Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Spring has Sprung in Dublin 4
My street when I arrived on 1 February and the day I came home from New York 19 April.
Coincidences in a Big City
After saying farewell to Nancy and Katie I had a day to myself with a plan to visit the United Nations, Staten Island and take in another Broadway show Wicked. After lots of sightseeing via ferry, train and bus, I sat down about an hour before the show for some tea. I was really aware of being on my own after the great company I had had in the past few days but ordered my solitary meal anyway. A couple next door to me must have noticed the look of incredulity when my enormous meal arrived as it had enough food and calories for four people. They commented on the meal, offering to share etc and after exchanging pleasantries they left. So after dinner, I enter a theatre that holds 1,200 people, find my single seat and who are sitting right next to me but the same couple from the restaurant – and they say this is a big city. It made my night very pleasant as they were a friendly couple from Louisiana and I didn’t feel on my own at all, a very nice way to spend my final night in New York.
The Best Pizza in New York
Views from the Brooklyn Bridge
So why did we travel from mid town Manhatten to Brooklyn for Pizza? First of all Nancy’s New York guide said we should but we originally ignored the advice as we didn’t think we could fit a trip to Brooklyn in before one of our concerts. However, as we passed a group of policemen, Nancy said we should ask them for directions to a pizzeria as they were the ones with the reputation for eating pizza (yes and donuts too), so I asked. This gorgeous looking, young policeman (Katie is now considering adjusting her criteria for boyfriends to include Brooklyn policemen) said it was a shame we weren’t in Brooklyn as that was where he, and the best pizza came from. If ever we had been given a sign - this was it – so we went back down the subway to go under the river to Brooklyn. Exiting from underground and looking for directions, a local man overheard us talking and said if we were heading for Grimaldi’s Pizza we were going to get the finest pizza in New York. With this encouragement we thoroughly enjoyed the best pizza I have tasted outside of Rome (and made the concert on time as well).
Monday, April 23, 2007
Finding Travel Soul Mates in New York
When I first arrived in Dublin in February I was looking at a world map and discovered that New York was only a hop, skip and jump from Ireland. Which is why, last week, I took off to visit the Big Apple for five days. I thought I would also love to see US friends, mother and daughter, Nancy and Katie Richards and as they only live about 5,000 kms away in Oregon I thought I would invite them to join me – which they did.
We met in the New York apartment they had booked for us and then we proceeded to fit as much as we could into our days together. Central Park, Liberty and Ellis Islands, walking across Brooklyn Bridge, Madame Butterfly (New York Opera House), a contemporary percussion concert (Julliard School of Music), Chicago on Broadway, the top of the Empire State Building, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Natural History Museum filled in three days very well. However, if asked, Katie may offer the opinion that her Mom and Australian host Mum (Katie lived with us for a year when she was 17) were slightly driven to get things done and forfeited basic things like food and road safety in their quest to discover New York (this was a first trip for Nancy as well). Earlier I told Katie about the movie “An Affair to Remember” and the important role played by a New York yellow taxi and she reckons by following Nancy and I every time we dashed across the street in between the traffic, she nearly got run over by a cab. By the way we didn’t entirely forgo food as we enjoyed stacks of pancakes for breakfast, hotdogs from a Central Park hotdog stand and Brooklyn Pizza.
We met in the New York apartment they had booked for us and then we proceeded to fit as much as we could into our days together. Central Park, Liberty and Ellis Islands, walking across Brooklyn Bridge, Madame Butterfly (New York Opera House), a contemporary percussion concert (Julliard School of Music), Chicago on Broadway, the top of the Empire State Building, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Natural History Museum filled in three days very well. However, if asked, Katie may offer the opinion that her Mom and Australian host Mum (Katie lived with us for a year when she was 17) were slightly driven to get things done and forfeited basic things like food and road safety in their quest to discover New York (this was a first trip for Nancy as well). Earlier I told Katie about the movie “An Affair to Remember” and the important role played by a New York yellow taxi and she reckons by following Nancy and I every time we dashed across the street in between the traffic, she nearly got run over by a cab. By the way we didn’t entirely forgo food as we enjoyed stacks of pancakes for breakfast, hotdogs from a Central Park hotdog stand and Brooklyn Pizza.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Getting to the Skelligs
When the people in Dublin said that getting to Skellig Michael was difficult, I looked at the map and thought 300kms - how can that be complex? But they weren’t talking about the drive across the country they were talking about the last 12kms across water. Booking a boat to go is almost impossible because they don’t take long term bookings because of the weather. Even the slightest swell can make landing on the island tricky and when they say this isn’t a trip for the fainthearted they aren’t exaggerating to entice thrill seekers – it really is tricky.
