Saxony and the Swiss

This summer Derek’s Tour Company (Insider Tours) began running tours in Dresden. It involves a two hour bus ride from Berlin to the state of Saxony which Dresden is it’s capital city. During our two hour ride Derek and John (Hebrew speaking guide)  kept us well informed with historical facts. After sitting for that length of time (actually bus was very comfortable) walking was definitely needed and Derek made sure we did plenty of that.

Historical Dresden is filled with titillating tales, religious discord, a long line of royalty that filled Dresden with culture and artistic splendor which later would be almost completely destroyed during a still controversial aerial bombing near the end of WW II.  The image below is the courtesy of  Dr. Torsten Henning who released it to the public domain. I thank him for this as it beautifully shows the Elbe river which splits Dresden into the “old city” and “new city”. Click on picture for full size.

The death of his brother from smallpox given to who him by his mistress  enabled Frederick Augustus to become the Electorate (ruler) of Saxony in 1694. Augustus became known as Augustus the Strong for his physical strength and iron rule, somehow I think it had more to do with his sexual stamina. He had at least 10 or more mistresses and the exact number of illegitimate children will probably never be known, 365-382 has been suggested. Yet Augustus did leave behind a legacy of castles, Meissen porcelain and as mentioned before culture and arts.

The most flamboyant of his castles was the Zwinger it’s open square   once lined with pavilions and arcade galleries that later would become exhibition galleries and library halls. After his death an Opera house was added to the square.  Much was destroyed during the aerial bombings or carpet bombing raids in 1945. Dresden’s dedication to restoring the Zwinger and the rest of it’s city is an amazing sight to behold.

Like many times before from ashes and rubble  history waiting to unfold and perhaps turn into something beautiful.

Does August 17th, 2002 mean anything to you? It does for the people of Dresden. It is the day flood waters from the Elbe river reached historic levels 9.39  meters or how about 31 feet. Derek is standing underneath a bridge where a broze plaque  marks the level the waters reached forcing over 30,000 people from their homes. It seems Dresden will always have a history of rebuilding itself.

Tropics and Royalty

The last time we toured Postdam Derek stripped off his shirt much to the delight of the young ladies, as the heat was unbelievable that day.  During that particular summer Berlin was having quiet the heat wave, however this summer is a different story we stepped the train in Postdam and walked into pouring rain. I guess the wetness was fitting as we were heading to the tropics. Out in the middle of nowhere stands this grass roofed concrete and glass building that would leave you to believe that not much was inside.  We discovered the exact opposite inside a tropical paradise filled with plants, lizards, birds, fish and butterflies.

These guys were our first encounter in our walk along a corridor  that had a least 20 built in terrariums housing different lizards, snakes and insects. The only thing missing was the opportunity to get close and personal with some of these guys.  Naturally some insects particularly the Stick Insects, were playing the game  hide and seek.  Their camouflage was fantastic we had a challenging time finding them, it was sheer delight when we did discover them.

We rounded the corner and beheld this beautiful sight, a small example of what we would soon encounter. Before going to the tropics we entered Darwin’s library (reproduction) and we were given a brief history of his life. Next elevator ride going down , doors opened….

Awestruck is what we were when we stepped through the door, for few minutes we did not move. We were taking in the beautiful flora and fauna in the Potsdam Biosphere while coming to the realization that this breath taking scene was achieved with 20,000 plants. To make the experience complete  rain began to fall along with clap of thunder and the blitz of lightening.

Coral reefs with all their splendor was our next visual delight.

Graceful and enchanting creatures beyond our grasp.  In dreams that  land gently upon my hand.  I watch these winged angels of the sky secretly wishing I could fly.

We were hard pressed to leave this tropical dome but there was still more to see that day. One the first things we saw as we left the biosphere was the sun. Making our next journey nice and dry.

