Return trip to Berlin, Germany

Berlin, Germany is a tourist mecca. There is so much to see and do that you can return again and again and still discover new things about the city.

My favorite way to get re-acquainted with Berlin is to start with the City Circle Hop on Hop off sightseeing bus. Since 2008, they've expanded the route to include the East Side Gallery. While there are other Hop on Hop off (HOPO)options in Berlin, I think City Circle is the only one to head over to the East Side Gallery. The HOPO tours range in price from 15-20 Euro for a 1.5 - 2 hour route. City Circle is 20 Euro for 2 hours and is good for 24 hours. You can cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time by using the HOPO, just hop off at your favorite site, explore, then hop back on. Another bus is just around the corner, as they are scheduled every 15 minutes!

Some of my favorite spots are:

Schloss Charlottenburg or Charlottenburg Palace - It was built from 1695-99 as a summer residence for Sophie Charlotte. The park grounds, designed in 1697 to resemble the elaborate gardens of Versailles in Paris, France, are simply enchanting. There is a mausoleum on the property which contains the sarcophagi of Queen Luise and Friedrich Wilhelm III.

Tiergarten - The tiergarten (animal garden) was built in the 1830s and served as a royal hunting ground. The tiergarten contains Victory Column (which is currently being renovated) and Schloss Bellevue, the home of the German President

East Side Gallery - The East Side Gallery is about a 1 mile (1.3 km) section of the Berlin Wall that contains about 100 paintings by artists worldwide. The project started in 1990 and has undergone some restoration due to the deterioration of the paintings from natural elements. In 2008, a full restoration was initiated.

Gendarmenmarkt - I had a spectacular view from my 6th floor room at the Hilton. This central square is one of my favorites in Europe. There are 2 beautiful churches, trees, and lots of open space. It's a great place to escape the tourism hub bub, grab some lunch or a snack and hang out on one of the many park benches.

A few pictures from my 2 day whirlwind tour of Berlin, Germany.

Schloss Charlottenburg entrance

Portion of the Wall (near the Topography of Terror)

Bridge near the East Side Gallery

East Side Gallery

Gendarmenmarkt and the TV Tower

Jewish Memorial near the US Embassy and Brandenburg Gate

Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church

ICE, ICE, baby

I was all prepared to rent a car in Hamburg and drive to Berlin, until my friend Tara suggested the ICE train, which she dubbed as super-easy. The ICE is the intercity express train and takes just over 1.5 hours, but a car ride can easily run 2 to 2.5 hours in good driving conditions and with little traffic.

So, I gave it a whirl. If I could only let go of my desire to be in control, I might be able to get into the train travel thing. Actually, it was quite nice, and I managed to read a few ebooks along the way (House Rules by Jodi Picoult, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig, and Irresistible Forces by Brenda Jackson...a free ebook and total chic romance).

I didn't have an opportunity to take a picture of the ICE, so here is a stock photo from online. The Hamburg train station (Hauptbahnhof) and Berlin train station (Hauptbahnhof) are below.



Tip: Book directly with www.bahn.de for the best rates and you can click on the USA flag to view it in English. If you book on other sites like www.raileurope.com expect to pay about 50% more for the ticket. It is a good idea to pay the extra 2.5Euro each way for an assigned seat especially if you are traveling during peak times or when the business men and women are commuting.

What do you call someone from Hamburg?

A Hamburger, of course. Over the past two weeks, Chuck and I spent time in Denmark, Germany and Norway. Part of the trip was spent working and the rest of it was pleasure...visiting friends, catching up, shopping, and visiting a new country!

While in Germany, we visited some fellow expat friends that were originally in Arhus, Denmark, but recently moved to Hamburg, Germany. We had a great afternoon/evening and then Chuck was off to work, so I got to hang out with the Happy family.

We went downtown to the city center and visited the Rathus (city hall)...


We had spaghetti ice cream...


We toured an amazing little German city. I'm not sure if I should even post the name of the city as it seems Americans haven't found it yet, so it is still a fan.tas.tic and quaint village. Even little A was in a good mood for our adventure as we strolled down cobblestone streets, walked along the river, visited several shops, and took many, many, many photos. Here's a picture or two...but no name :-)



I shared my special peanut butter cookie recipe with the girls and taught them how to modify the recipe depending upon humidity and altitude. S is going to be a wonderful cook in the future. I might have to borrow her to help out with my dinner parties.

The visit to Hamburg to see my friends the Happy Hamburgers was great. I cannot wait to head back to Europe and visit again. Well, unless hubs decides we should do another stint abroad.

