{ hello again }

Dear Friends & Family,

My dad has reminded me that it's been a month since I've updated my blog, so I will try my best to make this one a good one.

So much has happened in a month! We've had friends come visit during one of the hottest days EVER. Berlin felt like an outdoor sauna, it was so humid. We took a trip to Amsterdam with said friends. And we are continuing to make our place a home in our beautiful neighborhood that we love more and more.

The friends that came were John's old labmates from USC, along with John's advisor, Jack, and his wife, Carol. They were here for a workshop that Jack was presenting at John's work, MPI, and had plans to explore Berlin, Prague, Amsterdam, and Paris for a couple days each.

As excited as we were to show them around, we just couldn't beat the heat. Luckily, the ice cream here is really good, very cheap, and pretty much on every corner.

Our friends then left to Prague, and a few days later we met them in Amsterdam.

John & I talk about this many times, but we truly feel so lucky to live in Berlin and to be able to explore other countries in Europe. We've been to Paris, we plan on visiting our friend in the south of France when she comes in September to visit her family, we've talked about going to Prague, we plan on going to Italy this year, and my parents have booked a timeshare in Austria in April. So we are definitely taking advantage of living in Europe.

Between Berlin, Paris, and Amsterdam, there was something refreshing about Amsterdam. There are a lot of tourist in all three, but usually tourist blend with the locals. I can't recall locals among the area we were at, so I don't know their cultural behaviour. In Berlin, Germans have no personal space. People stand and walk very close to you, and if they're not paying attention, will walk right into you. In Amsterdam at the Rijkmuseum, someone was courteous enough to acknowledge someone else taking a picture and ducked out of their way. That does not happen in Berlin. Everyone's in their own little bubble, including me most of the time.

John and I really enjoyed Amsterdam. The buildings were so beautiful, and nothing seemed out of place. I believe all the buildings were built in the 16-1700's. Everything was brick that stood along the canals. Everyone spoke English. There was wifi everywhere to keep us connected when we needed it. There were even cats hanging around and inside establishments. John and I were sitting at the bar in a "brown" cafe when a cat just jumped on top and strolled over to two patrons enjoying some beers and snacks. After it got bored of people taking its picture, it strolled by us and jumped onto a nearby table of 12 before heading to the back. After that, I would see cats either inside places, or I would see them pop in or out of the doors.

Another thing we enjoyed in Amsterdam was the food! (of course)
For the first time in 6 months, we finally had an actually decent burger to our normal "American" standard. Sure we've had good burgers in Berlin....but for Berlin they were good. We wouldn't take our visitors to any burger places here. Our first night in Amsterdam, we met up with our friends for Indonesian, and we all agreed the food was amazing. We also went to Pancake Bakery since it's supposed to a very popular place among the locals and tourists.

We hope this has enticed you to book a trip to Berlin to visit us! After Berlin, you can go to Amsterdam, Paris, Prague, Italy, or wherever you fancy! And remember, the beer is cheaper than water here!

xoxo,
The Prindles

{ entertainment just before dinner }

{ getting to know the city...via map }

{ pancake bakery } 

{ dutch pancake with bacon and apples }

{ sweet sassy mollassy }

{ canal tour }

{ love hearing the history of the buildings }

{ kevin & randy }

{ erin }

{ the heineken experience }

{ being cheesy with randy }

{ watching past heineken commercials }

{ houseboats }

{ line was too long to see this }

{ our air bnb home }

{ our air bnb cat }

{ there's always time for ice cream }

{ i AMsterdam sign }

{ in front of the rijksmuseum }

{ Happy Birthday, America! }

Dear Friends & Family,

It's 4th of July...in Berlin. Nothing special over here. Luckily we have some American friends who are getting together for a BBQ. Who doesn't love a good BBQ? I made potato salad, and I thought I would share the recipe. I found a recipe online (InspiredTaste.Net) that I found very useful. They start with the basic, and you can modify however you like. I like to start with the most simple recipe and go from there.

{POTATOES}

Add potatoes to a large pot and add water until it's fully cover and bring to a boil

(should be no more than an inch over potatoes...)

Add a teaspoon of salt for every quart of water 

(large pot with 5-7 potatoes about 2 tsp of salt)

Once water boils, lower heat to a simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes. You'll know it's done when you can pierce a fork through it easily. 

Once potatoes are done, drain and add to a bowl of ice water until it's cool enough to peel the skin off .

Chop potatoes into bite size chunks and add to a large bowl.

Season with salt & toss the potatoes in the vinegar 

(I use a large plastic container and toss with the lid on)

add chopped eggs (whites only) and green onion-chives (you can add as much or as little as you like)

{SAUCE}

In a small mixing bowl, combine yolks and mustard with a fork.

Add mayonnaise (and paprika if you're into that sort of thing).

Fold in yogurt (or sour cream)

Once combined, fold mixture with the potatoes/eggs/onions. 

Chill in the fridge. 

...ignore the third egg. That was my lunch. 

I usually divide my batch and add chopped pickles for me...because somebody doesn't like pickles. I've also been on a tabasco kick, so once I've scooped out some for myself, I like to add a few dashes. 

To John's batch, I like to add shredded "cheddar" cheese. (cheddar cheese in Berlin is NOT the same as cheddar cheese in the US)

Hope everyone had a safe and fun filled day! 

xoxo,

The Prindles

{ finally connected }

Dear Friends & Family,

After waiting for over a month, and a no call no show from the telephone company, John and I finally have  Internet/WiFi! It's been one month in our new home, and everything is steadily coming together.

{ our new door name plate }

{ weekly trip to IKEA }

{ instead of curtains, we bought plants for the kitchen }

The weather has been lingering in the 60's with a touch of rain here and there. When it rains, it doesn't rain for long...which is good because we do not own an umbrella.

John & I finished our 8 weeks of German class, and we are going to try to incorporate what we learned when we are out. It's pretty bad, but we're lucky enough that majority of the people in our neighborhood can speak English and help us with our German.

Right now we are sitting on our comfortable couch watching soccer, USA vs Germany. We are very thankful we are connected again.

With the rain on and off, it's nice to stay home and catch up on our shows. We watched John Dies at the End, a movie based on a book that I had finished reading last week (don't bother watching the movie, but check out the book if you're into that kind of humor).

We have our first visitors in two weeks which we are excited about. We've also talked about traveling somewhere in June, we're just not sure where yet. Flights and train tickets are cheap to Amsterdam right now, and Prague is not too far from Berlin.

Still counting down to August when we can see our friends & family again.

{ sun doesn't go down until almost 10pm }

xoxo,
The Prindles.