Towards home

No photos today- sorry. We spent yesterday wandering Berlin in the rain, and then some of yesterday drying out. We head for the airport this morning, and are supposed to be back in Southern California this evening. Thanks for reading! See you soon.

Berlin, Bicycles, Bundestag blue

We love Berlin, and so should you. I love watching all of the bikes go by - beaters and lovely Dutch commuters and bikes with two front wheels and a big bucket in between to carry children and groceries. Bikes parked all over, including large clusters at the U-Bahn stops.
We started our day with a quick tram ride and walk to the Reichstadt, the official building for the German parliament. We had to register for our tour today several months ago, and have our passports checked and metal detected before we were allowed in, where a somewhat quirky guide took us in. There's lots of glass in the Reichstadt, to symbolize the transparency of government - obviously important following most of the 20th century. Some more fun facts: the eagle, seen below, is nicknamed the fat hen. Guide told us its because it's heavy; I suspect some other kind of political motive.

The seats you see there are called "Bundestag blue" as the various political parties were upset that seat colors might demonstrate favoritism to one party. The purple was neutral enough for all. Parliamentary voting is estimated by two members from different parties, rather than electronically counted. When an exact count is needed, they call for a sheep jump - I'm sorry I can't remember what she said the word was in German. They sound a bell of some kind in all of the parliamentary buildings, and members enter the parliament chamber through the door that indicates their vote (abstention, yes, no); they are counted as they enter.

Lots of other rich history in the bulding, including graffiti from Russian soldiers when they took Berlin near the end of WWII. On top of the building is a giant glass dome that you can climb, or wander the rooftop and look out over Berlin. As usual, I'm too lazy to write all of the things that we found interesting, so you should read more, or visit.

After both parents napped, we struck back out for the Berlin zoo. A nice zoo, with people smoking as they wandered the paths between exhibits. The giraffes seem to have particularly ornate digs:

And you can get alarmingly close to the lions.

National Geographic would object strongly, I suspect, to the cages...

In other "small world" news, we chatted with a family at the Reichstadt this morning, and then saw them at the zoo this afternoon. They are from Orange County...

Update: Stuttgart

So. We are in Berlin, having driven most of the day, ditched the rental car and found our flat. We've no doubt bored you by raving about this hotel/apartment, so I'll spare you. Tomorrow we do some sightseeing and maybe some of our party will nap (I mean the parents).
Stuttgart is a lovely town, and we very much enjoyed finishing our visit with friends on their turf. Their neighborhood is full of modern and historic buildings, markets and bakeries that you walk to, and parks close by. Even if you don't care about cars all that much, the Porshe and Mercedes museums are really interesting (though, I like cars, so maybe I don't know any better). At the Mercedes museum, they also have nice things for kids to do:

And things for people who think they are kids.

We also decided that being in Bavaria, we should invade a castle. And there was one available - sitting on top of a hill and everything.

This is the Hohenzollern Castle, a Prussian castle built between 1846 - 1867. This is the third version of the castle, the first one having been destroyed in a siege and the second one fallen victim to "disrepair." How undignified for a castle. Nobody lives here now; it's used as a ceremonial site for family events like the christening of the prince and princess's twin sons (the day after we visited). No pictures of the inside, but here's a couple from outside.

Alrighty then.

Stuttgart

A spartan post this evening. Stuttgart is wunderbar, and we've enjoyed a relaxed tempo for the last couple of days, while still enjoying a farmers market, Porshe and Mercedes museums (as if my 2-cylinder Fiat needed more humiliation), and some other things. We drive to Berlin tomorrow, and finish our trip there. I'll post mo' pics from Stuttgart when we get there. For now, you can look at this and create your own story:

Tchüss!

Karlovy Vary

We are at the top of a hill, looking down on Karlovy Vary. Our host at our flat told us that it's an easy walk down into town - about 15 minutes. Coming back up, she warned us, will depend, and said it will be our fitness for the day. And so the battle cry was born. Let me just say this - don't bring a stroller with small wheels. The don't do well on the cobbles. Just in case it's fuzzy, the picture says 23% for the grade. It didn't help much today that its been 90-something with equivalent humidity. Those of you that know my feelings for heat and humidity are welcome to make your comments.