First of all, if you are not a good sailor you have to avoid the Irish Fry of bacon, sausages, black pudding etc. Then you take on the litigious filled Irish way of getting on a boat – by heaving yourself over the edge of a bobbing jetty onto a bobbing boat, across the deck full of rope, nets and cray pots, then haul yourself over the side of this moving boat onto the next moving boat and jump down onto the deck narrowly missing other stuff strewn around. I sat there speechless (now there’s a first) as the captain started up the engine and started out of the harbour. At this point he hadn’t asked anyone there name or had taken any money. (He also didn’t share any other information like where the life jackets or life rafts were either). So we were off to see the island on which in the year 490 some monks decided to build a monastery, but is now only inhabited by petrels, gannets, gulls and puffins. (I’m a quick learner).
The whole trip was magical. After an hour the island looms up out of the haze to a height of 200m with almost sheer cliffs. We got off the boat by waiting for the swell to get to the right height next to some concrete steps - and then you leap. You then climb six hundred c1,500 year old steps trying to imagine why people would isolate themselves like this – especially knowing that they probably rowed here in coracles (sp?) The monastic buildings at the top were beehive stone cells that you can enter and feel how the monks would have lived out there day in silent prayer. A really appropriate experience given that the day was Easter Sunday.
First of all, if you are not a good sailor you have to avoid the Irish Fry of bacon, sausages, black pudding etc. Then you take on the litigious filled Irish way of getting on a boat – by heaving yourself over the edge of a bobbing jetty onto a bobbing boat, across the deck full of rope, nets and cray pots, then haul yourself over the side of this moving boat onto the next moving boat and jump down onto the deck narrowly missing other stuff strewn around. I sat there speechless (now there’s a first) as the captain started up the engine and started out of the harbour. At this point he hadn’t asked anyone there name or had taken any money. (He also didn’t share any other information like where the life jackets or life rafts were either). So we were off to see the island on which in the year 490 some monks decided to build a monastery, but is now only inhabited by petrels, gannets, gulls and puffins. (I’m a quick learner).
The whole trip was magical. After an hour the island looms up out of the haze to a height of 200m with almost sheer cliffs. We got off the boat by waiting for the swell to get to the right height next to some concrete steps - and then you leap. You then climb six hundred c1,500 year old steps trying to imagine why people would isolate themselves like this – especially knowing that they probably rowed here in coracles (sp?) The monastic buildings at the top were beehive stone cells that you can enter and feel how the monks would have lived out there day in silent prayer. A really appropriate experience given that the day was Easter Sunday.
Listing all the birds they had spotted. the avid bird watchers looked almost euphoric as we descended back down the steep stairs to do the reverse with getting back on to the boat. I was much more connected to the people history and the aesthetic beauty of the cliffs which like the stairs had no protective balustrades or fences – obviously there were no lawyers in 490. By the way, the boatman made a nice little earner by taking 40 euros cash off the 14 punters without a ticket or receipt - perhaps the taxmen, like a lot of people, think getting to the Skelligs is too difficult.
Yes I am going to University and thank you for asking
I have had a number of people write to ask am I still doing my uni course as I seem to be doing lots of other things. Now from all these blog entries you may have gleaned that I am not doing too much university work- this is absolutely not true, it just feels true. My whole Easter quest has been to travel to the remote Skelligs and particularly Skellig Michael as part of an assignment for the unit I am doing on Project Development.
This is the one where the lecturer Laurent Mauzellec (yes I get to listen to a lovely French accent every week) tells us how to approach heritage projects. Now as I have been doing said projects for 14 years this unit is slightly easier than the one about global biodiversity. In GB they talk about endemic species and I have learnt that not every living thing fits into the groups of plants and animals. Hands up those people that knew fungi and bacteria were in separate groups all of their own. (Alright put your hands down Dad, Anne, Annette and probably Tim). Now this is a big step for a person that after ten years of bush walking still differentiates plants by the “pretty pink bush” and remarks on how well yellow and purple flowers sit together aesthetically. So to be visiting the Skelligs in Kerry, which is a haven for birds and therefore bird watchers, is a first for me. Black birds, white birds, big birds, little birds I am primed and ready to go.
