We had a really nice morning, we left the house early so our cleaning lady Marjana could get on with the cleaning (Yep we have a cleaner). I walked Leo in the pushchair down Kastanienallee, today was nice and sunny with a nip of Autumn in the air. I sat outside cafe Napoljonska and had a leisurely breakfast reading the news. Glorious.
After a bit of playing around at home, practicing some of the music maker songs, I gave Leo his lunch, much the same served as yesterday.
I had contacted Lisa (new Mum friend) to see if she around for a coffee but not heard anything from her, so we had no plans. I reaslised we were both getting a bit grumpy and decided we had to go out.
I had received a really nice gift from my partner when I started parental leave, a Museums Jahreskarte (Annual museum pass) which gets me free entry into the state museums in Berlin. Its reasonably inexpensive, if you go to 4 or 5 museums in a year you break even. Plus, going to a museum with Leo is fun but he has a limited attention span, €12 is a lot for a 20 minute visit.
This is the first use of the card and I needed to collect it from the Altes Museum. I took the pushchair which was an error. The main entrance to the museum is up some grand steps at the front. The entrance for anyone in a chair is round the corner, through a pretty much unmarked door which takes you into the belly of the museum. Once you work out which door to use, you are greeted by a security guard, who calls another security guard, who guides you through a labyrinth of bland corridors to an industrial looking lift that eventually brings you out at the main entrance. Not the impressive first impression of the museum one is used to through the front. It was a little eye opener to what life might be like if you were accessing a public space in a wheel chair.
Once inside the staff were great and adored Leo. I'm starting to get used to people making little comments. Meant well but still misguided, the lady behind the desk said "How nice, a walk with dad". I nearly answered "Yep, a nice five month walk with Dad".
We walked through the museums collection of classical antiquities. Its interesting to see him interact in new environments and see new things. He really wanted to play with a couple of small gold animals inside a case and didn't understand why I wouldn't let him. The things he found most entertaining were the Roman busts, especially Woman with Curly Toupee. Which he looked at and laughed out load. To be fair to him, she is funny looking.