had a weekend with mom

...and I thought it would be a good time to do away with sleeping.

I also thought it would be a good time to put together my own 72 hour tour of Germany's capital city.

Start your weekend late Thursday night by going out with some friends to a party called Chantal's House of Shame. (Needless to say I thought of my good friend of Chantel.) Apparently the shame part is not optional either. By 4am it is time to rush to the Hauptbahnhof to pick up your mother. Get there a few minutes late and frantically look around the mostly deserted train station to no avail. 1800COLLECT will fail my but your credit card won't. Thanks Visa. After a quick chat with your father, learn that she missed her train and is getting in 4 hours later. Great. Now catch a couple hours of sleep. Oversleep. Eventually find your mother standing by the Starbucks in the station. (Some things never change.)

Now get ready for three fun filled and walking filled days. Start early Friday morning with a visit to the Turkish market (buy tasty cheese, produce, and homemade Bourbon whiskey), cover the former DDR capital all the way to Brandenburg gate, and make a stop at the Holocaust memorial and Hitler's bunker (these two should really always be done in conjunction...it's amazing to see how each space is memorialized so differently) End day one. Woof.

Day two takes us further east to see the East Side Gallery and Karl Marx Allee. Eventually work your way up to the shopping in Hackesher Markt of Mitte. When it starts to rain head home and make dinner.

Now it gets sticky. You really haven't been doing enough, so decide to go out. It IS Saturday night in Berlin. One thing leads to another and you end up at Berghain. Serious clubbing until 8am.

Wake up at 11 and spend the entire day walking. This time take the U-bahn to the Mauerpark flea market (eat cult favorites currywurst and döner kebap and catch great deals later in the afternoon), jump the S-bahn to Potzdamer Platz and grab a coffee or four in the Sony Center (your only stop in the far WEST), and walk the Reichstag government sector (some of the most beautiful contemporary river side architecture you will ever see). Topped the day off with a production at Berliner Ensemble (this Sunday: Mein Kampf, a satire from George Tabori).

Make sure you stay up until 3:30 before you take your mother back to the train station at 8am Monday morning.

Rinse. Wash. Repeat.

this one's for mom

For as long as I can remember, potato salad has been my favorite food. It literally makes me a little anxious when the prospect of potato salad is near. For every birthday, family celebration or visit, or vacation, potato salad was always my number one request. From Me-ma's german model, to Grandma Lennie's paprika topped version; my mom's low fat to Sheila's diced style in a aluminum pan (to name a few...and YES I remember them all) I enjoyed potato salad for many years and from a very young age. It is only now that I have reached the realization that when I want potato salad, I can have potato salad. And after my second attempt, I'm quite pleased with the result. I would like to share with you my recipe.

Christopher's Berlin potato salad:

about 8-10 small boiled potatoes, cold (delblemished but not skinned)

2 german gurkens (pickels) diced

3 hard boiled eggs chopped

1 large cucumber chopped

2.5 small onions or 1 large onion chopped

2 tbsp mayo (I prefer miracle whip)

1 small container of light sour cream

Salt and fresh rosemary to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix together.

Best flavor attained after sitting for a few hours or over night.

I can actually say that as I made this delicious dish, I took all of my fine potato salad memories and put them in with love: creating a new breed of the age old backyard barbeque side dish and traditional german snack that encompasses all of my favorite varieties from home--with my own personal flair.

Paul cooked too. His addition was a egg/onion/ground beef combo that was delicious with fresh chopped tomatoes and, of course, the potato salad. We enjoyed a meal that was not pasta. And that's a big deal for us.

This post was made possible by Me-ma's german roots, Grandma Lennie's cookbook, my mother's endless hours of cooking, Sheila and Chris R.'s weeks of babysitting, and the south's general destruction of the great dish that is potato salad.