Hot Damn, Potsdam

Potsdam is a city 30 minutes away from Berlin by train and is famous for being a residence to Prussian kings. There are a bunch of palaces, including a large park in the town that houses many of these royal residences. Things didn’t go exactly as planned, but we still got to see a lot of what we came for.

First off, the bike rental place ran out of bikes. It would have been nice, but we hoofed it just fine and were able to use our transit ticket on a bus back to the train at the end of the day. Second, they closed the park on us at 2pm for an event that features fireworks that go off at 12:30am ("Schwache Soße!"; German for 'Weak Sauce').

There is a Dutch Quarter that features Dutch style buildings that are filled with shops.

The city center is lined with cafes and nice stores along cobblestone streets. The main street is closed to traffic and it was full of people, including this Bachelor Party, complete with wagon-full-of-booze. The groom (guy in orange and wig) saw us taking pictures and approached us with a tray, full of what appeared to be airplane bottle sized shots of some liquor, and offered them to us for a Euro each. “Thanks, but no thanks” was our answer.

The main attraction in Potsdam is Sanssouci Park, a huge complex of well-manicured gardens, palaces built by Prussian Kings, and other structures.

The jewel of the park is Sanssouci, the summer palace of Frederick The Great. There are levels of terraces covered in foliage that have multiple naves filled with plants enclosed by gates (best description I could come up with). At the top is the palace, painted yellow and adorned with statues and Rococo styled ornament.

After being booted from the main park, we made our way to the other side of town to the new park. It lies along a lake and includes this structure called the Marble Palace. The exterior has a lot of marble and the interior is filled with it, hence the name.

At the north end of the park is Cecilienhof, a palace made in the style of an English Tudor country house. It is massive, and the gardens around it and lake front location were impressive. It is also famous for being the site of the Potsdam Conference, where Churchill, Truman, and Stalin met to punish and carve up Germany after WWII.

BERLIN – History, history, and more history

We have really enjoyed Berlin and have learned and experienced a lot here. Saying that the city is filled with historical significance is an understatement: Berlin was the epicenter of most of the world’s conflicts of the 20^th century, and a lot of events before that, too. It becomes evident that, tragically, the resolution of one (disastrous) conflict set the stage for another (disastrous) conflict… etc.

The first impression of the city is that it is HUGE. The city itself is huge, the buildings are huge, even the roads and train station are huge; the sheer amount of information and number of historical sites (and their importance) is overwhelming. We traipsed all over the city for 5 days and we saw many (not all) of the historical sites, and we saw about 6 of the 158 museums – which was still an overwhelming amount to digest.

The next impression was how destructive WWII was in Berlin; every building not built or restored since 1945 has bullet holes and shell damage; almost all buildings have had extensive re-building done. We also saw some of this in Ashauffenburg & Wurzburg, but it is even more extreme in Berlin. (One note: it is frustrating to learn that Germany had clearly lost the war by January 1945, but Hitler refused to surrender for 4 more months – the period of most bombing destruction. Also, the Nazis held many massacres and death marches during these 4 months that killed thousands of concentration camp victims, who may have otherwise survived the Holocaust.) But I digress…

We did different tours/exhibits on different days, so I am organizing this blog into 4 sections: (1) general Berlin/around the city; (2) The Third Reich and WWII; (3) Splitting up Berlin/Berlin Wall, Communism; (4) Summary & General impression of Berlin.

(BTW, this is Megan, and I am seriously breaking my previous promise of brevity… Doh. I’m getting dangerously close to “novel” length, and nobody wants that unless there are some lusty vampires. Oh well.)

- Reichstag

Also an example of a big building with an eventful past. It housed the parliament of the German empire from 1894 to 1933. It was damaged in a fire (in 1933), further damaged by WWII bombing, attacked by the Red Army, and restored in 1990.

- Supreme Parish and Collegiate Church (known as Berliner Dom)

This is a huge protestant church built in 1905; the congregation has been around since 1451, in smaller buildings. It’s huge: 381 feet tall, 374 feet long. It has statues of major reformers: Calvin, Luther, and Zwingli.

We went up to the dome and looked over the city.

Exterior:

Interior:

- Museum Island

An example of the many impressive buildings and museums:

- Pergamonmuseum

This museum was built from 1910-1930, constructed for the collection, reconstruction, and display of impressive walls & buildings from Pergamon (Turkey). Like many relocated exhibits, whether these were collected legitimately is questionable. I think we might add another destination to our list this year: Pergamon (looks like it's to the north of current-day Bergama, Turkey)

These walls are from Pergamon, about 100 B.C:

Ishtar Gate – from Babylon, built 575 B.C, King Nebuchadnezzar II

((2) The Third Reich & World War II

- We took a bike tour of the city of the Third Reigh & WWII. It was a 7-hour bike tour with a “history buff” guide named Kate, who focuses on the human/social aspect of the period. She explained how the dismal economic/international environment following WWI allowed Hitler to come to power, how he made himself a dictator (Germany was a democracy when he entered government.) In short, he was bad man who did a lot of manipulating and political maneuvering (including dissolving parliament) to gain power. He did encounter opposition/resistance, but he either executed them on the spot or put them into “protective custody” – concentration camps. Once he had power, he started persecution against the people that he hated – and he hated a lot of people.