Cecilienhof  was built for  Crown Prince Wilhelm Hohenzollern  and his wife Cecilia hence the castle’s name. It took about 3 years to build from 1914 to 1917 interesting is the architectural design used for this castle English Tudor.

It’s historical significance is what happened inside this building, Churchill, Truman, Stalin during  June 17th to 2nd of August 1945 met in the  halls of Cecilia Court Palace for the Potsdam Conference.  These men decided the fate of Germany and her people by taking steps to ensure post-war order through peace treaties, reversing all Germany’s annexation of Europe,  partitioning of  Germany  and the prosecution of Nazi war criminals.

Glienicke Bridge connects Postdam to Berlin after WW II it was divided into east and west. It became know as the Bridge of Spies during the Cold War as the United States and the Soviet Union used to carry out their exchange of captured spies.

Crossing the bridge over to Berlin we headed to a beer garden for refreshments. Good thing unbeknownst to us (Steve and I) we still had a fair walk ahead of us. You would think the last our son the Tour Guide would want to do is alot of walking on his day off. Lets just say Steve and I slept extremely well that night.  All that walking was just a prelude as to what lay ahead and that is another story.

History and Culture Abound

Would you believe that this lovely iron work is part of a bridge structure? It is the wall or protective rail of the bridge, like Vienna there are many intricate things to see in Berlin and sometimes in very unusual places. Before I continue with our Berlin vacation, just thought I let you know we survived our train to Berlin. It was a good thing we packed snacks as the galley car was left behind has it had no electrical power. By the time we got off the train the only thing on our minds was food. Luckily where Derek lives there are plenty of restaurants to choose from. In fact having too many made our task more difficult in picking a place to eat. Finally decided on a Indian place and the food was great. The one thing we did not find was a typical German eatery. There are Indian, Chinese, Thai, Turkish and Italian eating places galore. The ethnicity around here amazes me. It is a far cry from what Hitler had planned for Germany.

To no ones’ surprise Steve and I naturally did a couple of Derek’s History of Berlin tours. I was intrigued and surprised by this statue, it is part of a larger monument/statue in on honour of Friedrich Schiller standing in front of the Schauspielhaus now known as the Konzerthaus.  Friedrich Schiller  was a philosopher, poet, historian and playwright. On all four corners of the monuments sits a woman, 3 are young contemplative as you see by the photo this one is not. In fact even her clothing is different from the other perhaps she wears the cloak knowledge  and awaits to impart the wisdom she has obtained from the past.

Prague-Longest Day Of The Year

Our day started at 9:30 am with breakfast at our hotel, for the next 10 hours we walked, walked, breaked, walked, walked, dined, walked, walked and fell into bed around 9:30 pm. By the way we would highly recommend Hotel Absolut our room was spacious and clean as was the bathroom. Included in the cost was breakfast lots of bread,cheese, cold cuts, fruit, cereal and most importantly coffee. Location is great has it is only a four minute walk from the transit system which meant we were in the inner city in no time.

As our stay in Prague was short we decided to take a tour, picking a tour was not easy. It seems all the tour companies meet in the same area on mass. We arrived in The Old Town Square where about 15-20 sign waving, umbrella or bottle swinging as well as theatrical tour guides were trying to get the attention of the tourists. To say it was chaotic is an understatement it, took us about 15 minute to find a tour group we were aloud to join.

Unfortunately my son Derek did not talk to us for a few days as we informed him we took the Sandmann’s FREE tour (guides ask for tips later), which is the competition for the other tour companies around Europe where you pay for your tour. The free tour company was started by a young man who has an extremely rich father that financed all his tour companies. The idea being you have a free tour and then tip the guide whatever you want.

How does Sandmann make money you ask the tour guide has to pay the company 3 Euros per tourist that was in their group so you can imagine the guides want some big tips otherwise they could be left with making know money that day. Hence with the other companies guides get paid regularly and are not desperately begging for tips. Lesson when it is free there is always someone who has to pay.

