PhotoHunt: Fuzzy

I was a bit stuck on this week's theme until I looked up the definition for fuzzy . . .

"bleary: indistinct or hazy in outline; "a landscape of blurred outlines"; "the trees were just blurry shapes". :) ~ Google Web Definitions

 

I took this very fuzzy photo while riding on the train traveling from Amsterdam to Berlin just this past November.  I was trying to capture the beautiful sunrise with the snow covered landscape peeking out through the winter's leafless trees, but the train was traveling too fast for my camera. :)

This photo tells me that not only do I need to take another photography class (he, he), it reminds me that in life there are so many wonderful people, beautiful places and awesome new and unique experiences to be had all around us and if we don't take the time to slow down long enough to notice them, we can really miss out on some great life experiences and cool relationships.

 . . . things become clear, lines are well defined, the details and beauty of the images come to life and then you think to yourself . . . What a Wonderful World.

I want to say a special Thank You to Pauline Kenny, founder of Slow Travel, and owner of Slow Europe (a very helpful guide to vacation rentals in Europe).  Her creation of Slow Travel really changed my life.  I also want to thank the very awesome Slow Travel website (especially to those who administer and moderate their Slow Talk community forums).  Many thanks to my very talented and inspirational Blogging, Slow Travel, PhotoHunt and Twitter friends. I gain such inspiration, knowledge, laughter, beauty and enjoyment from all of you.  And finally, to my wonderful family (especially my amazing sister, Jean) and my cool friends for always reminding me to have fun and to live each day to the fullest. And when I do stray you're always there to guide me back. :)

Wishing you all a very Happy, Healthy and fun filled New Year in 2011!

See more PhotoHunters HERE!

Thank you Teena Marie . . . .

I was so fortunate to meet Teena Marie in person three times and what a thrill to catch an impromtu performance of "Square Biz" with Kym Whitley.

I'm a bluebird, I'm a sapphire

I'm a nighting game

I am flying, soulful winters

Who will tell my tale?

I am a hummingbird, a free flying bird

I am the wind beneath your wings

I am a white dove

Unconditional love

I am the everflow . . . your dreams . . .

Lyrics to Resilient (Sapphire)

by Teena Marie (awesome songwriter)

A great singer/musician/performer/songwriter and a kind and generous artist to her fans.  You'll be missed!

PhotoHunt: Circle

I took this photo on my recent trip to the wonderful City of Berlin, Germany. It is one of the paintings featured on the former Berlin Wall that is now part of the Eastside Gallery (Wikipedia).  I had so many photos to choose from and some how I kept coming back to this simple and yet powerful image.  

 

I'm posting my PhotoHunt early this week as I might not be able to get on the internet for the next two days.  My sis and her family are here visiting and we are having such a wonderful time. Sadly, they return home this Sunday but while they are here we have been having lots of laughs, lots of eating, lots of walking, lots of eating again (he, he) . . . If my internet connection holds up while on Part II of our family holiday adventures I will definitely check in with my fellow photohunter and blogging friends. But if not, I want to wish all of you the best of Holidays.

See more PhotoHunters HERE!

 

Wishing all of you & your families 

the very Merriest of Holidays

and Peace, Health and Happiness in 2011!

PhotoHunt: Male

A very popular male figure these days . . . .

 

This is a repost,  but I just love this photo! :)

Santa Claus, also known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, or simply "Santa", is a figure which was derived from the Dutch figure of Sinterklaas, a historical, legendary figure who in many Western cultures, is said to bring gifts to the homes of the good children during the late evening and overnight hours of Christmas Eve, December 24 or on his Feast Day, Decemter 6 (Saint Nicholas Day). ~ Wikipedia.

And isn't it nice that you can get some Spanish Churros from Santa too! :)  I took these photos in a cool place called Rembrandtplein in Amsterdam.

Health & Happiness: A card of thanks and gratitude . . .

Each year after my trip I select a few photos and create a photo card insert and send Holiday cards to family, friends and co-workers.  It surprises me how many of them look forward to it and how many of them actually hang on to my card inserts.  I saw one person with all my past 5 postcards in her office. This surprises me.

Yesterday I received a card from a former supervisor of mine from when I lived in Northern California that reminded me that I have not done my card insert yet so I stayed up last night to finish it so I could mail them out today.  I have exchanged cards with this former supervisor for many years, ever since I left and came to Los Angeles.  He's had such a hard last few years with his son passing away from a hard fought battle with leukemia and then his wonderful wife (who I've met several times) developed Alzheimer.  It made me sad and almost guilty to send my trip photos because I felt bad that he and his wife was not able to enjoy traveling like I do.  But one of my co-workers a couple of years ago told me to keep including them in my cards because she was positive that he loved seeing them and was probably looking forward to getting it. And sure enough I got his annual card in the mail the next day where he always gives me a brief update on his wife and his own health.  But the first thing he wrote was "I am looking forward to hearing about where you traveled to this year and seeing your photocard Kathy".  My heart sank and since then I don't have that feeling of guilt and I send it with nothing but love and best wishes.  I hope he will be happy to see this year's photo card of Amsterdam, Brugge and Berlin. I think he will.