- Some sites on the tour:

o Site of Hitler’s administration building, SS Headquarters, and airforce headquarters

The Luftwaffe building is the only complete Nazi building still standing (big building in back). The remains of the SS Headquarters are below street level, in the foreground in front of the Berlin Wall

o Humboldt University library/square, site of the 1933 book burning

Humboldt University:

Vince & I on bikes: Square across the street from Humboltd University - where book burning happened & is memorialized – Opera House and Church (dome) are in background

o Separate Holocaust monuments to the different groups murdered:

§ (A note about the monuments, which are surrounded by controversy: There are separate monuments to the different ethnic/religious groups that were murdered. On one hand, it may seem fitting to recognize each group with its own monument, as the holocaust was devastating to each. On the other hand, separating people into specific groups is not ideal in most cases, and is at the core of the Holocaust in the first place. Some think that there should have been one monument to all of the victims of the Holocaust, because people are people, and categorizing them again defeats the purpose.) But the memorials are built/being built (since 1990), and that is the most important thing.

§ Monument to the 6 million Jews murdered - photo does't capture the size (and really powerful museum underground, beneath the monument)

o Site where the “Valkyrie” assassination plot was planned, and where von Stauffenburg and his partners were shot. (There we 54 unsuccessful assassination attempts on Hitler’s life). Following the Valkyrie attempt, Hitler killed 5,000 people in retaliation, many of them innocent family & friends of the attempted assassins.

o Jewish quarter, site of the only successful demonstration against Nazi persecution (these protesting people were able to get Hitler to release Jewish men, because shooting non-Jewish German women would have been a PR nightmare). All other demonstrations in Berlin ended disastrously for the protesters.

Jewish synagogue in the Jewish quarter, near the protest site (reconstructed).

- “Checkpoint Charlie” museum focuses on the events from 1945 to 1989. Needless to say, the Communist party was extremely oppressive – it’s a bad sign when you have to build a 12-foot wall with barbed wire to keep your own citizens in - - and people still risk their lives over “deathstrips” to get to the other side.

- Eastside Gallery:

After the unification of Germany, one section of the wall has been memorialized with murals by artists. Most murals portray the darkness of the previous era, and/or the message of freedom for the present and future.

((4) Summary & General impression of Berlin

I think we were expecting Berlin to be really big and full of history, but we had No Idea.

In a lot of ways, it is similar to other large European international cities – but with a heavier past than some others - or maybe the heaviest events are more recent here. It seems that Berliners are acutely aware of the past, and (since 1990) the city/country realizes the importance of recognizing and memorializing its past.

Today, Berlin seems to be a diverse, tolerant place with a lot of culture and creativity. It also has great food: We enjoyed Vietnamese, Turkish, Thai, and Italian food, along with some traditional German cuisine – and Berlin’s own delicious “CurryWurst,” – there’s a stand in every neighborhood. We also can’t say enough about the public transportation, public parks, and beer gardens.

Schotten and The Schottenring Grand Prix

Our family friend Uli is an engineer for Siemens by day and Sidecar Motorcycle Racer by weekend. We were lucky enough to be around the weekend of an exhibition of classic motorcycles, in the town of Schotten, that included Sidecar Motorcycles.

This is Uli’s 850cc sidecar motorcycle. He is a grease monkey and works on it in his garage and workshop. He even had us transport a 7 lb. piece of metal from the US that he will use for a part in the engine.

Uli is the driver and races along with his passenger Germar. They work together leaning the bike to maneuver it around turns and to keep their speed.

There was also a charity event portion that we could buy tickets to ride on the Sidecar. The first picture is Megan holding on for dear life, the second is me holding on for dear life, as Uli drove us around the course at speeds up to 160km/hr. We were pretty sore from holding on, and it was raining pretty hard, so we got soaked. It was well worth it though.

Würzburg

About an hour south of Aschaffenburg, through forests and rolling green fields, is the city of Würzburg. This city has a number of amazing buildings and is very walkable, with squares and streets lined with shops and cafes. This city was almost completely destroyed during WWII, but has since been rebuilt to its original grandeur.

At the top of a hill overlooking the city lies Marienberg Fortress, that began being built around 1200 and from 1253 to 1719 was the seat of the Prince Bishops. It is an impressive compound that has thick fortress walls, a moat, and guard towers. Above is a portion of the fortress that includes a keep (tower), an ornate church (right), and a 300 ft. well encased by the round building in the foreground. The other picture is an entrance to the fortress that wraps around to the left behind us.

We ate at an old mill along the Main River that has been converted into a restaurant. At the top of the hill you can see Marienberg Fortress and also Alte Mainbruke, a walking bridge erected from 1473 to 1543 lined with statues of Saints added around 1730.