Hoping before we leave we will be out of the dog house with Derek.

Guitar Hero and Gaudi Inspired

For the young music lovers of Vienna there is a spectacular event that happens in summer, Die Donau Insel Fest or The Danube Island (Open Air) Festival. It is a 3 day all day music event where bands from all over Austria, as well as some international ones perform live. With 21 stages there is music for everyone, heavy metal, folk, country, jazz, old rock, new rock, indy and my favourite blues band Wiener Linien Blues Band.

Now you may ask how do I come to have a favourite band from Austria? I am a bit bias as my (3rd) cousin plays for this band, he is their lead guitarist. Boy can he play and the band makes sure he does a few solos this would get everybody moving. They did play one of my favourites Mustang Sally  which made it a great night for me.

Steve and I did listen to another band a female string quartet, were they different. They would play traditional folk songs with a bit rock, jazz and other music genres mixed in. Their music style was something we had never heard before,  enjoyed it so much  that we bought their CD.

The amazing thing about all of this is that this great muscial entertainment is for free and they do this every summer. Steve and will be checking our calendar to make sure the next time we come to Vienna we are here for the Donau Insel Fest.

Now from music to architecture, a few times the name  Friedensreich Hundertwasser  was mentioned to us as one of Austria’s famous architects.

A Wonderful Surprise

Before I write about the surprise let me tell you about Schloss Schönbrunn. It is one of the most important cultural monuments in Austria. Built as as a palace and summer residence for the Hapsburg family, construction started 1696 and completed 1749 with the final touches coming from Empress Maria Tersia. During her reign it was considered to be Austria’s “golden era”. The grounds holds an extensive park and a zoo that is the oldest of its kind in the world.

It was constructed in 1751 by order of Kaiser (Emperor) Franz I Maria Tersia’s husband. At the time it consisted of 12 enclosures inhabited by the appropriate sized animal.

About 20 years ago Steve and I along with our two little ones visited the zoo. We walked away feeling very sad for the animals especially the elephants (were chained). This experience left me wondering why the city of Vienna had not closed down the Zoo.

Fast forward 20 years Steve and I enjoy the surprise of our life. We had over the years heard that tremendous changes had occurred at the zoo and we should go see it. But our past memories kept haunting us, this time there was a hook. Artists had come into the zoo and constructed environmental messages within some of the enclosures.

(notice Canada tattoos on shoulder on ankle)

Naturally we had to see what this was all about, we walked through the gates with apprehension only to receive a wonderful surprise especially when we saw the enclosure for the elephants.

OUTSIDE ( Hut with snow on message Should There Be Snow in Winter?)

(Indoor enclosure for elephants it also as an viewing gallery from above, what a change!)

I recently checked the world ranking for the zoo, many sights have ranked it number one and not too far behind is the Berlin zoo ranked number 3. Looks like we maybe checking out another zoo.

Lions, tigers and bears oh my.

Trouble In Paradise

Shy Pandas, photo the right is of the little baby panda that was born two years ago at the zoo, the mother is on the left.

Steve’s favourite animal Rhino with it’s armor on.

Going to the zoo, zoo how about you, you, you!

Discovering The New In The Old

I am letting the pictures do the talking as I am taking a new look at the buildings and monuments of Vienna.

I realized so often we take pictures on a broader scale as oppose to a small one the little details many times are missed.

Mozart Memorial

Just When You Thought You Have Seen Everything

Vienna is a wealth of leisure activities, my favourite are the coffee houses and Eis salons, there are many other activities but one of the most famous is the Vienna Prater. Unlike our CNE which is only open for 3 weeks, the Prater is open at least 6 months out of the year 7 days a week.

I could also go on about the less working hours for all concerned eg. hard to find stores open beyond 6:00 pm and the longer paid holidays. One could say leisure is more important than working 24/7 (so why can’t North America adopt this lifestyle?). Hence the reason why Steve and I are always seeing full coffee houses, restaurants and wine bars everytime we go into the city. Most of the people filling these places are the people of Vienna themselves.