If someone from Hamburg is a Hamburger, what is someone from Dusseldorf? A Dusseldorfian, Dusseldorfite, Dusseldorfer, Dusseldorfan....hmmm.

Up next, a quick visit to Berlin, Germany and then a long weekend in Bergen, Norway.

Where has the time gone?

It is amazing how the doldrums of life get in the way of the adventures of travel. Living in Europe afforded us the opportunity to hop in the car and explore a new city on any given weekend. After moving back to the Midwest, most, if not all traveling involves an airplane...and the lovely Ryanair is nowhere to be found! Needless to say, our travels have slowed a bit, but I'm sure they will pick up again!

We've been on the road, in the air, on the rails, and on the water for the past two weeks, so I have some catching up to do.

Christmas Market in Bremen, Germany

In a word....fabulous!

Four hours just isn't enough time to spend at the Bremen Christmas Market. Chuck and I visited Bremen in August for his birthday and really enjoyed spending time in this great city along the river. On our way to Amsterdam, I thought it would be nice to stop in, once again, for a few hours to see their Christmas market.

Bremen did not disappoint!

Some how I missed Bottcherstrasse in August. Well, I found it in December. I probably dropped about 200Euro on this short little street. Bottcherstrass has some great shops with unique glassware, teas, and other Bremen related items. I also stumbled upon the Bremen Bonbon shop where you can watch them make lollipops and candies from scratch.

The Christmas market was spectacular. There are really 3 sections. One in the square in front of the Rathaus, one between the Rathaus and the information center and one near St. Peter's Cathedral. I found just about everything I was looking for in Bremen...and then some.

A few pictures...

Christmas market with St. Peter's Cathedral in the background.

Christmas market with Bremen Town Hall (Rathaus) in the background.

Yummy marshmallow filled chocolate domes.

Market

Mother in law, Sue, buying some mind twisting games.

Chuck and his mom at the Town Musicians statue

Christmas Market in Lubeck, Germany

Going to the Christmas Market in Lubeck, Germany wasn't exactly an original idea as it seems all of northern Germany was there!

We arrived around 11:30, only to sit in traffic for another 30 minutes, crawling along trying to park. The goal was to be up and in Lubeck by 10am or so (the market opens at 11). This way we could get a parking spot, see some of the sites, and shop a bit before the hoards of people descended upon Lubeck. We didn't leave until 9:30, so getting there by 10 wasn't going to happen.

Recommendations:

1. Get there early! 10am is best. If you get there later in the day, park just outside of the walled city area and walk the 5-10 minutes to get to the market. It will save 30 minutes of waiting in traffic to find a parking space.
2. Get there early! There are hoards of people mulling around. If you want to spend some time browsing the shops, get there early because shopping body to body is difficult. And, if you pass up an item you want, turning around to get it is virtually impossible.
3. Enjoy the hot mulled wine, bratwurst, gingerbread, large pretzels, and great confections. Yummy way to eat your way through the market.
4. Stop in the Marienkirche and browse through the Church. It's a good place to take a break from all the people and it has a great story, so pick up the English brochure at the door near the donation box.
5. Check out the arts and crafts at St. Petri Church. There's a 2 Euro entrance fee, but the wares are worth a look.
6. Skip the Niederegger (marzipan store) unless you enjoy being bumped and grinded (is that the right word?) by old men and ladies fighting to get a look at the latest Christmas marzipan candies. Wowee. It was intense. I'll buy my confections at Cittipark.

Having a Becks in Bremen, Germany

**NB: It seems this has been ready for publishing since late August. Oops.


For Chuck's birthday, we spent the weekend in Bremen, Germany. In December last year, our friend Nils insisted that we go to Dresden, Germany for a weekend. We loved Dresden, so when he recommended Bremen, we had to go. Needless to say, we loved Bremen.

Each time we go to a German city, it seems that there is some sort of festival or party. In Bremen, it was the start of the Music festival, so Saturday night was filled with music, wine, and a laser show complete with the ringing of the church bells.

Becks brewery is located in Bremen, so a tour of the facility and a tasting was on the list of things to do. We even had some Haacke Becks, which you can only buy in Bremen. Check out the slideshow for a glimpse at the World's Largest Tap (well, as according to Chuck!)

We didn't do a lot of touristy type things aside from walking around and enjoying another fine German city. There is a great promenade along the river and on the weekends a sort of flea market is set up. Most folks set out sheets or blankets and laid their wares on the ground...kind of rummage-sale style. Other folks looked like they could pack up their 'hot' items and run. One 'booth' had about 10 bicycle seats and another had 8 receivers/tuners for a stereo set....Can we say....liberated from their rightful owners???

