Berlin in December

We have been wanting to visit Berlin since arriving in Germany almost 2 years ago.  We finally had an excuse - yes, we booked tickets to the Red Hot Chili Peppers concert in Berlin.  The city is full of history and great museums.  The weather was cold and rainy in early December, so museums were a perfect break from the cold.  Checkpoint Charlie museum was really interesting - it charted the history of the Berlin Wall around east Berlin built in 1961 by the Soviet Union since it controlled East Germany after the war.  It was the only wall in history ever built to keep people IN.  There are unbelievable stories of attempts to escape by digging under or flying over the wall all the way up to 1989 when it fell.  All of the attempts done with meager tools or handmade contraptions. 

Another museum we visited was the Jewish Museum that charted the history of the Jews in Germany.  It's an architectural wonder and full of really interesting history.  There's a timeline written on the wall that shows as early as the 1890s, people were talking about "eliminating the Jewish problem."  It's no wonder Hitler's sick vision came to be so widely accepted.  We also visited the Berliner Unterwelten - an underground walk through an air raid shelter, still completely intact next to an underground train station.  It gives you a better understanding of what regular families had to do everytime there was an allied bombing in Berlin. 

After all this gloomy history, we picked up our spirits by visiting one of many Christmas Markets in Berlin.  These markets are more like Festivals, with beautifully made huts selling German-made products, a Ferris Wheel, skating rink, and of course, the drink of choice - Gluhwein.  This is like a warm, mulled wine flavored by rum or amaretto too.  Of course they also do the same to bier as well.  We tried them all of course.

Portion of the wall still standing near Checkpoint Charlie.  They have built a fence in front to keep people from chipping off their own souvenirs.

Checkpoint Charlie where those coming into West Berlin were checked by American soldiers.  During the cold war, this was a very tense location.

Just above the word "Haus" is the window perch where journalists were allowed to watch the goings-on at the wall near Checkpoint Charlie.  Many of these photojournalists were sending pictures to the US for spying purposes.  The building to the left is new since the wall came down.  Just 50 feet to the left is where the wall stood.

One of the gathering spaces in the Unterwelt - underground air raid shelter.  Easy to imagine going stir crazy down here when the raids lasted many days. 

The front of the Jewish Museum which is next to an ultra-modern connected building.

Entering a Christmas Market near Alexanderplatz in former East Berlin.

We have our Gluhwein and ready to walk the market.

A view from inside the enclosed cabin on a huge Ferris Wheel a the market.

Another view as we hovered at the very top of the Ferris Wheel.  They built a skating rink around what is usually a fountain in the middle of Alexanderplatz. 

Pete had to try the Gluhbier - warm, cherry-flavored beer - not bad on a cold night.  Just behind this was a bier garten complete with tables and heaters.  It doesn't get any better. 

A daytime visit to one final Christmas Market - this one is considered the best in Berlin.  All the huts match and there are full restaurants under tents in this square.  We opted for a Bratwurst instead. 

Me and my friend the Berlin Bear wishing you a Merry Christmas!
Tschus!

Red Hot Chili Peppers in Frankfurt

We had the good fortune of finding tickets to the sold out Red Hot Chili Peppers show in Frankfurt on October 21, 2011.  It was held at the beautiful Festhalle under a glass atrium.  All seats were open so we ended up on the 2nd level behind the chairs - great view and room to dance! 

RHCP put on a great show.  We made new friends with the German fans around us.  For many songs, you heard a giant German singalong in English - very interesting.  We had such a great time, we are considering traveling to Berlin to see them.  OK, we're groupies. 

Mary with cheaters, checking out the new guitarist - Josh.

Video show during Californication...very trippy and weird.

Mary found new friends - 2 German brothers who knew all the words.

A view from our perch up in the balcony.

The Alsace Region of France

The Alsace Region is on the easternmost edge of France bordering Germany.  Pete found out he has relatives in the region.  We had already visited Strasbourg in this area but had been hearing good things about Colmar - about 40 miles south. Our friends Chris and Sue (expats from Detroit) were interested in taking a weekend trip, so we set out for the Alsace.  On our way to Colmar, we found a few small towns that, as Rick Steve's says, are "crackerjack villages."  This region is known for... what else, it's wine... and it's the perfect blend of German and French.  That's saying a lot since mostly, these 2 countries don't get along very well.  The Alsace region is bordered by the Rhine River on the East and the Vosges mountains on the West. 

We came in along the Route du Vin, a 90 miles-long 2-lane highway that connects old villages and fortresses with vineyards that have produced wines since the Roman days.  Roadside vineyards provide wine-tasting of all 7 Alsatian wines from dry to sweet.  We chose a nice cave in Riquewihr, just north of Colmar.  We discovered the affordable sport of wine-tasting (free!) resulting in a purchase of $8 bottles of wine.  Every town has half-timbered buildings and small, winding streets through the market.  It's almost picture perfect!

One of many castles guarding vineyards on the "Route du Vin"

Fall colors in Riquewihr

Classic half-timbered house with window planters draped with flowers

We didn't get too far before finding a great wine cave and chose Pinot Blanc as our favorite

By the time we entered Colmar, we had a great sense of the area from the small towns nearby.  Historic beauty actually saved this area from WWII bombing.  The British and American military realized the history and beauty of these villages and spared them from destruction.  Colmar is the largest city in the area with only 70,000 people.  It's French and it's German...antique shops, croissants, Tarte Flammbe and horse-drawn carriages all make up the old town. 

This was once a walled village in Medieval times.  There is an area called "La Petite Venise" where we took a short boat ride through the canals.  Pete found no obvious relatives here but many friendly people giving him hope for his lineage.   In fact, the creator of our Statue of Liberty is originally from Colmar.  Frederic Bartholdi has a museum and many of his fountains are found throughout the city. 