Back to the Prater, the land where it stands was once hunting grounds in 1560 for Emperor Maximilian. In 1766, Emperor Joseph II donated the area to the Viennese as a public leisure center (even back then leisure was important). Where upon the emperor also allowed the establishment of restaurants and snack bars, thus began the birth of the Prater. The “better” class of people came here in horse-drawn carriages, Waltz King Johann Strauss performed here much to the delight of the Viennese people.

Now I wrote about this to tell you about a lesser known Prater. Around 1900 one quarter of the originally inhabitants of 10 district (Favoriten) in Vienna had come mainly from Bohemia and Moravia (now part of Czech Republic). Not only did they live in the 10 district the also worked for the largest local employer, the Wienerberg brick factory . Thus when a smaller version of the Vienna Prater came to be in the Laaer Woods about a 150 years ago it would be known as Böhmischer Prater (Bohemian Prater).

It Is A Long Way Down August 1, 2008

All I can say, I was glad I was the one taking pictures and not driving. However when I think about it being on the passenger side going up the mountains was no picnic. Everytime I stopped taking pictures and looked over the side realized it would not take much for our car to flip off the mountain. When a tour bus came down my heart jumped as we had to move over slightly to give it room. As far as I was concerned there was no room, however with Steve being on the mountain side he felt he had lots of room. Hence I decided to take pictures non stop till we go to the top. I did not even notice if Katrina was nervous or not I was so focused being the photographer.

By now you are wondering where in Spain are these scary mountains, Manresa.

Manresa is in the interior of the province of Barcelona and it is here where we did the heart attack drive up the mountains of Montserrat in order to see the Monastery that sits up in these mountains. Lets just say after that drive everybody had a queasy stomach and we were quite happy to get out of the car.

The basilica was built in 1592. It had to be reconstructed after the Napoleonic invasion then again in the 19th century and in 1939. Beginning of the 20th century several chapels were built in the mountains as well.

There is also a musem, as well as a luxury hotel and hostel. And if you were lucky you could also eat with the monks. Well not actually seat with them but sit in the same eating area as them. Do expect to have any conversation with them as they kept a vow of silence. After I flew home Katrina and Steve spent a couple a nights at the hostel and hiked in the mountains which was breath taking. As you will notice from the pictures these are very unusually formed mountains.

Just to let you know the car ride down was much easier maybe because I was on the mountain side. It was hard for me to believe that my trip was coming to an end as we drove down.

However I knew there would be some new adventure waiting for me next summer.

Hot, Hot July 25-30, 2008

We rented a car and drove to the coast, staying in the town of Cadaqués (fishing village) . It is a small town north of Barcelona just south of the French border it was a favourite holiday place of Salvador Dali. We were told there would not be too many tourists here, I think someone forgot to tell the tourists that, however it was still very enjoyable on the Mediterranean coast. Germans and French out numbered the English tourists, it really seemed out of place to speak English yet there must been alot coming from England as the menus were offered in all four languages.

Steve enjoyed the coastal life style sitting on the front veranda of the Hostel where we were staying while doing his work.Katrina and I loved the much warmer climate especially during our walks to the coast line and finding our own personal swimming spot.We did manage to find a nice one and we unplugged Steve from his computor and spent a couple hours there enjoying the sun, water and sea life.

Our next costal vacation was at Palafrugel was it ever beautiful there and hot. This place was packed with tourists, however we managed to find a very nice place Hotel Bo. The management went out of their way to accomodate our short stay.

You could not lie on the white sandy beach for too long, before having to jump into the water. You were a roasting duck without a beach umbrella.

Alas we could only stay for two days as we needed to head back to Barcelona in order for me to catch my flight home. We did make a stop along the way before we reached the city of Barcelona and that was a hair raising drive. Catch the full story on the next posting.