park makes the most of the studio's movies, especially The Adventures of Baron Munchausen and The Neverending Story.
Today's adventure sadly brought out Heidi's less pleasant side as she was frustrated by the lack of "rides." But she pulled it together later in the day, and, as always, was great with TJ and Mika. Maddie today, as she has since our arrival in Berlin, rolled along amicably.
What Banelsburg does have in place of rides are shows. We saw a show about how television shows are filmed, which included very funny segments involving an older lady from the audience trying to do a weather report before a green screen (with the audience applauding wildly every time her finger got even close to the right spot on the weather map) and a young kid forced to play a character in a soap.
The big attraction at the park is the stunt show. This involves lots of fire, cars, motorcycles, and some sort of Mad Max future. It's a good show, and the large number of German middle schoolers visiting the park on field trips really seemed to enjoy it.
I liked the shows that took place in simulators. One was a helter-skelter thrill along the Great Wall of China--I actually screamed a couple of times, a symptom of late-onset Min-Min's disease. The other put the audience on a pirate ship and provided laser guns to shoot sea monsters. Maddie was the best shot in our group!!
Now we are back on the train. Heidi's sleepy head rests on my shoulder, and Maddie has her nose in a book. I don't hear a peep from the little boys who are riding a few rows behind us. After four days of non-stop action, those Kinder, and my Kinder, are wearing down a little.
More later....
Petra's House, April 23, 2015, 8:05 p.m.
Back in the flat on Ordensmeisterstr and the drama is heating up. There are family issues apparently afoot with the Optisch side of Reiner's family. We'll have to see what that brings as we make plans to spend time with both warring sides in whatever they've got going on. But, for now, we're still in our little Berlin bubble of sweetness. We are ordering in dinner tonight--and the selection from Pizzeria Yasmin is wickedly expansive. For me, another chance to eat schnitzel is not to be missed, but they also serve all kinds of pasta, salads, burgers, and, duh, pizzas.
I think I'll sign off for tonight. Tomorrow's plan are up in the air....
I can hear your voice loud and clear through your writing.....
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