The A B C of Berlin...

A is for Ampelmännchen....

...who, according to The Fount of All Knowledge (Wikipedia), is...

...the symbolic person shown on traffic lights at pedestrian crossings in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR - East Germany). Prior to the German reunification in 1990, the two German states had different forms for the Ampelmännchen, with a generic human figure in West Germany, and a generally male figure wearing a hat in the east.

The Ampelmännchen is a beloved symbol in Eastern Germany, enjoying the privileged status of being one of the few features of communist East Germany to have survived the end of the Iron Curtain with his popularity unscathed. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Ampelmännchen acquired cult status and became a popular souvenir item in the tourism business.

You may have already spotted him in two of my photos of my last post, Autumn in Berlin.

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B is for the Brandenburg Gate....

The Brandenburg Gate is one of the most well-known landmarks of Berlin and Germany, located west of the city centre at the junction of Unter den Linden and Ebertstraße. It was commissioned by King Frederick William II of Prussia as a sign of peace and built by Carl Gotthard Langhansfrom 1788 to 1791. Having suffered considerable damage in World War II, the Brandenburg Gate was fully restored from 2000 to 2002 by the Stiftung Denkmalschutz Berlin (Berlin Monument Conservation Foundation). During the post-war Partition of Germany the gate was isolated and inaccessible immediately next to the Berlin Wall, and the area around the gate featured most prominently in the media coverage of the opening of the wall in 1989.

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C is for Checkpoint Charlie....

Checkpoint Charlie (or "Checkpoint C") was the name given by the Western Allies to the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War.

GDR leader Walter Ulbricht agitated and manoeuvred to get the Soviet Union's permission for the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 to stop Eastern Bloc emigration westward through the Soviet border system, preventing escape across the city sector border from East Berlin to West Berlin. Checkpoint Charlie became a symbol of the Cold War, representing the separation of east and west. Soviet and American tanks briefly faced each other at the location during the Berlin Crisis of 1961.

After the dissolution of the Eastern Bloc and the reunification of Germany, the building at Checkpoint Charlie became a tourist attraction.

Photos my own. Text adapted from Wikipedia.

Autumn in Berlin....

Lessons Learnt In Berlin...

The Brandenburg Gate

I was in Berlin last week for a work conference.  Here's what I learnt....

While I did wonder if Berlin would Take My Breath Away....you know, like the 1980s group on the 'Top Gun' soundtrack? Get it? Oh well, never mind!.... I hadn't banked on getting a hotel room at andel's Hotel Berlin that stank so strongly of old, stale smoke that I was left gasping as soon as I walked in! For only the second time in my life, I demanded a new room - the first time was under similar circumstances in The Stratosphere, Las Vegas.

Unless you're fluent in German, it's probably best not to attempt to set your own wake-up call via the hotel phone of your Berlin hotel room. Wake-up calls a good hour before you need them are not endearing... especially when your body clock is already put out by the hour's time zone change!

Sitting though seminars, plenary lectures, workshops and networking sessions all day is exhausting! I think my brain reached its Information Overload threshold about halfway through the week.

Social dinners at a brewery, where the beers are served by the litre, are somewhat wasted on someone who is almost a teetotaller these days. I did get chance to admire the decor though....

Spicy hot chocolate is exactly what is says on the tin - hot chocolate that is spicy!

Best served with a slice of apple tarte!

My sense of direction and map reading skills do not improve with age. It seems the more places I travel to, the quicker I get myself lost. However, if I've learnt anything from being lost in quite a few strange cities, it's that the quickest and least stressful, albeit most expensive way to find your way back to your hotel is to hail a taxi cab!

It's one way to get around the city...

Although I recently passed my 4th kyu (3rd level) grading in Aikido, I was not yet confident of my abilities to fend off any would-be attackers, when my haphazard wanderings led me into a dark alley in a slightly dodgy part of Berlin! Luckily, my new-found fitness and litheness of body meant I could hot foot it out of there prompto!

