UMTravels

Such a joy to be met at the airport overseas. It rarely happens, but Horst had a car for the week, and he wanted to see the new, much delayed, airport. THANKS!

Horst is lending me his “spare” apartment for the week:

After throwing my stuff down, we (Horst, Ollie, Myself) headed out for Vietnamese food at Cocochu, a few blocks away…I got the duck, and there was PLENTY for leftovers:

What a wonderful way to be welcomed to town.

Needless to say, I slept well!

With a fully stocked kitchen, breakfast was a breeze, and lunch was around the corner at a Shawarma place:

Again, more food than I needed, but got doggy bags for both last night’s Vietnamese and today’s lunch (I sense tomorrow’s breakfast).

On the way to the car, passed this place which I didn’t get around to poking my head in, but Horst claims it has an extensive whiskey selection:

And off on the driving tour we go!

Brandenburg Gate. Check.

And from the other side:

And a pointy memorial:

And a pointy memorial (Victory Column, Prussian war, not the Nazis) coming out of my head:

And the famous Tiergarten public toilet made famous in the 1980 movie, Taxi Zum Klo (Taxi To The Toilet) where the main character is released from the hospital and the first thing he does is go to the cruising toilet.

And a stroll through the park:

To a beer garden by a lake:

And a couple of nice cars in the car park:

Talk about both ends of the dollar spectrum!

On the way home we swung by parts of the old wall:

My first trip to Berlin was in 1989 before the wall came down, and went through Checkpoint Charlie:

Just A LITTLE redevelopment of the area, complete with a Checkpoint Charlie McDonalds. WHY would they ever have permitted that!

Back at home it’s time to feed the Tree Frogs that Horst breeds –they are endangered, and he raises them from tadpoles and releases them once a year through a non-profit. Takes a lot of bugs and leaves to keep those little guys happy.

Couldn’t really get a picture of the frogs with the netting in place, but there were lots.

Tonight’s meal was a homemade sauerkraut soup – with lots of sausage. Yum.

First full day in the books.

Tomorrow we are off to Potsdam.

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