We also walked around the Schnoor district, which is the oldest district in Bremen. The streets are lined with colorful homes from the 15th and 16th centuries.

The most interesting event of the trip was a visit to the planetarium, something Chuck wanted to do for his birthday. No problem. Maybe it was going to be like the planetarium in St. Louis, which btw is fabulous. Uh, nope, not like St. Louis. All 16 of us pile into this tiny round room with two German guys, which I think were PhD students. The whole 1 hour experience was completely in German, which we only know please, thank you, you're welcome, and the number one. As I sat there, I kept thinking about the Muppets where the two old dudes are sitting up in the balcony telling jokes. Yeah, it was something like that. What a memory!


Here's a link to the slideshow.

On the road again.

And we're off again....

• Barcelona, Spain


• Madrid, Spain


• USA


• Budapest, Hungary


• Hamburg, Germany

Weekend with friends in Kiel, Germany

Our friends, Nils and Ina live in Kiel, Germany and Chuck has been there several times, but I've been in the US during his visits. So, it was time for me to join him for a weekend in Kiel.

Another great German city! There's a nice large mall in the city center and a pedestrian street lined with shops and beer gardens. It is quite convenient because as Ina and I shopped, the boys would stop and have a beer....the best of both worlds!

Kiel is a port city on the Baltic Sea that has large passenger ferries coming in, dropping off passengers (from Norway/Sweden/Russia) for a little fun at the casinos and, um, shall we say, 'extracurricular activities'. Kiel is also known for Kiel Week (Kieler Wochen) in June each year, where it hosts the largest sailing event in the world!

The sights:

• St. Nicholas's Church
• Kiel Fjord
• Holsten Street - shopping street
• Kiel brewery
• Rathaus - city hall
• Drinks by the fjord

And, of course, there is always an opportunity for shopping. I've been debating about what I wanted to bring back to the US from our European travels....a rug, pottery, porcelain, dishes, cutlery, etc.

So, what did we (I) buy....

WMF cutlery, Denver style.

A few pictures. Here's a link to the slideshow.

There's something about Fish in Kiel's history, thus the fish tiles in the walking street. But, I have no idea what the story is, so I'll have to wait for Nils to fill me in.

More slideshows posted

I'm all caught up.

• Lugano, Switzerland and Lake Como, Italy


• Frankfurt, Germany


• Kiel, Germany


• Bremen, Germany


• London and the Cotswolds, UK

European Vacation 2009 - In a word...or two

Chuck
Favorite City - Cinque Terre, Italy
Favorite Hotel - La Torretta in Cinque Terre
Favorite Museum - St. Pauls (Frankfurt)
Least favorite city - they were all good
Favorite meal - Oliveto cooking class
Best memory - sunset over Manarola
Favorite gelato flavor - pistacchio
Favorite cathedral - St. Pauls (Frankfurt)
Favorite purchase - Cuboros for Lincoln

Holly
Favorite City - Strasbourg, France
Favorite Hotel - La Torretta in Cinque Terre
Favorite Museum - History museum (Nuremberg)
Least favorite city - Lugano, Switzerland
Favorite meal - Verrazzano wine tasting & lunch
Best memory - boating on Lake Como
Favorite gelato flavor - dark chocolate or yoghurt
Favorite cathedral - Duomo (Florence)
Favorite purchase - Aged balsamic vinegar for me!

The best laugh.....
Driving from Menaggio, Italy to Lugano, Switzerland on the tiny 1.5 lane roads and coming upon the start of a 5km back up. The cause....a station wagon from the Netherlands trying to pull a catamaran with mere inches to spare. We pulled into a sideroad so we could get around him. Not sure what the poor bugger was thinking. Then, as we got around him.....Beeeep. Beeeeeep. Beeeeeeep. And the horns were blaring!

European Vacation 2009 - Frankfurt, Germany (Days 22-24)

It seems that each time we go to a German city, there is some sort of party or festival. During our stay in Frankfurt, they were having Main festival. Loosely translated...beer, brats, pretzels...you get the picture.

Our last stop on the 24 day tour did not disappoint. I booked a room at the Hilton on the executive floor. I wasn't sure how the previous 22 days were going to fare and I was sure to get a nice bed, pillows, bathtub and a little night cap at the Hilton. It was about a 10-15 minute walk to get to the river and museum area, so the location was perfect. Ahhh, good choice!

• We shopped on Ziel street
• Went to several cathedrals and then a cathedral that isn't a functioning cathedral (St. Paul's)
• Enjoyed beverages, snacks, and the entertainment at Main fest
• Checked out the architecture museum and the modern art museum
• Shopped a little more...and luckily Chuck had some Euros burning a hole is his pocket :)

Here are a few pictures until I get the slideshow finished.