Love Cathy
Monday, April 09, 2007
Ireland is a grand place
Choosing to go south west to Kerry for Easter had only one drawback. On the eve of my departure I was reading a newspaper article - “What’s on in the Irish Arts” - and found out that if I had gone north I would have had the opportunity to be entertained by Easter Rabbit arrivals, duck races and wet sponge throwing (the italics for emphasis was theirs). However, I continued with my plan and thank goodness for Irish late nights because all the Dubliners had slept in, and on Good Friday morning at 7am I had the road to myself. This was in fact a necessity to allow for the number of U turns I performed to get on to the correct road. (Not having a UBD is challenging). I kept thinking I had gone the wrong way until I worked out the road next to the canal which I was using to guide me, may not have changed direction but it changed its name – seven times in the space of about five kilometres!
However I made the famous ring road and didn’t get lost exiting from Dublin, on a glorious warm day. It took only 30kms of traveling on the motor way before I changed plans and that was owing to the small problem of suddenly not being able to see more than 40m in front of me due to fog. As the speed limit is 120kms per hour on the motorway and all the Irish drivers chose to not let a lack of visibility slow them down, I chose to make a quick exit and meander through the lesser roads to Waterford and Kilkenny.
It was one of those fortunate detours that allowed me to see something that no one has ever mentioned and is not featured in Lonely Planet. Beetling along in the slow lane at about 100kms an hour I saw this sign to Manor Bridge Falls – is that an enticing name or what? So I set off (hoping it wasn’t 30kms inland) and after only five kms found a beautiful, tall waterfall and an amazing view across whole counties and out to sea. I then saw a car drive over the hill above me (on what I thought was a poorly paved footpath) and it didn’t come back. So not to be out done, I followed and had the most exhilarating drive down into a spectacular valley. The exhilarating part came with not knowing what was around the corner and playing the game with a large tractor of who-is-going-to-back-up-to-let-the-other-vehicle-pass-in-the-single-car-lane (he won, he was much bigger than me).
I finished a lovely day with a visit to the surprisingly beautiful Blarney Castle and gardens. I only just avoided embarrassing myself by managing to not quite pass out after the obligatory kissing the Blarney Stone. Thank goodness for the lovely US couple who held me up until I stabilized - whoever thought up that tradition did not have low blood pressure. Anyway as you can see from the length of this blog the myth worked and I have now been blessed with the gift of the gab. Lucky you.
Love Cathy
However I made the famous ring road and didn’t get lost exiting from Dublin, on a glorious warm day. It took only 30kms of traveling on the motor way before I changed plans and that was owing to the small problem of suddenly not being able to see more than 40m in front of me due to fog. As the speed limit is 120kms per hour on the motorway and all the Irish drivers chose to not let a lack of visibility slow them down, I chose to make a quick exit and meander through the lesser roads to Waterford and Kilkenny.
It was one of those fortunate detours that allowed me to see something that no one has ever mentioned and is not featured in Lonely Planet. Beetling along in the slow lane at about 100kms an hour I saw this sign to Manor Bridge Falls – is that an enticing name or what? So I set off (hoping it wasn’t 30kms inland) and after only five kms found a beautiful, tall waterfall and an amazing view across whole counties and out to sea. I then saw a car drive over the hill above me (on what I thought was a poorly paved footpath) and it didn’t come back. So not to be out done, I followed and had the most exhilarating drive down into a spectacular valley. The exhilarating part came with not knowing what was around the corner and playing the game with a large tractor of who-is-going-to-back-up-to-let-the-other-vehicle-pass-in-the-single-car-lane (he won, he was much bigger than me).
I finished a lovely day with a visit to the surprisingly beautiful Blarney Castle and gardens. I only just avoided embarrassing myself by managing to not quite pass out after the obligatory kissing the Blarney Stone. Thank goodness for the lovely US couple who held me up until I stabilized - whoever thought up that tradition did not have low blood pressure. Anyway as you can see from the length of this blog the myth worked and I have now been blessed with the gift of the gab. Lucky you.
Love Cathy
Seeing a lot more of the Wicklows than planned
On Steve’s last full day in Ireland we set off to see Powerscourt Waterfall – which is the highest waterfall in Britain according to the sign. The Irish people seem to be great at comparable statistics. (Just the other day I read an article announcing proudly that the average age of death in Ireland is no longer the worst in the EU. However, this was not owing to an improvement in living conditions or health – the article went on in a very honest tone to point out that the improvement on this table was owing to the nine new countries that have joined the EU – all who have worse average death rates than Ireland.)
