TRAVEL NOTES::DAY 3 | A RAINY WEDNESDAY FARMER'S MARKET

We were awake early enough and walked to another bakery for this morning's brötchen. One with real croissants and non-airy bread. One merely a block away. Saffron approved of the croissant, preferring it to the one from yesterday morning's breakfast. Initially, she had me split the croissant between us, and then asked for the other half. She offered me a taste and I could see why she liked it as it was flaky and buttery and soft.

After breakfast, we boarded the U-Bahn and rode the three stations to the farmer's market. Seeing how the rain still was not letting up, we perused the books at Hugendubel for 20 minutes in hopes the rain would subside. It didn't. But we wanted to return home as soon as possible and enjoy the rain from the warm flat so we walked to the market in the rain.

"Are we going home now?" Saffron asked ten minutes into the shopping. We made our way around the market twice before heading home. The Wednesday farmer's market is smaller than the one on Saturdays, but we needed only a handful of items today.

The most important item was the quail eggs. Or as I call them "baby eggs". Every time I come to Berlin, I make sure to buy them. At the market on Karl-August-Platz there are two vendors selling quail eggs. One sells a dozen for € 2,20, while the other vendor sells 18 eggs for € 3. I opted for the 18 eggs.

We needed onions, garlic, and fresh thyme for tonight's lentil soup. And a few potatoes for another night. Cooking whilst traveling brings into perspective how much food we actually need and how much we end up throwing away as a result of purchasing too much.

A 500g bag of Pardina lentils doesn't look like a lot. I used up 100g of the lentils and ended up with a pot full of soup for at least two dinners for two people. We also bought two Gala apples and had one for dinner along with the lentil and rice soup. I told Saffron these were the best Gala apples I've ever tasted, as these are the variety we purchase back home.

We left the market and walked the short distant to Kardstadt where Saffron wanted to buy a bead set with her own money. I was across the aisle from her eyeing the candy section. It was difficult to resist buying more German chocolates - marzipan nougat and marzipan kartoffeln this time. After a final stop at Lidner's bakery for two brötchen for lunch sandwiches, we were finally home.

The first thing Saffron did was open the bead set and make a bracelet for me. She wanted it to say "LOVE YOU MAMA", but realised there were no "y" letters for some reason. She improvised nicely despite the setback.

Saffron saw how I put her bracelet on the window sill to photograph it with more light. So, she grabbed her (my old) iPhone and did the same.

She then asked if we could take a nap as she was tired from walking around in the rain. We ended up taking a three-hour long nap. I woke up before my daughter and admired how she slept so peacefully.

As soon as Saffron was awake, we had a late lunch. She then worked on her math lessons but forgot her eraser at Oma's. Tomorrow will be a trip to the store for a new eraser so she can do more lessons from her book.

Whilst I made lentil soup, I let Saffron watch some cartoons in German. I also asked her for the third time if she really is opposed to taking the train ride to Prague. I have tried convincing her to want to go, but she keeps refusing. When I ask for a reason, she gives me two.

One reason is she simply wants to be in an apartment so we can cook and bake. The other reason is a language one. She knows only three languages (four if you count the Spanish she learned in school), and Czech is not one of them. Valid reasons and I admire her for stating her wishes so clearly. Therefore, I now need to find another flat to rent for the remaining five nights. The one next to Oma is still available ("The Dungeon"), so it might be the one we rent.

The other item I purchased at Kardstadt was a bottle of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo wine I found for € 4,99 . Wine in Europe is affordable when compared with the prices we pay in the States. A similar bottle would have cost three times as much back home.

The rain was a nice change today. Much nicer was our being able to admire it from inside of a warm flat. I only hope it is raining back home so my plants will be watered as I was unable to fix the corrosion on the irrigation timer before I left. It broke down during my last trip and another purchase simply wasn't worthwhile. But I won't be too heartbroken if the plants don't survive. Having the freedom to travel and spend time with my daughter once again is what is truly worthwhile.