The biggest tourist attraction in Berlin is something that doesn't actually exist any more! While there are panels of the Berlin Wall doted around the city, the Wall itself, thankfully, came down almost a quarter of a century ago. There are some other Walls in the world right now that could do with a topple...

More on Berlin soon.....

Baby, you're a firework!

Last night we donned thermals, hats, scarves and gloves and braved the elements... just so I could bring you all these slightly abstract shots of the Guy Fawkes' Night fireworks display at Moggerhanger Park.....

Do any of you celebrate Guy Fawkes' Night?

Trouble and Strife

My poor, long-suffering husband…. almost 11 years ago he promised to give me his unending love and devotion, to share his thoughts, hopes, and dreams with me. He also promised to be The One Who Disposes of All Things That Crawl and Flap and Buzz, and The Calm One in Adverse Situations… come to think of it, many of the adverse scenarios we have so far encountered in our lives together have been resolved by his expert spider slaying techniques. So actually, he got off rather lightly, all things considered… two roles rolled into one, so to speak.

Or maybe not… he did marry into my somewhat insane oddball mad as a box of frogs eccentric family. I always say he should have run for the hills the day he met my brother. This is the same brother who assured me as a child that if he cut my Barbie doll’s hair, it would grow back… even longer and more luscious. Who set fire to my favourite baby doll, using her to put out the flames of a fire he had started in his cupboard. The self-same brother, who decided that ironing the creases out of his shoe laces would be the perfect intimidating activity to accompany his interrogation of B… one requiring a fierce spotlight lamp, apparently positioned just right to illuminate the ironing board, and by happy coincidence, casting a blinding bright light into B’s eyes!

Then there's my mom, who can take practical jokes a bit too far at times.

Anyway, that's enough about my family and other animals.

So…. it’s the last evening of our Thai holiday, and time to bid a sad farewell to the beautiful, tropical paradise of our lush resort, the smiling Thai people, excruciating but invigorating daily Thai massages, and of course, satay chicken on tap. How depressing to have to pack to go home… isn't that the worst part of the trip? And such a contrast to packing to go away… that can take me weeks of excited anticipation. Packing to travel home I usually leave till the last minute… no need to waste any precious holiday time neatly folding dirty clothes!

Just grab the cases, flip them open, chuck everything in and….. whoa!!! 

Hang on just an eight-legged freak-ing moment! What in the name of all that is hairy and scary is THAT THING leering up at me from the depths of Suitcase Abyss?

Possibly the ugliest spider I have yet to set eyes on… and I’ve eye-balled quite a few. Growing up in the Tropics, I’ve had more than my share of Close Encounters of the Arachnid Kind.

This Thai variety was almost snow white…. which was quite fortunate, as it was thus easily spotted as it set off at great speed across the dark, teak floor boards, towards the floor-length curtains.

Nat: Kill it! Kill it! Kill it!

B {barefoot and barely clothed}: With what, exactly?

Nat: Don’t care… just kill it! Kill it! KILL IT!

B: Pass me a shoe, please.

Note to self: Flimsy flip-flops and insubstantial strappy sandals may look pretty on holiday feet, but they are about as much use as a chocolate teapot when it comes to Arachnid Annihilating Activities.

Nat: You got it? I’d stand on that sandal now though, just to be sure...! {B lifts said sandal and (as if by magic) the spider has vanished. Presumably, it has crawled up the aforementioned (very pale) curtains... just perfect for any anaemic-looking spider trying to go incognito}

Note to the management of the Sala Samui Resort and Spa: Subdued lighting is all very well and romantic… but it does nothing to aid Spider Spotting Situations. Ditto the white curtains. But thank you for so thoughtfully providing a very powerful torch in the room…

To cut short a long, long, LONG story… involving the torch, an umbrella, lots of shrieking, and a loud thump… the sneaky spider’s plans to stowaway to London in our luggage were well and truly scuppered.

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Random Useless Piece of Information: in Cockney rhyming slang, your ‘trouble and strife’ is your wife…