Walls in Germany

So, this weekend we picked two more places from the book of 111 Places in Berlin That You Shouldn't Miss. Neither of them was amazing, but we did find a cool spot!  The first place we headed to was Berliner Balkon, "a balcony on the edge of the city." This was true. It is a big, open field that is probably covered in wildflowers during the summer, but when we were there, it was covered with birds looking for food! We walked around a bit, took the required photo and moved on to the second place on our list. The Spreepark was supposedly once the biggest fun park in the GDR. Since 2001, it has been abandoned and in the book, you see pictures of the old ferris wheel. We found it without much problem, after parking and walking a bit. Unfortunately, we could not access the actual park. It is only open certain hours to people who participate in guided tours. You have to book the tour online at least 24 hours in advance so we plan to do so another weekend. We decided to walk arou...

We had our first visitors in Berlin! This honor was bestowed upon Kimber Bougan and Brian Hendricks who joined us for a few days after a work week in London and then stops in Brussels, Brugge and Amsterdam. Kimber is a foodie so we knew she would like it here! And she was not disappointed.  I had to work during the days so they explored Berlin with Bucky. They visited Brandenburg Gate, the Berlin Wall Memorial and Tiergarten where they stopped for a well deserved beer. Among our dining experiences, we had drinks at Madre , lunch at Datscha and dinner at Hangmee Exotiq Finest Asian Food and Il Moro . Not a bad one in the bunch. Thanks to Kimber and Brian for coming to visit us in Berlin! We loved having you!! You are welcome again anytime! Brian and Kimber! 

 After our emotional visit to Sachsenhausen, we decided to find a few other places from our cool book from the Mall of Berlin. We found a number of sites in the area of Pankow so we headed there. First, was a stop at the abandoned Iraqi Embassy. The book said that you could still wander through the place, but it was published in 2019 so we didn't expect that people could still enter willy nilly. We were right as it was boarded up and padlocked shut. We took pictures to prove we were there.  Then, we walked to Majakowskiring which is where the East German political elite used to live. It is a beautiful neighborhood of tree lined cobblestone streets and big old homes, some of which are empty and locked up, but many are lived in by families. On some of the houses are plaques noting the people who once lived there.  Our final stop on our tour of interesting sites for the day was Kinderbauernhof Pinke-Panke , a funky, family friendly petting zoo and play area in a beautiful pa...

Yesterday, Bucky and I had a sobering experience visiting Sachsenhausen , a concentration camp about 50 minutes north of where we live. I was surprised to see  a neighborhood right outside the camps doors, with lovely homes, playgrounds and schools. It just seemed so odd compared to what was beyond the walls, but I learned that the neighborhood has been there since even before the camp was built.  We opted for the audio tour (only 7 Euros for two devices and a map) which was a smart move. The camp is HUGE and it took hours for us to walk through it. The audio tour shared details with us about the buildings and spaces, but also the experiences of the prisoners. It was moving and quite overwhelming. I would love to write more about the experience but I will not do it justice. The entrance The original wall around the camp The gate into the main part of the camp Looking out as a guard would have A memorial

Bucky received a text from his dear friend, Jerome Kilkenny (who lives in Dublin), that he was in Portugal, outside of Lisbon, for a couple of weeks. He asked if he wanted to come for a visit. Bucky and I both agreed that life is short and he should do it! So, he spent most of last week, enjoying the beach, good food, lots of beer and great company with Jerome.  Bucky may add to this blog at a later date, but for the meantime, I just wanted to get it documented and share the pictures below. Good friends are a blessing. Bucky and Jerome Enjoying the beach Cheers to sunset Bucky at Berlengas 

Last weekend, Bucky and I checked out the Mall of Berlin which is a huge, beautiful shopping center near Potsdamer Platz. While wandering around, we discovered an English bookshop where we purchased 111 Places in Berlin That You Shouldn't Miss by Lucia Jay Von Seldeneck . It gives you suggestions of off the beaten path places to visit. So, of course, the following day, we decided to find one such place. We went to Alt Lubars which is a farm town within the Berlin city limits. The streets are cobblestone, the houses are quaint and the farms are lovely. Parking is a challenge, but we found a place along the road and walked into the town. There was a market ongoing in the simple town square where we grabbed a coffee and walked leisurely around, gazing at the old homes, checking out the farms and testing the walking paths. It was a nice break from city life and we will certainly go back to explore the area more.  Here is the book Obligatory selfie Some sort of hut The School House Lov...