Mo'a Romig-Boyles

Stolpersteine

Berlin has not forgotten it's history.  Wherever you go in the city you are steeped in history.
From the houses of worship such as the  Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche and....

...and the Synagoge Oranienburger Straße

The magnificent museums such as the Alte Nationgalerie seen below and the Altes Museum that houses the famous statue "Nofretete"  Nefertiti.

There are buildings of all kinds old and new that catch your attention.

 

Then there are places we have all heard about...Checkpoint Charlie and The Brandenburg Gate that was so prominent in the news 20 years ago when the wall came down.

There are  bricks embedded into the pavement and road that mask where the wall used to be...now one is able to walk or drive freely, on either side of, and over those bricks.
There are also museums and memorials in remembrance of the Holocaust victims. 
Mette our Daughter-in-law took us to this one, The Memorial of the Murdered Jews of Europe. It was a profoundly emotional experience to walk among the concrete slabs...getting disoriented, in what seems to be an orderly pattern, as you walk into deeper and deeper into the Memorial.

  However, to me, what was the most profound memorials of all, were the Stolpersteine Stumbling blocks/stones, by the artist Gunter Demnig. The small 4x4 inches Stumbling blocks are made of  concrete cube covered with a sheet of brass on which Gunther Demnig  adds the writing “Hier wohnte” (Here lived), the name, year of birth and the fate of the person whose stone it is...such as the date of deportation and of death.  These stones are put down flush in the pavement/sidewalk in front of the last residence of the victim.
The Stolpersteine moved me to tears. I thought of the tears that were shed both outwardly and inwardly on the spot where we were standing.  I thought of the fear and confusion of the victims...and the inhumanity of it all.
As we walked along the Berlin streets happy to be together, laughing, talking and generally reveling in the pleasure of being together...we would come up to a Stolpersteine. 
We would stop and quietly show our respect and honor each victim by reading their name and other information on their Stolpersteine.

Sausages And Other Delights

As I promised here is a post about the food available in Berlin.

Every morning while we were there, either my Son or Husband, would go out to the local bakery to buy fresh rolls that we call runstykki in Icelandic and rundstykke in Danish...named in both languages for the roundness of the roll. We have them with either a piece of meat or cheese...yes :) for breakfast.

This is Brian, my son, in the bakery close to the apartment.

  Some mornings we would also have a Danish pastry...which in Denmark is called Wienerbrod and in Icelandic Vinabraud which means in both languages, Vienna Bread.

The bakeries in Berlin were a delight for all the senses.

Lunch was generally a light affair...perhaps a  Pulsa...hot dog, accompanied with a beer for the men.

One thing that is very popular in Berlin is a hot dog with some kind of sauce and sprinkled with curry powder, seen in the photo below. Not my favorite :) The little boy in the photo is though.

Speaking of hot dogs/sausages...I have never in my life seen so many types to choose from...our friend Bjugnakraekir...Sausage-swiper, would have would have been overcome with joy, had he seen this place......his only problem would have been, how to carry them all away.

Some afternoons we would stop and have midday coffee and perhaps something sweet.

...or just a cup of coffee at the playground...

...while the children played.

We visited many great playgrounds. There was one next to our apartment building, that had this fantastic rope bridge...

...and a great slide.

Most nights we ate at home in our rented apartment...that way the children were free to play and we could have an enjoyable time visiting with each other.
We would buy all sorts of meats and cheese to have with lovely fresh breads...there was so much to choose from.

There were also other delights to consider. Where do you suppose this Lobster comes from?

Other times we would go out to a restaurant ...

...and I would have one of my all time favorite dishes Wiener Schnitzel also known as Vienna Style Schnitzel.

There was also great shopping in Berlin.  Here Mette, my Daughter-in-law, and I are doing some serious shopping at Galleries Lafayette Berlin. Check out this web site to see what has caught our interest.
We bought severals of these, these and this.

Are you still with me ? :)  This certainly turned out to be a long post.

Do you like the slide or the See Saw? 

What is your favorite type of food?  Do you prefer sweet or savory ?

Easter Vacation in Berlin

We took a little trip to Berlin, Germany for an Easter Vacation.

Berlin is an amazing city that touches your heart.  Even though it is 20 years since the fall of the wall one still has a sense of what it must have felt like to live there for the twenty eight years that the wall separated the city.
Below is the famous Brandenburg Gate.

We rented an apartment in this building next to the Television Tower at Alexanderplatz.  The Television Tower was a show of strength and might by the GDR...a thumbing of the nose so to speak.   This tower can be seen almost everywhere you go in Berlin.

My Daughter-in-law, who takes her German class to Berlin every year, chose this area because of the proximity to Museum Island and transportation. It was great to be in Berlin with Mette as she know the city well and was a wonderful tour guide.

We traveled from one end of the city to another...by train, tram, bus and boat.  Our little grandchildren were a delight and great travelers...well they have Viking blood after all and we all know how much travel the Vikings did.

We had lots of good things to eat.  I will do another post to show you some of the food of Berlin...the sweet and the savory.

The wait is worth it...we had many delicious things to eat.

Just one more photo to wet you appetite :)

 

OK!!! the secret is out...I was fascinated with the sweet concoctions. Would you believe me if I told you that I did not have many sweets?  Well maybe just a few ;)