Our little spa town in the hills/mountains of western Bohemia was founded by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV in 1370. (Buena Park was incorporated in 1953, and named by a guy named Jim - so the little respect offered to our little Orange County oasis is...justified.) A tourist destination basically since then, Karlovy Vary is famous for hot springs and spas. Drinking the mineral water from the spas supposedly cures what ails you. Not seasonal allergies or a severe aversion to heat, though. So you buy little cups and walk around the town drinking from hot springs of various temperatures - I saw a low of 30 and high of 72 (Celsius). Clearly, some folks here are intent on soaking up any benefit from religiously experiencing every spring. It tastes pretty bad. Madeline was markably interested in sipping from the various springs, however.

It is absolutely beautiful here and in the surrounding countryside and I've enjoyed wandering the streets in search of shade. You can take a funicular to the Diana tower on top of the hill above the city and look out on the vistas if you like. If I look sour in this picture, you can just focus on the cuties.

Or walk the streets and find the collonades: big gazebo-like things designed by famous people to house the springs.

This one was back in Dresden, but wanted you to know that I do get help with the photos.

And - an automotive note. Our Fiat, I'm sorry to say, has a Twin Air motor. Newfangled twin-turbo 2 cylinder. That's right. Only two. Imagine that 23% grade with some construction that required driving on the curb and some sudden stops. Wasn't sure she would make it. Tomorrow: we drive to Stuttgart.

Dresden

Ich bin in Dresden. Germany is different than Poland in many ways, and though we still know we are in Europe, we've obviously changed customs, governments, etc. We have also rendezvoused with our fiends Grady and Laurie, and their 2 year old son, Jake. Madeline and Jake are getting along well, and MK is thankful to be around other people. Some playtime:

Our flat in Dresden is very nice, and very spacious. Parking is interesting, though (ours is on top...)

Fair warning: I'll do absolutely no justice to the history of Dresden. Our wanderings today reflect a city that was the center of opulence and destruction. Read about the Green Vault and WWII. A few shots of the old town that houses the Dresden Castle and various other buildings - more on the Frauenkirche below.

The Frauenkirche (church of St. Mary) is quite the building- the inside equally astounding.

Sometimes, even in Germany, things don't go exactly how you want, and you have to stop and pout. It's worse if dumb old dad insists on taking pictures.

Tomorrow - we go to Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic. I don't know how much wifi we'll have, so we might have to wait until Stuttgart for an update.

Wrocław and the little people

Cześć! (Hello! You say chesh-ch. mash the sh and ch together, and spit a little). We are in Wrocław (you say vro-tswav), about 3 hours south of Poznań and 3 hours west of Dresden. Here's a map (I wish we could travel by map, a la muppets). You'll see that I've marked some things for you (like you can't find things on your own) to show where we've been and where we're going next.

Wrocław is a wonderful city, with a massive town square (second only to Krakòw), and lots and lots of bridges spanning rivers and canals. It's history, like the rest of Poland's, is a story of changing nations, destruction and rebuilding. First established in 990 as part of Poland, it was eventually part of Bohemia, Prussia, and the German Empire. Napoleon even captured the city once. And now is in Poland again. After WWII, there was a great effort to rebuild Wrocław, though some of the Polish higher-ups arranged to have as many as 200,000 bricks a day sent from Wrocław to help rebuild Warsaw. And! The Red Baron (Manfred von Richthofen) was born here - then called Breslau.
Some shots of the Rynek, just a few steps from our hotel:

We visited Wrocław University today, where the main building (nice baroque feature built by the Jesuits) sports an unbelievable ceremonial hall and a nice observation tower. The 51st parallel runs through the building as well. The university has graduated 9 winners of the Nobel prize since the 20th century, and has about 40,000 students.

The ceremonial hall:

Kristin, recently (formally) promoted to full professor, has requested that CP570 (her office suite at CSUF) be redone as a ceremonial hall. She'll need a portrait like this outside her office. And a scepter, I expect.

Then from the observation tower:

Ostrow Tumski, or cathedral island, is not far from the university, featuring a giant cathedral that was destroyed and rebuilt a couple of times....and an elevator to the viewing platform. There's a charming, round Polish man who looks like Jonathan Winters that will handle the elevator for you.

This is a giant market building where you can buy food, flowers, undergarments, luggage, have shoes repaired, make copies, etc.

And, there are gnomes. Little metal ones. They started as a somewhat satirical statement about the communist efforts to control public spaces, and are now quite the tourist attraction. Here are just a few. Madeline can show you her map of various gnome locations around the city.

And, a couple of portraits of my travel companions. The first, an outright eye-roll for daddy.

Tomorrow, we drive to Dresden and start using euros. Ouch! We much prefer the exchange rate for Złoty.