Thursday, August 17th, Dresden, Germany

Greetings!

Today was a traveling day from Berlin to Dresden.  A couple of hours along the way, we stopped at Wittenberg, the hometown of Martin Luther.  On Halloween, his trick was to nail 95 complaints against a castle church door a short walk from his monastery residence. Challenging among other things the indulgences being given to rich families for dead ancestors, Luther proposed an academic discussion of the efficacy of these practices.

During the remainder of the day, we experienced the adventures of the challenged.  Many of the routes across Germany were closed, and our re-routing proved confusing.  I felt very much like we were driving in circles, and we were in someone else's nightmare.

The highlight of the day was our lunch at a mountain restaurant overlooking the Elbe Valley, in Saxony.  Just before our Dresden road trip got frustrating, I'll remember the vanilla ice cream/strawberry sorbet  desert as the perfect calm before the storm.  

To see the few other photos we took today, click on Thursday, August 17th, Dresden, Germany.

Wednesday, August 16th, Berlin, Germany

 

Greetings!

It took us two days to see the collections we came to see in what is locally called. "Museum Island".  We thought we had tickets to the suite of museums, and a scheduled all-day entry to the most popular "Pergamom Museum" for yesterday.  For serious museum visitors, I can only say that you ought to re-examine your stamina if your goals are to see them all in one day.  

The Neues Museum and the Pergamom sell selected two-hour time tickets, and both are  full of  exhaustingly complex multi-lingual written and audio guide information.  The good news is that there is an excellent cafe in the Neues Museum, and it can make a long day easier.  The only other advice we have to offer is to be sure to bring a Euro to utilize the key-secured locker.  The coin is returned to you upon retrieval, but you're out of luck if you don't have one at the start.

Why is this museum complex important to visit?  For the last one hundred and fifty years, historians and societies of explorers have searched the world for the answers to what came before.  Acquiring and assembling the pieces of life, these museums help us know the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful of the lives of generations of humans all over the planet.  For us, these rooms contain much of the treasures which were dug up at places we have visited in our travels.  I have heard many times "the best stuff from here was taken by the Germans, and is in the Berlin Museum".  Today, we got to see what was taken, and it certainly enriched our previous travels.

To see all of the photos we took in three of the Berlin Island of Museums, click on Wednesday, August 16th, Berlin, Germany.

Monday, August 14th, Berlin, Germany

After a hotel breakfast, our guide (William) took us on a short walk through our neighborhood. Becoming street-smart in a strange place, understanding its nature, and how to read beyond its map, is much of what a guide brings to the travel experience.  William's Berlin is based on watching it evolve from before the wall came down, through migration into the areas just outside of downtown, to the enormously dispersed expanse it has become.

Pat and I then went on a three-hour cruise on the Stree, a river/canal system which crosses downtown.  Listening to a narration describing the origin of the buildings on either side of the boat, the changes to East and West Germany became clearer to us.  There are conversions of older governmental architecture which previously housed soldiers, bureaucrats, and essential resources.  Interspersed are artistic colonies which must have helped nurture the freedom which seized the days.  Finally, modern skyscrapers cater to new visitors eager to claim the atmosphere.

Joining up with our group in the late afternoon, William led us into an area south east of downtown where an influx of what he described as the third largest Turkish population in the world settled once the wall came down.  Kebabs appeared, and graffiti flourished, and the pace of life slowed.  It became a bit easier to navigate those in bikes, consisting more of locals then tourist-rentals and food distributors.

Finding a restaurant/bar which was opening, and had enough outside seats to accommodate our group, we stopped for a spritzer and conversation.  Sharing our backgrounds, and comparing our travel histories, is required to enrich our time together for the next three weeks.  William will navigate our return by train to the hotel, and some will go out to dinner around 7pm.  As for Pat and I, it's been an exhausting day after too little sleep last night.  We'll return to the hotel to try to reclaim some quiet time, and to contemplate what our first day together has brought.

To see the photos taken today, click on Monday, August 14th, Berlin, Germany.

 

Sunday, August 13th, Berlin, Germany

Greetings!

Today, we're flying to Berlin for a seven-week adventure through seven countries between there and the Black Sea.  Mostly multi-day stays in excellent hotels.  It's two  back to back "Jewels of Bohemia" and "Bulgaria and Romania" Overseas Adventures Travels" tours.  Fourteen travelers on the first half, fifteen on the second half, and we're the only ones that overlap.  All from the U.S., ten other Californians.  

After a long couple of flights, we check into the Eurostar Berlin, and unpack and try not to sleep too much.  Skipping dinner, Pat goes to bed about midnight, and I go out.  The main train station is across the street, with the most popular McDonald's inside.  After a chickenburger and a small coke, I take the City Evening Walking Tour of the river.  

To see all of the photos that resulted, click on Midnight, August 13th, Berlin, Germany.