Laterne Saturday in Prenzlauerberg

Today was one of those days that we couldn't have planned, and if we'd planned it, it would never have worked out. We had no plan this morning. I scrubbed the bathroom floor and Rob went shopping, but not only did he do the family shopping, he invited Maddie and Will to come with him. This boggles my mind. I would rather have minor dental work done than go shopping with my children, not least because Will always talks me into something overpriced and unnecessary. Rob came home with a box of Frucht Tiger, which is a juice drink of dubious nutritional value, so I think he got off light.
I will note here that Maddie and Will have been playing beautifully for the last week. I don't know what changes, but now they will go off for hours and play royalty or rescue heroes and I'll see them both sitting fully-clothed in the bathtub making up stories. Yesterday Maddie found a "chip" which she used to determine Will's makeup. She said that Will is "one percent evil and ninety nine percent hot gas" and I told her she ought to patent that thing quick.
By the time we were all dressed and whining at the front door, it was noon and we still didn't have a plan. We got on the S-bahn and rode around to the eastern section of the ring, because we have not yet been able to get east of Alexanderplatz with the kids. We talked about going three different places, and ended up in Prenzlauerberg walking up to Kollwitzplatz.

Kollwitzplatz is named after Kathe Kollwitz, the wife of a doctor who did charcoal drawings and sculptures with a strong mother/child theme and a strong pacifist bent after she lost a son in WWI and a grandson in WWII. Her plaza now happens to be the heart of the neighborhood, which is the section in Berlin with the most children. There were sidewalk cafes and restaurants everywhere and we could not walk more than a block without running into a playground. The one in the middle of the plaza advertised that today was a special kids day where they had puppet shows of Peter and the Wolf and The Very Hungry Caterpillar and booths where you could make your own lanterns (which is what Rob and the kids are doing in the first photo). Lining the plaza was this great bustling market where people were hacking pumpkins and searing fish and making and selling all sorts of great stuff. It is what we desperately miss in Grandview, so we walked up and down it several times today and bought random things.
This is a water tower nicknamed der Dicke Hermann or the Chubby Herman. First it was a water tower, then it was converted into apartments in the 1920's, then it was a place to torture communists during the third reich, because what is a Berlin building if it doesn't have a dark side? Rob made the kids find this while we were in the neighborhood and right at the foot it had --another playground! So we intended to do all of this great sightseeing and really we spent hours at three separate playgrounds, but it was another stolen sunny day and the kids loved it. Sebastian spent the longest time putting sand through holes into a metal pipe that would fall down on the ground again. He also said "I am putting sand in the holes!" which is the most grammatically correct sentence he has said to date. We did not make it to the adventure playground, which is overseen by a social worker and was a reunification project (play therapy for the East Berliners -- not going to ask) so we'll have to come back and do that another day.

Oh! And we bought Maddie a felted wool hat, which cannot be construed as an impulse buy, because I wanted to buy her one in 1998 when we came and I never did, and so this still counts, right? Even though that hat would have been an extra small, and this one is extra large.
Once it got later, we were hungry and decided on falafel for dinner. If it weren't for our middle eastern brethren, I would not get any vegetables on this trip. They did up their vegetables so nicely that Will wanted a vegetable plate for dinner (?!) and he actually ate most of it (not the eggplant). Will also ordered a soda pop that tasted exactly like baby aspirin. Then it was time to head back to the plaza for our Lantern Parade.
The lanterns are a tradition where children carry around lit paper lanterns and sing at dusk. There is probably more to it than that, like someone's saint day, but I don't know it. Since it was dusk, the pictures are crummy, but I think you can get the idea. I just couldn't picture a bunch of children with lit candles in flammable lanterns walking around, so I wanted to stay and see it as much as any of the kids.

Indeed, it was quite a sight. We had two police escorts who stopped traffic each time we crossed a street and made everyone walk their bicycles by the kids. We also had a woman who accompanied us on the accordion. Her favorite piece was "When the Saints Come Marching In" and I would really like to talk to the person who is in charge of the soundtrack for my life, because it just didn't go with my conception of a lantern parade. Despite that, it was charming to see the kids walking down the streets of Prenzlauerberg with their lanterns. Sebastian couldn't keep his eyes off his and kept saying "feuer!feuer!" (which, being interpreted, is "fire!fire!") as if he couldn't believe that we were letting him walk around with a candle. I couldn't believe it either. It is a lovely way to celebrate the days growing shorter wandering around at twilight with bright lanterns.

Comments

Darlene said…
I've got to adjust the soundtrack to my life, too. Of course, I never go anywhere cool like you globetrotters, so I guess I can't expect great music. (Like, say, accordions playing dixieland.)
Mary Ann said…
Perhaps I'm too picky, but there is a lantern song to sing on parade. The words are something like "I'm going with my lantern/my lantern is going with me [repeat]/my light went out/I'm going home/la bimila bimila bee" (but it rhymes better in German). I thought they sang it, um, when they were walking around with their lanterns. Maybe?

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