Hope everyone is well in the States. We continue to get used to Weisbaden and are becoming more acclamated to how things work here. We are learning new things every day and finding our way to different interesting restaurants and bars.
On Valentine's Day, we walked into town and had drinks at an Irish Pub. We then went to a restaurant and had a very nice, very traditional German dinner. We then went back to the pub to finish the night out. After all that, we walked home. (Walking is safer than driving when you want to have a drink. German's are very strict about driving while drinking. First offense, 5 years in prison.)
On the following Saturday, we decided to go and look at some of the Antique shops in the area (Sterling's idea). The first place we visited, was very impressive but vey very expensive. The pieces were very old, dating back to the 1800's and very beautiful but started at a minumun of 12,000 Euro's. (almost 17,000 dollars in U.S.) The collection catered to the rich but we did a whole lot of dreaming and drooling.
The next place we visited was not so expensive and more of what I would call an Antique Store. The pieces also weren't as old or rare. We found a very beautiful, traditional German China Hutch that had been restored by the owner of the shop. It was more like 2500 Euros. (3500.00 US). This was much more what we were thinking but we decided that even that was a little big for our needs. No matter. We will figure it out eventually.
On Sunday, we rested as what is traditional in Germany. Many of the shops are closed and there really isn't much to do.
Since Monday was a holiday in the U.S., and Sterling has those off, we decided to take a drive. We went and followed the route on the Rhine River and were able to see (albeit from a distance) some of the old castles that line the highway. They were beautiful and you could just imagine the history that they held.
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| Rhein Castle
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| Another Beautiful Site on the Rhein |
This was the first in a series of observer tours that I will be taking to train with the U.S.O. Sterling came along for the ride and we both had a really fun adventure.
It started out when we met our U.S.O. Tour Guide at the pick up point for the bus, with the other 20 people that were taking the tour with us. Time we ventured out was 1:15 AM on Saturday Morning so we atttempted to take naps Friday evening. The reason it started so early was so that we could get to Berlin, which is about 6-7 hours away, in time to have the whole day for the tour. It was an interesting trip there and nothing very eventful happened. Having said that, the trick for these long trips, will be learning how to sleep, sitting upright, on the bus. ARGH!!! (The only part of the trip that was not favorable to me because I am not a sleeper in moving vehicles).
The bus was fairly comfortable in a plane like way. Seats were close together but you had controls of your lights and venting so that helped. Also, because Germany is very strict with its driving rules, we had two drivers for the bus. They would take turns and that way, we were able to drive straight in without stopping and neither would get over tired.
We stopped at a rest stop about an hour away from Berlin and had breakfast and were able to stretch a bit. Then off for the final leg of our journey to Berlin.
Once we arrived in Berlin proper, we parked the bus and met our local tour guide that was going to be taking us around.
The Tour Guide was an ex pat from England, a historian and someone who has been living and studying Berlin and Germany for the last twenty years. He was very interesting to listen to and extremely knowledgable of the history, especially the Hitler era and all that now makes up Berlin.
We started the tour by seeing and hearing the history on the Brandenburg Gate. This is the formal symbol that divided East and West Berlin but it still standing in all it's glory. It is now the new symbol of the unity and peace between the two sides. Looking at it really closely, you can still see the bullet holes that are there from the former fighting. It stands about 50 feet in the air and makes you feel really small when you are close to it. It is very beautiful to see, especially now in times of peace.
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| Brandenburg Gate |
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| Jewish Monument Park |
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Our next point of interest was the site were Hitler was buried. It is front of a big building that is being used as apartments and offices. There is a reader board over the site that explains the history and where exactly Hitler is. The guide told us that when his body was found here, it was confirmed not only from the dental records but from the skull that was found. There can be no mistaken that this was Hitler. And that is our Guide Nick, telling us all about it.
We then moved onto what is left of the Great Wall and the SS Momument that housed the Guistapo in the day. There is also a memorial to the wall that is laid out on the payment.
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| SS Memorial |
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| What is Left of the Berlin Wall |
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| Memorial to the Wall |
We finished our tour by visiting Checkpoint Charlie and hearing all there was about it. Checkpoint Charlie was the border point between the Soviets and the Americans. The only thing left standing here any more is a museum that houses its history. We did not have time to venture in nor did we take pictures but it was interesting to see and note that battles that raged at one time here.
Once our tour guide completed his tour, we were allowed to explore Berlin on our own. We went to a restaurant for lunch and of course, had to taste the beer that was there. Then we ventured off to the Alte NationalGalerie. This is an art gallery featuring paintings and sculptures from the 19th Century. Featured Artists were Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir (just to name a couple). The art inside this building is incredible. It is very interesting to me to note that for the time, the paintings were so beautiful and detailed. There were several that I wanted to take home with me. Can you imagine the time and effort it took to mix the colors, paint the images and all that goes with it? Not like our time at all. This is the outside of the building that the art museum is in.
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| Alte Nationalgalerie |
This is the Parliment Building was one of the structures that I could not take my eyes off of. It is so beautiful. It has been restored to the beauty that you see here and is one of the most impressive sites to see in Berlin. You can climb up and actually look out over the city from the Dome part of the building.
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| Parliament Building or the Reichstag |
We closed out the day by rejoining our group at the bus site and headed back home. This again was another long trip and we returned @ about 2:00 Sunday Morning.
Berlin to me was not what I expected. It is very much a vibrant city and has alot of shops, museums and interesting places to visit. Parts of it are under construction and I would imagine, the next time we visit, we will be able to see some of the completions of these areas. I also want to do some more exploring in the museums and some of the fine shops that are available.
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