After the waterfall as navigator I decided to take us on the scenic route to Glendalough through a mountain pass attractively called Sally Gap. Thank goodness for;
1) The fact that Sally Gap was attractive as we got to travel through it twice - once going the wrong way and then on the way back again.
2) An Irish farmer with only three tooth stumps in his mouth but a great sense of direction (“To be sure you can’t get lost in Ireland there is water all around you”).
3) Steve’s patience while I tried to find where we were with no road signs. (It is an Irish youth sport to steal signs or to turn them around the wrong way).
After lunch in a lovely charismatic pub, and after me leading Steve up the garden path only one more time, we arrived at Glendalough, one of my favourite places in Ireland. We had a lovely relaxing walk around a lake and through old monastic ruins from the 6th to 9th centuries. The car has got 1,100 kms extra on the clock since we picked it up and I plan to add a few more when I go away at Easter. Steve is returning home rested and all fired up to make some changes at work (and no doubt will be happy to drive without a navigator saying I think you may have to turn around now).
It doesn't rain in Ireland does it?
This was the question constantly on Steve’s lips as after five days in the Green Isle he had experienced nothing but blue skies. For two days it was so warm we lived dangerously and took off our coats and traveled in just shirt sleeves. With only five days to get round we decided to hire a car and travel north to Belfast and to see the Giants Causeway and Donegal on Ireland’s north west coast. The Giants Causeway is an amazing geological feature of perfectly tessellated hexagonal columns of rock that just happen to be located in a beautiful seaside setting. It could be perceived as more evidence to support intelligent design over science as it looks man made, but in actual fact there is a scientific reason behind it all. As the sun was setting we hopped from column to column like children and with Steve’s penchant for collecting rocks for his fish tank, I could see a glint in his eye but thank goodness even he didn’t think he could smuggle a 30cm diameter x 80cm high block of stone through customs.
The drive along the Northern Ireland coast took us into many little harbours and ports so lots of boats for Steve to look at and many photogenic scenes for me to shoot - so we were both happy. One stunning little town with a lovely sandy beach we saw from a pitch and putt course. We decided to play this as an alternative to the Royal Portrush Golf Club course which was just down the road. Pitch and Putt you ask – what about the real thing? Well owing to our time limits we decided we would first ask at the Royal course about their green fees for just nine holes. With a reply of 125 pounds each (about $600 altogether) Steve didn’t even get round to asking about clubs and buggy hire and I think he was still in shock when he got back to the car – the hysterical laughter was a bit of a give a way. So 12 pounds on pitch and putt was great entertainment value.
The drive along the Northern Ireland coast took us into many little harbours and ports so lots of boats for Steve to look at and many photogenic scenes for me to shoot - so we were both happy. One stunning little town with a lovely sandy beach we saw from a pitch and putt course. We decided to play this as an alternative to the Royal Portrush Golf Club course which was just down the road. Pitch and Putt you ask – what about the real thing? Well owing to our time limits we decided we would first ask at the Royal course about their green fees for just nine holes. With a reply of 125 pounds each (about $600 altogether) Steve didn’t even get round to asking about clubs and buggy hire and I think he was still in shock when he got back to the car – the hysterical laughter was a bit of a give a way. So 12 pounds on pitch and putt was great entertainment value.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Planes, trains and automobiles (and a segway)
Moving quickly around Spain in our remaining five days was made easy by a high speed train from Seville to Madrid (240kms per hour) and then by picking up an Audi and hitting the Spanish motorways which did not appear to have a maximum speed limit.
We had paused for only 24 hours in Madrid with the intention of seeing Picasso's art at the Museo de Arte Reine Sofia. I was particularly interested in seeing the amazing Guernica so we set off to enjoy this museum that we found only 300m from our hotel (this was pure coincidence). With Steve's interest in any form of transportation we also decided to follow up something we had seen in Seville, a Segway tour. A segway is a machine with two wheels that is powered with batteries. The best way to describe it is a short scooter which you guide....in fact I can't describe it. But you stand on it and power it forward and back by purely shifting your body weight. We had a three hour night tour of Madrid that took in the old city under lights so of course the palaces, castles and cathedrals looked magical.
