In search of an original title...: 2016

We arrived in Berlin in the early evening after spending a good part of the day on the train. Quintus got to experience his first time riding in a train compartment (just like on the Hogwarts Express) and then promptly fell asleep for the better part of ride.

Waiting on the platform for the train

Farewell Amsterdam

We stayed in Postdamer Platz, located in the center of Berlin, the former border of West and East Berlin. (Apologies now if this link takes you to a page written in Czech. Writing this blog in Prague and that is the default language. Thank you Google Translate.) In the 90s, the site was completely rebuilt with international headquarters of major corporations, the Mall of Berlin, theatres, restaurants, etc. Pieces of history remain as shown below.

A piece of the wall in Postdamer Platz

Staring off into the distance

We headed out in the early morning hours to explore Berlin. Our first destination was the East Side Gallery. The gallery is a long section of the wall that consists of more than 100 paintings from artists all over the world. Our walk to the gallery primarily followed a cobblestone path on the street that marked where the wall used to stand. It brought us by several other sights along the way, including some amazing art installations as well as Checkpoint Charlie, the name given by the Western Allies to the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War (1947-1991).

And as a brief aside, for he who loves currywurst, there is the currywurst museum, complete with marketing truck.

You are correct, one of the people in this photo is
NOT entertained by the fact that this photo is being taken.
Can you guess which one?

Checkpoint Charlie
Christmas Tree

From Checkpoint Charlie, we made our way into former East Berlin. It was pretty incredible to walk through a city and see sights that played such a prominent role in modern day history. Remembering not so long ago the images on the news of citizens of West and East Berlin sitting astride the wall as they finally succeeded in taking it down. There is still a significant contrast to the two sides if this magnificent city, which is especially evident in the architecture as well as the prevalent social commentary that still exists within artists colonies that have taken up residence in previously abandoned buildings, among others.

Balancing Act by Stephan Balkenhol

A few of our favorites from the East Side Gallery. Most of the wall is fronted by a six foot high chain link fence, making it a little more difficult to appreciate the art, but also adding an extra challenge to those who want to deface the art with graffiti and other means. Most of the photos below, with the exception of the Brezhnev and Honecker kiss, were taken with a hand stuck through a break in the fence. Given the popularity of that particular painting, the fence was noticeably absent.

It is difficult to see here, but the blue elements of the painting depict patches of sky.

Enough said

The Kiss depicts Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev giving the East Germany President Erich Honecker what appears to be a passionate kiss on the lips.

From the East Side Gallery, we grabbed an S line train and headed back towards the Reichstag and the Brandenburg Gate. If I did not mention this earlier, the day was cold and wet. The rain was light and at times more of a mist, but by the time we got on the train, we were all pretty wet and definitely cold. The warmth of the train was a welcome reprieve and the addition of pretzels gave us a much needed boost of energy.

Q learned two new flags at the Reichstag -
German and European Union

Unfortunately, the Brandenburg Gate was really obstructed due to holiday events, making it difficult to fully appreciate its scale and grandeur. But it was still a sight to behold, nonetheless.

We ended our walking tour for the day at the Holocaust Memorial, one of the most visually striking memorials I have ever seen. The photos below do not even begin to capture the vastness of the memorial, but hopefully they provide a sense of its impact.

We departed Berlin the next morning, but not before one last walk to the Gendarmenmarket. Full disclosure, we did not make it to the Christmas Market while it was open, but it did motivate us to not miss another market during the rest of our time on this journey.

The photo bomber strikes again

We headed out later that morning en route to Prague. Quintus continues to be impressed by German automobile engineering - they have built in booster seats in most of their cars!! (It is all about the simple pleasures, isn't it?) To be fair, though, the three taxis we have ridden in so far have been a Tesla, a Mercedes, and a Volkswagen.

Farewell for now, we will see you in Prague!

Let us first start by saying Happy Holidays!!

Starved for cool temperatures, clouds, and minimal daylight, we made the decision to head to Europe for our winter holiday. Over the next two weeks, we will visit six countries, riding the rails from one to the next. On Christmas morning, we headed off to Amsterdam, our first stop.

The view from our room. Can you see the canal up on the top right corner?

Upon arriving at our hotel, we decided to head out and explore a little. We were somewhat surprised at just how many people were out on Christmas afternoon. I am not sure we really knew what to expect, but the crowded streets were a bit of a surprise. This was also our first exposure to the cold and needless to say, two of us have grown a bit soft during our time in Abu Dhabi. After a bit of a walk, we stopped in at a pub for a pint and some supper where Quintus ate the biggest sausage/hot dog he has ever seen, clocking in at over a foot long. I am sad to report that we do not have photo documentation of this feat.

A wall at the pub, complete with license plates from Texas and Montana.

The early sunset definitely throws you off and by 8:00 pm we all (really Q and I) felt like it was well past midnight, so we turned in early so as to be ready to go the next morning.

Pre-dawn view of Dam Square

Dam Square with the "photo bomber"

Festive lights on the streets of Amsterdam

We headed out in the pre-dawn hours the next morning, not difficult to do when the sun does not rise until close to 9:00 am, to do some more exploring while making our way down to the Museum Quarter to rendez-vous with Van Gogh. Let me set the scene a little here...first, it is cold, dark, and windy...okay, that's it. The mantra of the walk soon became, "Mama it's soooooo cold."

Chillin' with Rembrandt. Note the head scarf? That is one way to keep the cold out.

The welcome sight of a rising sun

The Museum Quarter was bustling and we headed to the Van Gogh Museum before meeting up with D.C. friends to explore the Rijks Museum and some more of Amsterdam together for the remainder of the day. The Van Gogh museum was a real treat; the history of the artist and the collection of his early works were quite impressive, most of which we do not see in other museum collections in other parts of the world.

Van Gogh museum from across the park

Inside the Rijks Museum

The Library

An amazing three-piece ensemble outside the Rijks.
A reward to anyone who can name the instrument on the right.

So fun to catch up and see good friends from home!

We ended the day with a canal boat cruise to see the holiday light installations. It was great fun to explore the canals via boat having seen the canals via foot all day. And since it was dark, we were able to get a peak into a number of the houses, which was also quite cool. Having lived in Abu Dhabi for more than a year now, where everything is so new, it was quite something to be surrounded by old buildings again.

A few of our favorite installations from the boat tour...