Berlin Blues

Don't get me wrong, I love Berlin but...

I'm a country gal at heart. The husband grew up in 'burg, Brandenburg. We met literally in the middle of nowhere - we met in the Gers, which is the least populated department in France but also the most beautiful - so we both have a bit of a dilemma when it comes to bringing up kids in the big smoke.

On the one hand Berlin is one of the greenest cities ever. We live a mere ten minutes from the Volkspark Rehberge, 70 hectares of green, with meadows, woods, animal enclosures and gert massive lake with a beach where you can swim in in the summer. Not forgetting the obligatory, and I realise this may be the British in me and I may be going a bit Carry on, ooh-er nudist area! We're also right next to the U-bahn, all shops, theatre etc. We literally couldn't have it better. And to top it all off our building has a wonderful courtyard with play areas galore, trees a-plenty and kids even a-plentier.

BUT. And here's the but. I crave space and I often feel like I'm constantly telling the kids to put stuff down, to be quieter, to not throw stuff all while safely in the knowledge that I had a lot more space and freedom to explore and throw stuff and break it and injure myself without my parents seeing. That's just the way it is when you grown up in the sticks. You do get to make more decisions about what is or isn't a good idea because you have a context in which you can do so. That's what nature gives you. As well as an overwhelming respect for all the things that are greater than you.

I love my life here. We all do. But a big part of me wants my kids to have that too. Hence the van.

I feel a road trip coming on...