I suppose the week could be best summed up by saying that we are starting to get the hang of some things while we are so unfamiliar with other things.

Both of us have been finding our respective routines. Doreen during the day with Logan and then with her work and me with all things foreign and my new position. The housing situation still amazes us. The things that a German landlord can ask, turn you away for and/or simply just discount you for are amazing coming from an American perspective. We had one landlord tell us that the dogs were OK but Logan was not. At the end of last week we heard our application for a flat wasn't good enough and they were going with another group.

We even offered more money then they were asking but believe they just didn't want Americans in the unit. Keeping a straight face and not outwardly commenting to these people directly takes sever patience. Alas, we continued the search and positive attitude. Doreen has been fantastic in staying positive and finding us new places. Our search last week narrowed down our areas. We upped our budget and opened our criteria. This provided for a great pool of showings on Thursday and we think we found our new home. It's not final but the real-estate agent said "it's looking good" - in Berlin that's code for yes since positivity isn't in the nomenclature. We find out Monday. If we get the place it will be awesome. Regardless, we had one real-estate agent contact our representative letting us know that they would really like us to live at her flat; which was second on our list and would also be a great fit. By weeks end we were feeling pretty good about the living situation. 

By the time the weekend rolled around we were ready to relax. Luckily, Oma came to visit for the weekend which provided for some much needed relief. She was a great help in watching Logan, giving an opinion on flats, and generally helping where we needed some assistance.

Saturday we all took a stroll to where are new flat would be so scope out the neighborhood. On the way we saw the most interesting way to tow a car we had ever seen!

On our walk we stumbled across a farmers market that served Gluehwein at the start (felt like a Christmas Market) and then headed to lunch on the river. From there we went to the Berlin Aquarium where Logan had an absolute blast. 

On our walk home we saw an interesting monument. The day before Doreen had noticed the same place. It's a Jewish school and there were police outside when she saw it. As it turns out it was the first place in Berlin in 1942 where the Gestapo gathered Jews for registration and then sent them to the concentration camps. It was a sobering realization. The police where there to protect the young Jewish children from the underlying Neo-Natzi movement that would do harm to a historical site we would view as tragic but they view as a defeat in their "cause." The Jewish community has left this wall riddled with bullet holes form when the allied forces re-took Berlin as a reminder of what bigotry and violence can do.

Once we got back from the Aquarium , I headed to the bike shop to outfit my bike where I met Alex, the nicest bike shop attendant in Berlin. Alex hooked me up with advice, some gear for my bike and an app (Komoot) on my phone so I don't get lost in Berlin (it's kinda been a problem). He also told me about a cool camera shop that specializes in analog cameras and lenses where I met Marco - an amazing German man that will likely be a friend moving forward. Marco grew up in the German country side and has never left Germany. He was astounded that anyone from California would ever leave and especially move to Berlin. When I explained to him that "ran out of things to take a picture of in California" he laughed, said he thought that was doubtful and kept repeating the sentence "...so, you're just this American in Berlin. You're doing Berlin!." I can't wait to see Marco next week when I go back and pick up the camera lens he's refurbishing for me.