The next day we picked up the hire car, flashed through the city traffic and escaped into the green country side that made me forget I was in Spain as it has all the attributes of Tuscany - high walled medieval towns, green rolling hills and poplar trees. Steve is a great driver - even on the 'wrong' side of the road and unlike our travels in Australia I don't have to give a 300km warning to stop for a photograph or lunch break - he was happily prepared to get from A to B via C and D. So our four days of discovering the north of Spain along the Bay of Biscay was relaxing and revealing. Why doesn't everyone rave about this part of Spain as they do Italy's Tuscany? It was inexpensive, historically old, interesting and aesthtically pleasing. Even Steve the Great Australian afficianado said "When we come back we must do..." a compliment of the highest order.
After three weeks away though I am looking forward to going 'home' and not proceeding every sentence with - excuse me do you speak English? Ireland here we come.
We had paused for only 24 hours in Madrid with the intention of seeing Picasso's art at the Museo de Arte Reine Sofia. I was particularly interested in seeing the amazing Guernica so we set off to enjoy this museum that we found only 300m from our hotel (this was pure coincidence). With Steve's interest in any form of transportation we also decided to follow up something we had seen in Seville, a Segway tour. A segway is a machine with two wheels that is powered with batteries. The best way to describe it is a short scooter which you guide....in fact I can't describe it. But you stand on it and power it forward and back by purely shifting your body weight. We had a three hour night tour of Madrid that took in the old city under lights so of course the palaces, castles and cathedrals looked magical.
The next day we picked up the hire car, flashed through the city traffic and escaped into the green country side that made me forget I was in Spain as it has all the attributes of Tuscany - high walled medieval towns, green rolling hills and poplar trees. Steve is a great driver - even on the 'wrong' side of the road and unlike our travels in Australia I don't have to give a 300km warning to stop for a photograph or lunch break - he was happily prepared to get from A to B via C and D. So our four days of discovering the north of Spain along the Bay of Biscay was relaxing and revealing. Why doesn't everyone rave about this part of Spain as they do Italy's Tuscany? It was inexpensive, historically old, interesting and aesthtically pleasing. Even Steve the Great Australian afficianado said "When we come back we must do..." a compliment of the highest order.
After three weeks away though I am looking forward to going 'home' and not proceeding every sentence with - excuse me do you speak English? Ireland here we come.
Being Spanish Language Challenged in Spain
OK so may be learning the words for please and thank you aren't enough to get you around Spain - we now know that it is also necessary to know the names of all the variety of tapas and possibly even a few different brands of beer to have a really full Spanish experience.
We found this out in our two days based in beautiful Seville. Beautiful because the city is so easy on the eyes with the amazing architecture influenced by the medieval period Islamic Moors. Yet more long days of walking were interrupted only by beer and tapas and one night of flamenco dancers. Steve's and my Spanish language skills were really tested as per favore and gracius were just not enough to order a full meal. So that sense of anticipation that they say is important when travelling to a new place was experienced by us every time we sat down to order at a restaurant. What were we going to get? How much have we oredered? Is the wine going to be red? (or Rose as we had last night)
Another travel theory - not to reject something from a position of ignorance. Which is how I found myself on a tour of Seville's Bull Fighting Ring. Though I did not experience a live bullfight, I can now say from a more informed point of view that I think bull fighting is cruel. I said to Steve, How is this so different from cockfighting which has been banned in a lot of Asian countires? Steve considered his answer before replying that he couldn't see a matador being able to encite a chicken to anger and that killing it with a lance might be a bit over the top. I give up.
We found this out in our two days based in beautiful Seville. Beautiful because the city is so easy on the eyes with the amazing architecture influenced by the medieval period Islamic Moors. Yet more long days of walking were interrupted only by beer and tapas and one night of flamenco dancers. Steve's and my Spanish language skills were really tested as per favore and gracius were just not enough to order a full meal. So that sense of anticipation that they say is important when travelling to a new place was experienced by us every time we sat down to order at a restaurant. What were we going to get? How much have we oredered? Is the wine going to be red? (or Rose as we had last night)
Another travel theory - not to reject something from a position of ignorance. Which is how I found myself on a tour of Seville's Bull Fighting Ring. Though I did not experience a live bullfight, I can now say from a more informed point of view that I think bull fighting is cruel. I said to Steve, How is this so different from cockfighting which has been banned in a lot of Asian countires? Steve considered his answer before replying that he couldn't see a matador being able to encite a chicken to anger and that killing it with a lance might be a bit over the top. I give up.
