Some time in the beginning of the year the husband and I discussed our standing appointment Friday night at 7.30pm. Every week it reminds us of date night. For years. And we haven’t really done it for almost all the years it’s in the calendar. So the husband suggested we cancel that as it does stress him out because he newer finishes work and feels guilty for not being there. And I was ok because we never really done anything besides dinner and a movie – at home. Which we do all the time anyways. Instead we decided to do a monthly date day. A day we get out of the house and do some sort of adventure in or around Berlin.
March 16th was the first of these dates. The husband was in charge (we are taking turns). I decided I wanted to be surprised so I had no idea where we were heading. I knew we headed into city center but not much more.
Futurium – the house of futures
This is a place dedicated to the future of things. People, cities, societies, technology, medicine… what ever you can think of. And it is free – no ticket and money to be spend. I’ve always wanted to go there. Back in 2019 when it opened I was there to take images for my 100 day project because the ground is covered in dots. Really great photo spot. But I never went inside.
So this was our first spot. We spend about two hours inside. It was well visited so more people than I am used to (which is easy to beat…). I enjoyed the urban city planning exhibition with houses made of bamboo, green and self sufficient sky scrapers, underground spaces and such.
After that we went to the digital and AI part. Here you could read a lot and do interactive surveys with different and alternative outcomes, watch robots in action and decode DNA in order to treat certain diseases. Very interesting but I was already overwhelmed. The lasers and blinking lights didn’t help much and I had a migraine creeping up. Unfortunately. But I sat down for a while and stared at a black wall to reset my brain. It helped.
Around 5.30 the husband urged us to leave as we had dinner plans. I had the option between a food market or a burger place. I opted for the food market. Here the husband got burgers and I had a falafel plate with lots of veggies. It was delicious. Would order again. Here I learned that next up was a movie.
I would have been fine with going home too but a movie was also a great thing. We drove to the place, got some popcorn and drinks and headed to the theater. As advertising people we are always always there to see the ads. And we usually have a game guessing which brand it’s for. But ads have changed and now the brand is immediately mentioned or plastered on the screen. Back in the day it was usually just shown at the end and sometimes never. It was much more subtil with color shading or font. Anyways… it is still fun to watch cinema ads.
What better movie to watch for our date day than a cheesy rom-com. That is what the husband picked (also because everything else was already sold out or not our type of movie). We watched “Anyone but You “. It was a cute little movie that was entertaining and gave us some laughs. And it was set in Australia. So good.
Afterwards we took a short stroll around the block and then we headed home. I was ready for bed as soon as we opened the front door. And I was a sleep minutes later (only a bit of exaggeration…).
So for April it is my turn to plan our date day. I’ve already made plans for June (horse racing!!!) but I need to come up with something for April. Do you have a fun idea? What are you usually doing? Are you doing date nights or date days? What is the best date you ever went on? What was the worst? Do you remember the first date with your significant other?
12 comments
I LOVE this, Tobia. Love it. We do “date nights” most weekend nights, but rarely do a whole day. Admittedly, this can be tricky to sort out with the kids around, but I want to aim to do at least one date day in 2024! Sounds like a wonderful day/evening.
Thank you so much Elisabeth. Yes, I can see that it is more difficult to do with kids around. I am glad we decided to do a special day in a month. Spending time together and spending time together can be two different things. I am not sure what April will look like. I have a vague idea but I know I like it more than he will.
We used to do date nights, but honestly I’m too exhausted during the week and our weekends are so packed. Maybe we should be better about prioritizing our relationship, though. Thanks for the food for thought.
I think if it works for you the way it is fine. It has been fine for us for years but right now we want to make different memories. Let’s see how many months we continue before we get cozy and boring again.
If you do your own date days let me know. Maybe I can borrow your ideas.
Your date sounds fun and interesting! It’s nice that you take turns planning the events. I don’t have any good advice for you, as my husband and I both love to spend our time relaxing at home whenever we can. We get fun snacks and watch a movie on TV. I’ll rub his back and he’ll rub my feet. The perfect date!
You date sounds so good too. Oh and a foot rub would be fun.
I love just hanging out too. But since I am always home (working from home) I feel life passes me by and that is why we came up with getting into town a bit more.
My dad and stepmom used to do these surprise dates, where one person would plan it and the other person didn’t know. They would take turns. I don’t know if it was monthly or quarterly, but they both really enjoyed it. Sometimes it would be a big thing, like a concert or performance of some sort, sometimes something quirky, sometimes a museum, sometimes low key. A couple of times it was an overnight or weekend. They did of course tell each other if any sort of practical clothing choices were needed.
I’m not a big falafel fan, but that bowl looks AMAZING and I probably would not have ordered it sight unseen, but then when yours came out I would have serious menu regret and WISH I had ordered it.
Haha serious menu regret. I know the feeling. Well these bowls were lined up at the counter so you might have had a chance.
It sounds really lovely what your dad and step mom did for there secret date days. I hadn’t thought about overnight but that’s a great idea too.
Well for now I need a low budget option for April.
These date days are such a good idea. My husband and I just go to something if it catches our interest. Once I have done my marathon, I’d like to do a bit more day hiking on his days off.
That is how we used to handle it but then laziness took over and we rarely went and did something even though we could. I am sure there will be a time when we are not doing the date days but for now I am hoping to fill every month of 2024 with them.
When is your marathon? And day hiking after sounds like a nice way to spend time.
If it makes you feel better, I don’t think we ever had an official date night.. haha… but I love that you’re trying to get out once a month to do something special.
I think we had a half official date and went to lunch in a diner close to work but far away that no one saw us. After that I can not remember…
I like that we are taking the time to do something special and set a day. It’s fun to have some anticipation.