Friday, June 13, 2014

We took the train to an outlying area north of Berlin called Wannsee. It reminds me of Michigan, with rivers and lakes.  Our destination was another historical site, a beautiful villa that was bought by the Nazi SS.  It was here that the extermination of the Jews was planned.


The bike ride to the villa was very pleasant. We passed by several yacht clubs.  It reminded me of Gull Lake with larger lots and homes.




Autumn introduces me to upscale shopping in Berlin.


We had a  lovely dinner with friends near Victoria Park.  




Thursday, June 12, 2014

This is part of the summer palace complex in Potsdam.  There are several palaces, fountains, and extensive gardens, used by Fredrick the Great. We also visited the site of the Potsdam Conference, where Stalin, Truman and Churchill resolved problems at the end of World War II.



Our main interest in visiting Berlin was seeing a piece of our daughter's life.  We are managing to see quite a few historical sites also.

We took the train to Potsdam, then rode our bikes around.  This is a display of a few of the bikes parked at the station.  Moms have little carts attached to the bikes with 2 or 3 children in them. 




Monday, June 9, 2014

Berlin is a beautiful but gritty city.  There are many, many cigarette butts. These young people smoke! Lots of grafitti. Old mixed with communist, turkish, and modern.  We are riding our bikes at least ten miles a day.

                                          Legal brothel on lower level.
We were very happy to see the site of the Berlin airlift.  Don's Uncle Tom was part of this and attended many Berlin Airlift reunions.  Growing up in the shadow of WW2, it was a big part of our life.  The airport is now a large park.  We were riding by and ran into a group of people from Silver City!
                                  The slide like structure is a memorial to the Berlin Airlift.  The people of Berlin appreciated the food and supplies the US brought in.
 
 Two Dads meet and are great friends.

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Berlin boat tour and bike ride


    My family humored me by going on the boat tour our first full day in Berlin.  I LOVE boat tours. Berlin is the greenest city I have ever been in.  There are numerous parks and lovely trees line the canals and river.  Our boat went on a big circle through the city.  We went through 3 locks, as the level of the water changes.

                                 People chilling near the canal.



I can see why my daughter fell in love with this city.