Geocaching, Berliner Dom, the last Christmas Market

After breakfast, my most amazing husband wheeled a suitcase half a mile away to do laundry.  Meanwhile, the kids kept me busy by going geocaching.

Number 1 was right by the Fernsehturm, tallest structure in Germany.  We borrowed a pen from another family taking pictures to right down the date on the log book. It was too small for any trades. 

A bear

Number 2 was behind the u-bahn time tables at the Alexanderplatz stop.  We walked by this spot a dozen times.  Another small magnet one.  Oh, but I popped into a Netto to try and buy a pen.  They didn't sell them, but a very nice worker gave me his.  It has come in so handy! 

Took this to post with the cache report.  This is just outside "our" Markt.  

Number 3 was the TINIEST!  Also magnetic.  It had a surprisingly long roll of paper stuck inside.  Hard to write small with frozen fingers.  

Behind this sign.

A bear

I was ready to give up on this one.  The clue was "don't eat me".  Not helpful at all.  We were looking by big recycle bins 20 meters away.  Makenna saved the day and found it.  Someone make a cute house just for the cache!  Best part of Number 4?  Jessica took out a little Mike Wazowski figure!  

We really should have counted how many wursts we purchased from the Grillrunner guys.  If they had punch cards for customer loyalty, I bet we would have gotten at least two free.  The price is obviously great and the size was ideal to tide over for a couple hours.  

The red Rathaus with still stuffed mouths.

Favorite stand?  It was certainly the spot we stayed the longest.  PUZZLES!  There was a cute, patient girl working it who blatantly loved showing off her skills.  When we would get stuck, she would finish solving a puzzle behind her back, or if there were too many pieces, she would pop under the counter for just a moment and come back up with a perfect square/sphere/loose string.  We probably spent 30-45 minutes here.  It's where Matt caught up with us post-wash.  

These are the new taste sensation for all of us.  The girl here was Polish, but she said that the treats are originally Hungarian--Ben??  Do you know about these?  They are quite the art form.  They roll the dough around special dowels.  When fat enough, they get cooked in a special oven that rotates the rods as they cook.  They they are rolled in sugar/nuts/sprinkles.  See the sign below.  We tried them first the day before, but they were given a German name.  

Walking to the Berliner Dom, again.  

This time we actually went inside!  It's a very lovely cathedral, not dark and Gothic.  It has several tributes to Martin Luther.

Jess and Isaac looking up.

Picture of it post world war II.  While walking up the main staircase, you can see a photo gallery of the restoration process. 

We didn't know ahead of time, but when the girls saw her bust, they immediately knew Sophie Charlottte was buried here.  She is in the main area, off to the side with her husband, the king of Prussia.  Downstairs, there is a crypt with many coffins of other royalty.  Sadly, so many are very small--babies, and young children. 

There was a small museum area showing original parts of the church and many of the models they used to plan and recreate.  The next few pictures are taken from outside on the dome walk.  The sun was starting to set and the sky was gorgeous. 

When we came back inside, the youth choir/orchestra was running through many of the songs they would be performing at their concert in a few more hours.  The sound was super. 

So then we actually sat down at an Italian place for a light dinner before going to "our" Markt for the last time to have enjoy the treats.  One chocolate banana, one dampfnodel, and one large bag of cut-up donut hole-ish things.  Then is was home to pack, pack, pack for an early breakfast and departure.