And now, it is back to life, back to reality. Our 24 day adventure is officially over...and now I can begin planning the next big adventure!

Stay tuned for the slideshows and the recap.

European Vacation 2009 - Nuremberg, Germany (Days 1-3)

God morgen, god morgen, god morgen. I could really get used to hearing people say good morning to me! Nuremberg, Germany was a great place to visit. In our few short days there, we managed to see and do quite a bit.


Eating some local gingerbread - check.
Visiting Kaiserburg - check.
Hauptmarkt - check.
German National Museum - check.
Frauenkirche - check.
St. Lorenzkirche - check.
St. Sebaldus Kirche - check.
Shopping and pedestrian area - check.


We stayed at the Holiday Inn, located within the walls of the old part of the town. It was a great hotel and we were upgraded to an apartment, which was a nice surprise. However, as we walked toward the city center, we noticed some mirrored windows in shops near the hotel. Hmmm, red light district?? Upon leaving the hotel on Sunday, we drove around the back near the border of the historic wall...and sure enough...red light district. Well, it was a nice hotel, none the less.


Here are some PG rated pictures...none from the red light district :)

Christmas Markets (and tourist stuff) in Dresden, Germany

At the recommendation of a friend, we decided to go to Dresden, Germany for the weekend. We had never been to a Christmas Market, so the one in Dresden would be our first encounter with masses of bratwurst-eating, mulled wine-drinking, all around happy Germans.

We ate, drank, shopped, wondered, toured…and Lincoln was the only one to get a present from Dresden. One of the stands was filled with all these 2” letters on wheels (I should have taken a pic), so I pieced together a L-I-N-C-O-L-N train. Now, the task of figuring out how to mail it to the US.
We also did the normal tourist stuff. Here are the highlights and the slideshow:

• Church of our Lady (Frauenkirche) - The Church was destroyed by the allied fire bombing during WWII. With the use of private funding the Church was rebuilt ($200 million) and dedicated in 2005. It's a pretty impressive structure with various levels of balconies (we assume for concerts). We rode the elevator/climbed the stairs to the cuppola and had a wonderful view of the city.
• Zwinger - The complex was built in the early 1700s in the baroque style. Even in the light drizzle it was a pretty neat place. I'm sure it's gorgeous during the summer months when the courtyard is filled with flowers; however the green sculpted lawn was still a sight for mid-December!
• Christmas Market - We went to two smaller markets in early December and this was our first experience at a larger market. At night, we were shoulder to shoulder walking up and down the aisles, but a return trip during the day was perfect to do a little shopping.

Next stop....Athens, Greece.

Water Bridge near Magdeburg, Germany

On the return drive from Dresden, Germany we decided to find the Magdeburg Water Bridge. I printed out the directions using Google, but they were from the north and not the south and I didn't have a map handy so I couldn't easily figure out how to get there. I did have street names, so I used Garmin to plug in the street name in Magdeburg. Well, we ended up on the correct street near the Elbe River in downtown Magdeburg. Hmmm, not right. Over an hour later and using Garmin as a map, scrolling around to find a place where rivers intersect and we finally arrive at the Water Bridge, which is actually in the small village of Hohenwarth.

The water bridge connects two shipping canals (bridging east and west) over the Elbe River, which runs north and south. Here are the stats and the slideshow.

• Over a half billion Euro: The cost
• 918 meters: The overall length (690m over land and 228 m over water)
• 34 meters: The trough width
• 4.25 meters: The depth of the water
• 68,000 cubic meters: The amount of concrete used
• 24,000 metric tons: The amount of steel used

Unfortunately, the tourist area isn't completed so we were unable to take an aerial picture. I'm assuming the tourist area will include some sort of lookout tower. Here's a 'borrowed' picture from the internet.
Pretty cool. So the email chains that went around with the engineering marvel are True!

Flensburg, Germany

I headed south of the border to Cancun, Mexico last week. This week, we went south of the border to Flensburg, Germany.

I know, there is a stark difference between the two countries. We stayed at the Tulip Inn just off the pedestrian street. While it wasn't the best hotel we have ever stayed at, it was basic, acceptable and served the purpose.

We spent a few hours at the art museum and natural history musem. The art museum had some nice pieces by Max Liebermann and also some great pieces of furniture from the 1800s. The pedestrian area had stands where you could buy candy, gifts, roasted nuts, and the ever famous hot spiced wine, glogg, hot buttered rum, and I think I saw some hot chocolate.

