It is always difficult to tie off a life and begin another.  Packing up our little unit seemed like an endless task – our stuff somehow doubled with the new little addition to our family!  Then there is the long list of little jobs like canceling phones and electricity, redirecting mail etc etc boring boring!!!  Amongst the busyness we somehow managed to enjoy some of the Australian summer so by the time the 17th of January arrived we felt satisfied with our exposure to UV and ready to face whatever Berlin threw at us (or so we thought).

Moving is always stressful but having to account for everything we own and put it all in a box is even more difficult.

Shosh was super nervous about how Amaya would fly – 25 hours of flying time is a big ask for a toddler.  To combat this she had enough food to last a week, a bunch of new toys and many kilos of books.  As it turned out Amaya was a little legend – this was despite being delayed in Sydney because of 45 degree heat (hottest day ever!) and then again in London for the opposite reason.

Jet-lagged!

Touching down in Berlin we were filled with a sense of excitement and expectation.  With a temperature difference of over 50 degrees celsius, devastating jet lag and a baby that wasn’t adjusting to the new time zone our excitement quickly transformed into a deep haze   of ‘WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE?’

This was an unexpected feeling.  We had both focused so much on potential difficulty of the flight without really considering that life in a new city would pose challenges.  Shoshanna drew the analogy of birth (stick with me it does have some relevance) where she was so focused on the actual birth process that she wasn’t prepared for what came next, which, as it turns out, lasts a lot longer!

Amaya checking out the graffiti in the park across from our unit.

So here we are in Berlin, slowly adjusting, buying warmer clothes, learning the language and getting increasingly more sleep.

One of the many cafes designed specifically to keep kids entertained while parents sip their lattes.

The parks are so cool in Berlin – each one is unique and made from natural materials! Temperature of -10 was not going to stop Amaya from getting on the swing!

Riding a wooden fish.

And the more alive we begin to feel the more we have started to appreciate our surrounds: cool playgrounds, kids being pulled along on sleds, bicycles everywhere, fun weekend markets, frozen ponds with people playing ice hockey and seriously awesome toboggan runs!

Today we met up with a lovely family. Glen, Katja, Benjamin and Amy. It was wonderful to connect, share a meal, and enjoy the winter wonderland.

Amaya’s first snow ball fight – she lost!

Great fun on toboggans – a real novelty for us Aussies (yes Shoshanna you are an Aussie!)

Amaya and her new friend Benjamin enjoying being pulled along on a sled – beats a pram any day!