Sunny Spain
I know this title seems a cliche but in our case it was a true experience. We left a grey, cold, and wet Berlin to arrive on the south coast of Spain in a warm, blue skied Matalascanos. We did this via Palma de Mallorca and Seville where Steve and I experienced a plane landing almost sideways and slewing down the runway while everyone grasped the arms of their seat and tried to compose thier faces as if this was a normal landing. Being an experienced flyer I was cool - I just sat their imagining a script for the Worlds Worst Airline Disasters (BY THE WAY WHAT IS WIND SHEER?). In Seville we met my Uni group as this was the beginnings of a six day field trip (yes I am doing some Uni work).
Happy to be out of a city environment for a while - we enjoyed four days at the World Heritage Listed Donana National Park - home of the endangered Iberian Lynx. Steve showed a fabulous capacity for patience as he trooped around with us as we site visited, listened to lectures, bird watched and discussed natural heritage conservation. His innate inquisitiveness was a boon and he fitted in really well with everyone. The Irish lecturers and students were also very relaxed and there consumption of alcohol and tolerance for lack of sleep could rival any Australian on holdiay.
We had an interesting experience in that one of the animals being bred to repopulate Donana National Park is the RABBIT. Yes to all Australians out there who live west of the Rabbit Proof Fence - they are spending thousands of Euros to breed up rabbits so that animals further up the food chain have enough to eat. We actually went rabbit spotting and the ranger from the Park blanched and then continued to look horrified as we explained that in Australia rabbit spotting was simply a prelude to shooting them.
Special moments for me other than sharing the trip with Steve was seeing large stands of eucalypts to remind me of Australia and flocks of flamingos, especially when they took off and created flights of pink clouds.
Happy to be out of a city environment for a while - we enjoyed four days at the World Heritage Listed Donana National Park - home of the endangered Iberian Lynx. Steve showed a fabulous capacity for patience as he trooped around with us as we site visited, listened to lectures, bird watched and discussed natural heritage conservation. His innate inquisitiveness was a boon and he fitted in really well with everyone. The Irish lecturers and students were also very relaxed and there consumption of alcohol and tolerance for lack of sleep could rival any Australian on holdiay.
We had an interesting experience in that one of the animals being bred to repopulate Donana National Park is the RABBIT. Yes to all Australians out there who live west of the Rabbit Proof Fence - they are spending thousands of Euros to breed up rabbits so that animals further up the food chain have enough to eat. We actually went rabbit spotting and the ranger from the Park blanched and then continued to look horrified as we explained that in Australia rabbit spotting was simply a prelude to shooting them.
Special moments for me other than sharing the trip with Steve was seeing large stands of eucalypts to remind me of Australia and flocks of flamingos, especially when they took off and created flights of pink clouds.
Being united in Berlin
Well it isn't just the East and West Berliners that have celebrated being united - Steve and I have also joined up again after being seperated for two months. It was lovely having a travelling companion again and Steve and I set off to discover Berlin on foot. This was after Steve donned a coat, beanie and gloves to ward off the 6 degree temperature.
Every new corner of Berlin was a reminder of either the disastrous effects of WWII ot the aftermath of the division of this great city and the country during the Cold War era. After a four hour walking tour, both being history buffs we had discovered lots of things to explore. Then, sticking to the theory that one museum looked at well is better than lots of museums viewed superficially, we settled on viewing the statuesque Nefertiti at the Egytian Antiquities museum in the building that is the backdrop for a lot of Hitlers gatherings prior to the war.
Communication in Berlin did not pose any problems for Steve and I because thank goodness the Berliners spoke excellent English. Also another travel theory that seems to work - if you learn the local words for please, thank you and excuse me you can do the rest with hand gestures. Steve however, works on the theory of basic economics - he figures that the shops and restaurants will put up with our ignorance because they want our custom. He keeps muttering it is just a matter of commerce - I hope the same system works in Spain.
Every new corner of Berlin was a reminder of either the disastrous effects of WWII ot the aftermath of the division of this great city and the country during the Cold War era. After a four hour walking tour, both being history buffs we had discovered lots of things to explore. Then, sticking to the theory that one museum looked at well is better than lots of museums viewed superficially, we settled on viewing the statuesque Nefertiti at the Egytian Antiquities museum in the building that is the backdrop for a lot of Hitlers gatherings prior to the war.
Communication in Berlin did not pose any problems for Steve and I because thank goodness the Berliners spoke excellent English. Also another travel theory that seems to work - if you learn the local words for please, thank you and excuse me you can do the rest with hand gestures. Steve however, works on the theory of basic economics - he figures that the shops and restaurants will put up with our ignorance because they want our custom. He keeps muttering it is just a matter of commerce - I hope the same system works in Spain.