This place is called "House of Heads" for obvious reasons... creepy.  Wonder what happens here on Halloween?

Part of La Petite Venise

House of Heads

Another beautiful street in Colmar

Chris and Sue with us before our canal journey

Mary and Sue mingling wiht the locals on a side street in Colmar

Traveling under an old stone bridge on our tiny boat/canoe

A view of La Petite Venise from the canal

 

At Dusk, a typical sign in front of local shops

Enjoying the sun and view of the canals



Kaysersberg near Colmar with remnants of the wall and a rushing river coming from the Vosges Mountains



More beautiful flowers in Kaysersberg

Another small village, Ribeauville, with its classic city square... and every sunny table already taken

A great view of the castle just beyond Ribeauville, standing guard

It was hard to leave this beautiful area... A bientot ! (See you later!)

Sardinia Holiday

We had a free weekend coming up and it was my birthday, so we checked out RyanAir for available destinations.  RyanAir is a cheap European airline that only goes to certain locations - usually vacation destinations.  We looked up Venice, then Barcelona, but we had a tough time finding hotels.  Then we remembered a friend telling us to check out Sardinia - the larger island off the west coast of Italy.  It is the 2nd largest island in the Mediterranean, just smaller than Sicily.  We found a cheap flight and a nice hotel by the beach so we went for it.

We landed in Alghero on the northwest coast of Sardinia.  We decided it's kind of a cross between Spain, Mexico, and the Florida Keys - sorta of funky beachy ambience.  Since it's directly across from Barcelona, Spain, it has a Spanish flavor and has come to be known as "Barcelonetta."  The town was built in the 14th  century with a complete wall, ramparts and towers surrounding the old town to keep out the riff raff.  The native language is a version of Catalan, not Italian. 

In the old town area, many of the shops have grotto-like walls and ceilings (check out one of the pictures).  Coral is the main local product, harvested just off the coast in the Med Sea.  You see it everywhere in town.  This was a different type of vacation for us.... no car and no real desire to go much further than we could walk.  And with a pool, a really nice beach, great weather (85 and sunny everyday for 4 days), we just "hung out."  We walked into town in the morning, then returned to the hotel and sat by the pool and read, then sat on beach while Pete swam in the salty Mediterranean.  After watching sunset, we found a different restaurant every evening.  The food was typical Med - a mixture of seafood and Italian. 

Part of the wall surrounding the old town of Alghero



Mary's new boyfriend, Jack Sparrow.



Pete's new girlfriend, Piratress Penelope



Many of the rooftops have this Spanish tile thing going on.



Looking Northwest towards Spain - I think this looks like a Cezanne painting.

Speaking of painting, these wonderful women all gathered here to paint the seaside.

One of the 5 towers along the old wall - check the gap in the wall for a modern road out of the city.

This is a typical interior of the local shops - an arched stone ceiling.

A view off the outer wall along a bay.

A final sunset... Ciao!

Another Weekend, Another Neighbor...

One week after our former neighbors visited us, our current neighbors, Tim and Mary Harvey from Brookings SD, came for a visit.  It seems this year our Fall has been our Summer and the weekend was beautiful.  We began where we usually begin, on a trek into the market for beer and Flammkuchen at the Ratskeller.  It was the weekend of yet another festival in town - Stadtfest (Cityfest).  All through town, every square or plaza had a band playing.  We ended up at our local Tapas restaurant - Los Tios - for beer, wine and small plates.  In front of us on the square was a local band playing salsa with a german twist.  There always seems to be an oom pah pah somewhere in the sound. 

After dinner, the girls headed for home while Pete and Tim walked through town visiting the various stages.  At one corner, they saw our favorite local musician - Mark Gillespie - who sold the boys a few CDs.  They ended up at our usual headquarters - Irish Pub.  After listening to more live music in the pub, Pete and Tim wandered past another music stage where a guy from the audience was singing "Sweet Home Alabama" while seated, like he does this everyday. 

After a good rest, on Sunday our group headed for the Rhine river valley to have a real picnic lunch at our new favorite vineyard - Schloss Johannisberg.  It was a gorgeous day and perfect weather for sitting on the hillside overlooking the Rhine.

Our next adventure was to drive through Champagne region of France on our way to Paris.  We stopped in Epernay, home of Dom Perignon at Moet Chandon - the mother of all Champagnes.  Although we visited Mercier who produces the self-proclaimed "most popular Champagne in France."  After another al fresco lunch, we headed into the dreaded traffic of Paris. 

Once again, Pete pulled through and got us to our hotel in one piece.  We checked in and hit the road since we still had daylight in Paris.  First stop was the Eiffel tower which we arrived at just in time for the light show.  We stopped at a local cafe for dinner and then found our way back to our hotel.  Next day, we decided to spend some time at Musee D'Orsay, home of many French impressionist paintings.  Notre Dame was next on the list and a stroll through the left bank streets and shops. 

Unfortunately, we only had one night in Paris, so we parted ways later that day.  Harvey's went to Brugge, Belgium via Brussels.  We headed back home to Wiesbaden.  Ready for more adventures with friends. 
Tschus!

Schloss Vollrads winery above the Rhine

Perfect day for a Picnic with the Rhine in the distance

The two Merry Mary's on the grounds of Schloss Johannisberg



RIP: another bottle of Champagne



Made it just in time for the light show

Twilight in front of Notre Dame

Notre Dame tourists



Perfect architecture:  looking through the monument from the Louvre to the obelisk at Place de la Concorde and on to the Arc de Triomphe



Mary and Tim overlooking the Seine



The legendary Johannisberg Noble Rot grapes on the vine



Never get tired of this picture location