Never leave nail varnish in toddler's reach

Last summer we went on a short family holiday to an island off the coast of Sicily. The last evening, as I was handing back the keys of the hired bikes and the receptionist was busy praising my gorgeous boy and listing the joys and delights of having children, little did I know that my darling little one had grabbed my coral nail varnish and had smashed it inside the shower cubicle.
When I got back, I found my exhausted husband trying to put little one to bed. He had managed to remove most of the nail varnish, but there were still some pink stains on the tiles.
While I was wondering how to clean up the mess so that they wouldn't charge us for the cleaning expenses, I remembered seeing the girl in the bungalow next door applying nail varnish. I waited on the verandah until she appeared and asked if by any chance she had nail polish remover. Unlike me, the neighbour turned out to be well prepared.  She kindly handed over a huge bottle together with a pack of cotton wool pads. I spent a good half hour working on the stains and by the end most had gone. So luckily we got away with it, but I learnt my lesson: things are never safe with a toddler around!

Babyland Berlin

This Blog was supposed to be about Berlin, but is turning out to be more about babies, toddlers and baby sleep. In fact the two things are more closely related than some might think, as Berlin is one of the cities in Europe with the highest concentration of babies. Prenzlauer Berg, where I used to live (I've now moved slightly north into Pankow) has long been famous for its prams and buggies. Everywhere you look there is a Mum or a Dad pushing a pram, carrying a baby in a sling or holding a screaming baby in their arms (that would have been us!). However, this baby craze is not just confined to Prenzlauer Berg. Whether you're out shopping in trendy Mitte or you're in a bar on Schlesiche Strasse in Kreuzberg or you're on the U Bahn heading to Charlottenburg, or even worse chilling in hipster's paradise (Neukoelln) you are bound to see at least one baby, if not more.

Babies are everywhere in Berlin, there is no way of escaping them. You could attempt to leave the house only during the hours of darkness, to go out exclusively to smoky bars or Kneipen or to the few cafes with the no pram sign. But whatever you do, keep away from playgrounds, parks, family-friendly cafes, cinema matinees (they might have a special mama with baby screening) and ice cream parlours. 

With the surge in the number of babies born each year there is obviously a growing need for nurseries (or Kitas as they are called in Germany). Despite the fact that there seems to be a new Kita opening every other month (I haven't counted them, but there will soon be more Kitas than Spaeties*, and that is saying something), there is still a shortage of Kitas in some areas, which means that women have to enrol their babies (technically still foetuses) onto waiting lists, before they are even born! 

I was told that there was a shortage of gynaecologists and paediatricians in Prenzlauer Berg, but that didn't turn out to be true (at least not for pregnant women or newborn babies). However, the Kita shortage is real. Being offered a Kitaplatz without being on at least 10 waiting lists is close to a miracle. And don't even bother turning up at the Kita Sprechstunde once your baby is over six months old. They'll just shrug their shoulders and look at you as if you were an alien. One way of getting a place in some Kitas is to turn up every week with a home baked cake. Luckily I didn't have to go down that path, but I've heard it works.

*A Spaetie is a Berlin institution: Spaetie stands for Spaetkauf and is a shop selling mainly drinks (hundreds of varieties of beers) and snacks that is open 24/7. The 24/7 part is extremely rare in Germany. The more entrepreneurial Spaeties now also have bikes for hire. 

The wonderful world of Mauerpark

Forget the Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gate or the Pergamon museum, Berlin's top attraction on a Sunday is the one and only Mauerpark! All year round huge crowds of locals and tourists flock on a Sunday morning (not too early mind - this is Berlin) or afternoon to this once abandoned piece of land divided by the Berlin Wall.
 

Mauerpark Karaoke

The Mauerpark caters for all tastes. Fancy some live music? Care to spend a few hours browsing the flea market stalls selling everything from GDR furniture and paraphernalia, to jewellery and clothes made by local designers? Or perhaps you would like to try out your singing talents in front of hundreds of cheering people at the karaoke? Then head to the Mauerpark! Of course there is also a good selection of food and drinks available. The Schoenwetter beach bar and the Mauersegler bier garden are always a good choice for chilling out on a Sunday afternoon.
 

The Mauerpark is a great place to try out your artistic talents: be it wall spraying, juggling, tightrope walking or breakdancing. It's also a good place for entrepreneurs - be it karaoke entertainers, Pfand  (deposit) bottle collectors or improvised bakers. The popularity of the Mauerpark has reached unprecedented levels. It's also a good place to keep fit: you can play boules, basketball, jog, cycle, dance... the list is endless.  The number of visitors has grown exponentially over the years. It's mentioned in every respectable guidebook, blog or travel web site. Alas, the Mauerpark as many other unique Berlin attractions is at risk!
There are plans to build hotels, houses, businesses threatening the survival of the Mauerpark as we all know it.
 

The mayor of Berlin once famously said that Berlin is “arm aber sexy”, which translates as “poor but sexy”.  Whatever happens I cannot believe that the city of Berlin will destroy one of its most important attractions to make way for some rich but uncool investors.

This post was written in April 2012, but never found its way onto the Blog.  Two years later nothing (or very little) has changed.  I recently met a friend to spend a couple of hours at the Mauerpark on a Sunday afternoon leaving Papa and son to play football in a nearby park.  The place was so busy that although we had previously arranged to meet by the entrance at Eberswalder Strasse it took us 40 minutes to find each other! The mobile phone networks were overloaded so we couldn’t call or text either. This just shows that the Mauerpark is still extremely popular and attracting very large crowds.  The future of the park is still uncertain, as plans keep changing.  However, I don’t think there is any danger that the Mauerpark and its colourful crowd will disappear any time soon.