This behemoth of a building (so big I couldn’t fit the entire thing on our camera) is simply known as “The Residence”. It is a palace built from 1720-1744 and was the home and administrative building of a very powerful Bishop/chancellor of the region. Unfortunately, no pictures allowed inside, so this is what we are missing (click here for some pictures online):

- This crazy staircase with a self-supporting vaulted ceiling covered by the largest continuous fresco in the world.

- The White Hall that is decorated with ornate stucco.

- The Imperial Hall, which has amazing marble floors, gilded gold walls, and a frescoes that have 3D sculpting

- A room of mirrors, that are intricately painted and gilded in gold

- A room painted in green on silver plating, which gives it a luminescent quality

There is also an extensive garden to the side and rear of the palace, including some interesting sculptures (eg. wrestling babies).

This square includes Falkenhaus (right), a guesthouse with an ornate stucco façade, and Marienkapelle (left), a Gothic period church built from 1377 to 1480.

Germany: Part 1 - Frankfurt & Surrounding Towns

…and so our European vacation begins.

We landed in Frankfurt after 15 hours of travel, only to discover that our backpacks didn’t make it with us. We were told that they didn’t make it from our (2.5 hour) connection in Dublin. Our German family friend Uli (father) said that “Urgent” in Ireland meant “There’s time for one more Guiness”.

We are staying with Uli, his wife Cornelia, daughter Eva, and son Julian in a village called Goldbach, which is a suburb of Aschaffenburg (pop. 70k), which is about 30 minutes east of Frankfurt. Every morning they prepare a wonderful breakfast of cakes, breads, fresh fruits, cheeses, meats, cereals, juices, tea and coffee. At some point during the day, we usually meet with one of their many relatives, that all live nearby. There is a very nice sense of family here.

Brevity is not Vince’s strong suit, Megan promises she will create shorter blog entries in the future.

Aschaffenburg

Aschaffenburg is famous for being a summer residence of a powerful Archbishop. It has a lot of character with an interesting mix of old and modern buildings. Below are some of the highlights:

This is Schloss Johannisburg situated above the Main River, and was the site of a Middle Ages castle, which was destroyed except for its main tower that remains to this day. It was later built, into pretty much as it is today, as a summer residence for the Archbishop of the region. During WWII, it was badly damaged, but was later restored. We toured the interior of the castle and also had lunch on the patio of the castle restaurant.

Inside, there was an exhibit of cork models of Roman structures made by a father and son duo during the late 19^th Century. This model of the coliseum is about 6 feet across and highly detailed. There was also an exhibit of Celtic artifacts that were found in modern day Germany as early as the 6^th Century BC.

A ten minute walk through a nice park is this house built in the 18^th century that was modeled after a Roman house in Pompeii. Inside are detailed tiled floors, Roman styled painted walls, an impressive atrium, and Roman and Greek artifacts.

There is also a large and lush park in Aschaffenburg that includes meadows, rivers, lakes sports fields, bike paths, a maze of bushes (that Vince completed), and pavilions, as well as this building called Schloss Schonbusch that was used as an entertainment hall for guests of the Archbishop. From here there is an intentionally direct view of Schloss Johannisburg.

This is a night view of a square in front of a Church (to the right) that Cornelia’s brother Martin is the pastor of (Catholic priest). It was originally built in the 11^th century and its interior incorporates romantic, renaissance, and baroque architecture. We got a behind the scenes tour, which included a 300 foot climb up a narrow winding stairway to the top of the church tower (us pictured at the top with Schloss Johannisburg in back).

Who Dat in Nawlins?

We've been in New Orleans visiting Megan's brother, his girlfriend (also named Megan), our nephews Tyler and Sean, and Megan's parents who were also in town. First impression of New Orleans: HOT! Summertime is no time to be here, 90+ degrees and 70+% humidity equals constant swampiness. Secondly, people love their Saints and the Who Dat nation is in full effect.

The Cajun/Creole food is really good; collectively we've eaten Po'Boys, Gumbo, Jumbalaya, Red Beans and Rice, Crawfish Etouffee, and Andouille Sausages. Also, no open container laws, it's strange to see people walking around with Hurricanes and Tall Boys, especially at 10am. We also drove around the Garden District that has a lot of interesting architecture, as well as areas hit by Hurricane Katrina. There is still a lot of renovating going on to this day. The following are some of the sites we've seen:

This is Oak Alley Plantation, a plantation home from the antebellum period. It was a working plantation for sugar cane that sat on 1,200 acres. There are 28, 300 year-old Louisiana Live Oaks that create an alley, where the plantation gets its name.

A donkey and carriage in front of a quintessential French Quarter building with its veranda and wrought iron balconies.

We ate some tasty Biegnets covered in powdered sugar at the famous Cafe Du Monde.

Megan and I in front of Saint Louis Cathedral, a historic Catholic Church in the French Quarter.

New Orleans is an old city and has a number of cemeteries. All of the tombs/graves are above ground because they would otherwise float away due to the water table that sits below the ground.

Us outside the River Walk, a mall along the Mississippi River.