We also took a quick trip to a little series of shops near Aabenraa in Denmark with some friends. It was an interesting trip there. I kept thinking about the song, "over the river and through the woods to grandma's house we go." The road was wide enough for a car and a quarter and at sometimes just one car. I wondered what would happen if we met another car. Does one car take the muddy ditch and hope they can get out? Do both cars slow and vere off the road a bit? Does one car back up (just kidding)?

Pictures are posted. They aren't the greatest...Chuck had the camera!

Up next: Dresden, Germany & Athens, Greece (yes, I know there are riots going on)

European Vacation - Day 17/18 (Cologne)

Cologne is...in a word...dirty.

We decided to go to Cologne because of their huge Cathedral, which is amazing architecture and took over 600 years to build!

We stayed at the Sofitel, which typically is a very nice hotel to stay at; however not in Cologne. It was marginal, at best. The air quality was sub-par and in the end I now have a sore throat and sinus issues. One bad day out of 18 isn't the end of the world.

We walked the pedestrian streets and shopped a bit. There is a chocolate museum in Cologne, so we walked along the river and stopped in for a tour and chocolate sample.

Chuck and I went into the huge Cathedral and he climbed the 509 steps up about 90 meter or 3/4 of the way up one of the towers. I sat in one of the pews and waited for him. He came down drenched and the first thing he said was it reminded him of the movie Shawshank Redemption. You know the line at the end of the movie when Morgan Freeman says of Tim Robbin's character (Andy Dufresne) "Andy crawled to freedom through five hundred yards of shit-smelling foulness I can't even imagine. Or maybe I just don't want to. Five hundred yards. That's the length of five football fields, just shy of half a mile."

Apparently, the air was pretty foul in the stairwell. 509 steps of nasty smelling bodies...I can't even imagine.

European Vacation - Day 16/17 (Mainz)

After our drive up the Mosel River Valley, we cut across to Mainz, our next hotel pit stop. I booked the Hyatt Regency, over looking the Rhein River. The hotel was very nice and I had my best night sleep of the whole trip. The bed and pillows were perfect.

Mainz has a nice downtown area with several pedestrian walkways and a beautiful area along the river to walk, read, bike, and play.

Chuck had some difficulty with the name of the town. Or he was just being humorous on our drive....

Chuck: So, Maine is our next stop?
Holly: Mainz
Chuck: What hotel are we staying at in Maine?
Holly: zzzz
Chuck: Maine
Holly: zzzz

You get where this is going.

European Vacation - Day 16 (Mosel River Valley)

After leaving Trier, we decided to drive up the winding road that follows the Mosel River. There are acres and acres of grapevines lining both sides of the valley. Every few kilometers there is another cute little town, packed with people, shops, and eateries featuring...local wine.

As we drove through, I said to Chuck, "This could be so much fun, if we spoke German." There are so many small towns and given the high number of campers and camping grounds along the river, it seemed like this is more of a local attraction than an international tourist location. So, the odds of English being spoken or even understood were slim to none. And, no...I'm not learning another language.

My DK Eyewitness Europe guidebook, which we refer to quite a bit, recommended a stop at Burg Eltz, a castle between Trier and Koblenz. It failed to mention that there were two entrances and somehow we end up at the hiking entrance. This translated to a walk down a steep hill for 1.8 kilometers (just over a mile) for 30 minutes just to get to the entrance....and then the return was strait up the rocky trail for about 50 minutes. Phew. I'm really going to be a billy goat if we keep up all this climbing! The alternative entrance was a parking lot with a shuttle train to the entrance. Below is a picture of Burg Eltz from halfway down the hiking trail.

It was a hot and muggy day, so we were both exhausted by the time we reached the car. We were planning on continuing up the Mosel to Koblenz and then taking the highway over to Mainz. However, we decided to take a short cut and go over one of the mountains and head straight to Mainz.

European Vacation - Day 15/16 (Trier)

After Baden-Baden, we continued on our way to Trier, Germany, which is located near the Luxembourg / France border. We stayed downtown at the Park Plaza hotel, a nice moderate hotel.

We knew that Trier didn't have much to do; however it was a good resting stop before our Mosel River Valley drive. Trier is a cute town located on the Mosel River. The old town area has classic cobblestone streets and court yards and quaint little cafes. We visited Porta Nigra which is a large Roman gate and Karl Marx's home, then the visitor's center to get our wine valley drive situated and then we were off for a morning drive.

Here's Chuck outside Karl Marx's home (now a museum). He's reading Karl Popper's book, Open Society and Its Enemies.