Ladee's Travels

These photographs were taken from a bus window during a tour in the spring of 2011. The buildings generally looked very modern and construction was ongoing throughout the city for not only buildings but infrastructure. Some buildings, such as the Reichstag, were refurbished in the late 1990s after World War II and a long time of disrepair. These buildings were restored to their early glory and architectural style, with some modern additions. The photo of the Berlin Cathedral shows the Berliner Schloss (Berlin Castle).  It in in a reconstruction phase. The Stadtschloss ( German : Berliner Stadtschloss , in English the Berlin City Palace ), was a royal palace in the centre of Berlin , capital of Germany .  It is a very interesting process to watch as the country strives to reunite.  See the reconstruction section in this wikipedia wrting. Descriptive references are from Wikipedia.  The Altes Museum ( German for Old Museum ) is one of several internationally...

I was browsing through my photos looking for a picture to post to send greetings for the weekend, and decided to show all of the ones that I had relating to Easter in Europe. I was fortunate to visit in Spring of 2011 to get some photos. Church altar in Magdeburg, Germany Store window in Berlin, Germany Display in the Meissen China showroom, Meissen, Germany Painting above the church entrance and the altar in Wittenburg, Germany Center of a large plaza in Olomouc, Czech Republic Church altar in Olomouc Sculpture in the museum in Olomouc Notre Dame altar, Paris, France Large painted egg in Prague, Czech Republic Large number of booths selling Easter eggs in Prague. Michealangelo's La Pieta in Rome, Italy Chocolate shop window in Vienna, Austria Altar of a church in Vienna. Many decorated eggs for sale in Vienna.

Today was a long touring day, but it was fun and actually went quickly.   For scheduling reasons, the boat had to dock near Potsdam.   Two buses departed the dock at 8AM and drove about an hour to Berlin.   We rode on the Auto-Bahn (wheee) and quickly arrived in Berlin to begin the city tour.   It was nice to have someone else giving directions, information about the city (instead of referencing my tour book) and to have a familiarity with the area.    Reichstag from the front. You can see the glass dome in the center.

Today was an easy day.  Rose late and walked to the dining room in the Ritz Carlton for an inclusive breakfast.  Enjoyed the usual cheeses, fruits, a crepe, and some meats.  Finished blogging from yesterday’s adventures.  Packed the suitcase and said goodbye to the wonderful amenities at the hotel, and went downstairs to check out.  We were able to split the bill on two different credit cards (according to what we had each billed to the room) without a problem  We asked about the next two hours of wifi, and the front desk clerk gave us each a card and code for one hour (she could see on the bill that we had paid for 24 hours which wouldn’t expire until later in the day).  We dropped off our luggage, with the special ID tags from the AHI cruise group, with the tour guides.  These ladies were very helpful throughout our stay and I just need to put a good word in about them.  We then walked into the charming bar area with the large stuffed chair...

This group entertained the outside diners at Einstein's.  They were really good and I was mesmerized watching them work together. At first I thought, oh great, someone else wants change.  Well, after watching, I dug out a handful of my coins and contributed to their entrepreneurial team. Rick Steves - Berlin information in book and digital format. (affiliate link)

Ok, yes, I was just a little bit curious.  And tired from touring all day. Cancun is located across the street from the Ritz Carlton and Mexican food sounded so good. Fajitas with flour tortillas, guacamole, salsa. 14 euros

Museum Island is in the center of the river and holds quite a collection of museums.  The Berlin Cathedral was the only building explored as the time was limited.  The ticket is 5 euros, plus 3 euros for an audio guide.  It sits on the perimeter of the Lustgarten, the island's big central square.  Until the last half-century it was verboten (forbidden) is relax or walk on the grass. This changed in 1999 when the area was made in to a park. People certainly take advantage of this area. (Steves Germany 2011) Berlin Dom with the beautiful Lustgarten park and fountain.

There is a lot of building construction and I needed to get creative to photograph statues without cranes.  Then I thought...Why not include the cranes? Isn't rebuilding part of what makes Berlin special? You bet! Frederick the Great Constuction in the back ground with huge billboards taking advantage of the space.

Unter den Linden is a broad street with a broad history. The street used to have 250 year old lime trees lining the broad pedestrian walkway. Hitler had the trees removed and flags put in their place.  Loud protests and years later...the lime trees were replaced and are growing again. Interesting architecture caught my eye.

A video is included at the end of this post. If you are viewing in an email, you will need to click on the link at the bottom of the email and view the video on the web page. The walking tour follows Unter den Linden (street name which means 'under the lime trees').  It is a wide boulevard with large pedestrian sidewalks, bike lanes, and a walkway in the middle of the street shaded with trees. There are a lot of park benches.  There are subway stations all along the route, marked as U-Bahn/S-Bahn, and bus stops all along the route. This walk can be as long or as short as you like. Reichstag - Houses Germany's General Assembly

There was a lot of smooth and organized driving today.  It was like watching a movie as the "officials" exited the hotel after the NATO conference meeting.  (Tina, I put my earbuds in while in the hotel lobby so that I would "blend in" with the others.)