keri's birthday, an island of peacocks, and a bevy of naked germans

Keri's Birthday. The highlight of every June 18, of course, is the anniversary of Keri's birth. I won't disclose here how many anniversaries we celebrated, but it is fewer than me, and that is all that matters to my children. With the temperatures rising in Berlin, Keri opted to spend her birthday outside the city, in Wannsee, a lake town that is only 12 miles from our flat, but feels miles away.

Wannsee. Berliners started coming to Lake Wannsee in the late 19th Century, mostly during the summer. Many wealthy Berliners had second homes in Wannsee, and it is not hard to see why, given its proximity to the city and its truly idyllic setting. In its promotional materials, Wannsee wants you to know that it's beach has sand imported from the Baltic coast, and that it is Europe's "largest outdoor swimming area on an inland body of water," (?), and that there is a "family-friendly clothes-free area." So very German.

A 30-minute train ride let us out lakeside, where the kinder enjoyed ice cream as we waited for the bus that would take us to the ferry crossing to Pfauninsel, better known as Peacock Island. Unsure what the food situation would be on the island, we stopped for lunch at the restaurant on the mainland. The absence of English-language menus and poor cell service left us with a set of German menus. You can find your way through a French menu in a pinch. German menus are a totally different animal. You have no chance getting the slightest idea what you may be ordering. Keri told the waitress she was "gluten frei" and "lactose frei," which evoked no response. The kids opted for the "chicken nuggets and pommes frites," as apparently "chicken nuggets" cannot be translated into German, and Keri and I opted for the frites, which were delicious. As Keri observed, "I've had worse lunches."

After making the two-minute ferry crossing, we went in search of peacocks, expecting to find an island teeming with them. Owen sat down on a bench and placed his hands in a sort of meditative or prayer posture. The three of us kept walking, assuming he would follow. He did not. So, we made our way down the island, finally spotting a sort of bird enclosure you would see at zoo. Inside were several variety of peafowl, chickens and other birds. As we were looking at the caged birds, a peacock came strolling out of the woods, free as a bird, as it were. He stood proudly in the middle of a group of people, clearly something he has done thousands of times before. As we walked away, one of the enclosed peacocks showed Keri is plumage, understandably impressed by what he saw in her. Keri can still charm the best of them.

We decided we should go find Owen before he had organized the rest of the people on the island into a Lord of the Flies group that was going to hunt us down. We walked by several large homes, that had been built hundreds of years ago, and made to resemble castles or palaces. They are run down now, and it looks strange to see such grandiose structures in this place.

Wannsee Conference House. We saw another peacock, found Owen, who no longer had the conch, and made our way back to the mainland, in time to take another bus to see the Wannsee Conference House, a picturesque lakeside villa where Reinhard Heydrich, Adolph Eichmann and fourteen others met in January 1942 to discuss the cooperation of various government bodies in carrying out the mass extermination of Europe's Jews. The house now includes an impressive museum, detailing the evolution of religious-based and racial-based anti-Semitism, and the Nazi-fixation with the Jewish people, and the impacts of the war, particularly in eastern Europe, where the Nazis found themselves by January 1942 with the ability to control -- and kill -- more than six million Jews.

If you are in Berlin, it is worth a visit. You will be struck by the contrast between the serene and gorgeous setting and the unfathomably inhumane things the Nazis planned there. I was also taken aback by how many of the participants in this conference were trained as lawyers. As the Wannsee Protocol -- or memo resulting from the meeting -- demonstrates, the Nazis were expert at using the modern nation state, including the patina of legalism and the rule of law, in the cause of mass murder.

Another set of buses and trains back to Potsdamer Platz, as Keri wanted to return to a nearby Indian restaurant that we tried the night we got here. Lauren and Owen both enjoyed what they ate and claimed to have "always liked Indian food." We'll not fight over the details here, and simply enjoy that we can eat this with more regularity, at least while we are in Europe.

The day really captured much of what our experience has been here -- beauty and joy, tempered by an ever-present feeling of discomfort.

Tiergarten. Worn down by two long days, and with the thermometer rising to the upper 80's, Wednesday was a short day. We got up late, lounged around, did some laundry, and walked through Tiergarten, a large park that sits in the geographic center of the city. The park consists of lands that were the hunting grounds for the Prussian monarch, so the city had to develop around them. The park now consists of some grassy areas, lakes, bridges and paths for biking and walking, but walking through still feels like a forest, and not some city-planned park.

Culinary Delights at KaDeWe. We walked west, emerging in the heart of west Berlin, headed for Kaufhaus des Westens, known as KaDeWe. It is a seven-story building that is, basically, a high-end department store. Only on the sixth floor is a gourmet food floor that puts to shame the food courts of American malls. The floor is divided into sections -- breads, desserts, fish, etc. -- each of which has a counter at which you can sit, or get something to go. And there really is something for everyone. There is so much that it is a bit overwhelming. We ended up with a variety of items -- grilled chicken skewers and chick pea salad for Keri, chicken tenders for the kids, and canapes (brie, smoked salmon, shrimp) for me. The real treat was dessert. Lauren had some elaborate dark chocolate raspberry thing, Owen a fancy cookie and Keri a dark-chocolate coconut macaroon the size of her head.

Leaving the air-conditioned comfort of KaDeWe, we walked by the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, a protestant church that was badly damaged in a 1943 bombing raid, resulting in the name it is known by today -- the hollow tooth. We walked up and around the back side of the Berlin Zoo, which allows for the viewing of the petting zoo and some other animals, including eagles and zebras. And then it was back through the Tiergarten, on a slightly different path, one that took us to the Berlin Victory Column that sits at the park's center, commemorating Prussian victories over the Danish,  Austrians and French in the 1860's and 70's.

This walk also exposed us, so to speak, to a number of locals who were spending their afternoon, lounging in the grassy areas of the park in their birthday suits. One particular man was about 30 feet from the foot path we were on, hanging out in his full glory. Putting aside the risk of sunburn, Keri was unsure whether the man, who appeared well endowed, was happy to see us. I told her that I thought he was more of a shower than a grower. In any event, the moment caused me to recall this class line from Young Frankenstein.

After a cool down and rest in the flat, we met a family friend for a drink in the Mitte district and then walked over to try Hasir Mitte, a Turkish restaurant that our guide Gabe had insisted we try. It did not disappoint. Keri and the kids both got grilled chicken and I had more of a chicken-pepper-tomato combination. We all shared some incredible warm humus and Turkish bread.

The weather is set to cool down for the remainder of our time here. There may be a little rain here, so we will probably go back to a number of the places we walked by on Monday. We are looking forward to digging deeper in this fascinating city.