Days 3 and 4

Berlin and Hamburg

The tallest building in Europe is located in Berlin, and it used to be a symbol of East Berlin and the communist GDR, or German Democratic Republic.  It is referred to as the TV Tower, and the view from the observation deck (over 2000’ above ground level) is remarkable.  This is one tower we did not climb as it is accessible only by elevator (not 2-3,000 stairs).

One of the things you see from 2000 feet up are the rivers and canals that criss cross Berlin.  From ground level you see them one at a time.  One of the ways to tour Berlin is by water, and they call Berlin the Venice of Germany.  BTW, there are more bridges over water in Berlin than in Venice.  We didn’t see any gondolas, however.  

As we mentioned before, there used to be an East Berlin and East Germany.  During those years, the East Germans decided the state needed to make automobiles for its people and designed the Trabi.  All you had to do is order one . . . and wait 9 or 10 years to be built!   The only thing special about the Trabi was the amount of time you waited to get it.  Shortly after the collapse of the East German state in 1989, production of Trabi ceased.  There are a few left, including these with a fresh coat of paint.  Wow, Shari likes the orange one, of course.

On our third day in Germany, we traveled to the train station to take a short trip to Hamburg to visit Janna’s parents, Ingrid and Detlef.  They, too, came to the U.S. over 20 years ago, and we had become good friends.  They also took in our son, Lee, when he did a college semester in Hamburg.  

Hamburg is a port city even though miles and miles from the ocean.  It’s on the river Elba, probably not a name that you use in conversations very often.  But it looks more like a port city than Seattle, which we think of as one of the bigger ones on the west coast.  In the Hamburg harbor the evening we were there were both the Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary 2.  

BTW, the structure in the left background is not a ship.  It’s the City’s Philharmonic Hall that looks like a large futuristic ship.  Part of the Queen Mary 2 shows in the right side of the picture.

We’ve been to Hamburg years ago to see our friends.  They were such great host parents they even donated for a church roof in the name of Lee, and we decided to find the plaque with his name.  There are LOTS of plaque as this was no small roof.

We all worked end to end of these many metal plates with scores of names on each plate.  It’s good eye exercise!  No Luck until Shari suggested a registry! 

Being a port city, Hamburg has plenty of fresh seafood, so when in Hamburg we eat as the Hamburgers do - great fish!  This dish that Shari and Ingrid had was crab and fish, the crab being the smaller of the two.  The presentation confirms you are getting seafood, a fish eating a lemon. 

Reluctantly, we have to mention the special adventure we had to get to Hamburg.  Janna drove us to the train station to catch the Berlin to Hamburg high speed train for which we had tickets at a scheduled time.  Unfortunately, as we got to within a mile of the train station, there were blockades on the streets to get us to the station.  It caught her by surprise and ultimately we saw in the distance a large protest in the streets leading to the station.  Janna had to let us make our way on our own as there was nowhere to park and lead us and time was running out.  So the two of us set off on a jog to make the scheduled time through the protestors.  We think the 10’s of thousands of protestors were marching against eliminating the tax breaks for renewable energy, something they have a lot more of than we Americans have.  Anyway, we are not runners anymore, barely joggers.  The protestors were great when I said we needed to get to the station . . . just smiles and giving us room to jog on!  It was our longest jog in a long time.  We even had packs on our backs.  What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!!