Also yesterday another co-worker welcomed me home and asked about my trip.  And we both immediately thought of and started talking about Lucie.  A couple of years ago I wrote about a very good co-worker friend of mine who passed away suddenly (Tears and Joy). Her name was Lucie and we got along so well together because of our shared love for travel.  Just after I returned from my trip to Spain in 2008 and her trip to Vietnam we got together on one of our travel girl talks and she said "Kathy, you really need to visit the Netherlands because it is a beautiful country".  Well, this year I was fortunate with the help of my blogging friends and fellow Slow Travelers to be able to travel to this beautiful country.  And Lucie, you were right. It is a beautiful country! With beautiful people and I loved it!  Thank you so much for recommending it.

As each year draws to an end I always have such strong feelings of being thankful and grateful for having such wonderful people in my life (both present and not) and for the continued health and happiness of all the people in my life and myself. 

This Thursday my sister and her family will be visiting (yay!) and on Friday we will be going on our annual road trip for the holidays. I'm so thankful and blessed to have them in my life.   See you tomorrow Jean!

PhotoHunt: Funny

There are some things I see that strike me as funny.

And then there are some things I see that strike me as funny and oh so cute!  I took this photo while I was visiting the Bloemenmarkt (floating Flower Market) in Amsterdam, Netherlands. 

It was highly recommended by blogging friend and fellow Slow Traveler, Marta (Postcards from the Trail) and I loved it.  Check out his equally funny and cute friends in the background. :) 

I've really missed PhotoHunt while I was away on vacation and I couldn't wait to get back.  

See more PhotoHunters HERE!

Amsterdam: A Wedding Serenade . . .

A blue convertible drives up,

stops in the middle of a busy street.

A 3-member rock band jumps out,

and quickly sets up their equipment.

The band then begins to serenade

(along with their guests & bystanders)

this happy couple who just got married . . .

I Love it!

Back in the U.S.A . . .

I'm back home in the USA and by the skin of my nose. Wow, what a flight! When I woke up to snow yesterday morning I was a bit worried about the conditions leaving Tegel airport in Berlin. I even thought about researching a couple of hotels near the airport on the Internet before I left the apartment just in case?

We made it out of Berlin okay, but with the de-icing of both the plane and clearing of the runways, my flight was delayed just over an hour. So now my cushion of 1:50 hour layover at the Paris CDG airport shrunk to probably 30 minutes if that.   It was a full flight but I was amazed at how fast everyone got in and situated. The flight staff did an excellent job with helping everyone with their carry ons.

I had read of how bad the Paris CDG airport is for a layover and now I know why.  We had to exit the plane to a bus where we were driven to one terminal.  We exit that terminal, take another shuttle bus to the right terminal which I had noticed we passed on our way to this terminal.  There were signs to Terminal 2 E everywhere but that was the problem. :)  Finally hooked up with another passenger from my flight Berlin to Paris flight looking for the same terminal and we both managed to hail down the shuttle that was just about to leave to take us to our terminal.  I had to go through another passport check and security line to enter Terminal 2E.  I set off the alarm thing and had to get the once over by the detector wand. And the security person thought she saw something, so I had to open everything up. She never did find what she thought she saw. I couldn't figure it out either. Of course, I got embarrassed because I had my Berlin  Bear and Scottish sheep in there. :)  

Found my other passenger buddy and made a mad dash to a nearby store to get a replacement bottle of water for the plane ride since we had to get rid of our other bottle going through security again.  We then stood in this really long line to board a "full" plane.

Btw, I discovered that I had lost my nice aisle seat for one of those smack dab in the middle seats.  :( We were delayed again because they were waiting to load some additional luggage. Okay, I must admit that I didn't mind "that" delay as I'm sure one of those additional luggages was mine. :)

Usually with a couple of Dramamine for my motion sickness I can sleep like a baby on the plane. But for some reason I could not sleep.  And it was so warm on the plane. Maybe I got used to that cold Berlin weather a little too much. :)

Now the only saving grace on this miserable travel experience was the unbelievable hilarious guy from Belgium that was entertaining a group of us at the back of the plane near the snack tray and bar!  I think if it wasn't for the laughs we all got to while away some of those long hours my return flight home could have been one of those horrible travel moment memories. Funny how one thing can make all those other not so nice things go away!  In hindsight, I guess I would do it all over again to continue to enjoy the great experiences that I have when traveling. I just detest the "getting to" part. :)

I did the big no no last night. As soon as I got home I dropped my luggage, took a shower and went to bed. And I have to say it felt good to break that rule.

Thank you so much everyone for all of your great comments while on the road and for your welcome home!  I have today off and will be running my washer and dryer like crazy, drive my car to get groceries, pick up my mail and pay my bills, clean my house and then get ready to return to work and the real world tomorrow.

Ahhhh, it's good to be back home again.

Berlin: Tschuss and thanks for an awesome time . . .

Well, it's been a fabulous 3 weeks and my 2010 Vibrant Europe trip fulfilled all of my expectations. 

On my last full day in Berlin I decided to really take it easy.  Here is my familiar walk down to the U station stop. I'll miss it!

I first started my last full day in Berlin with taking Shannon's advice and checking out the farmers market in Schoenburg (located in Winterfeldtplatz). It was pretty cool. I had a nice hot toddy and checked out all the stalls. I bought a couple of socks and a little coin purse and took some photos. Thanks Shannon for the great recommendation it was fun checking out this market and it was a really welcoming neighborhood that I had not visited yet.

Next I went to check out Kunsthaus Tacheles which is a former department store turned artist studio/museum.  It is one of the most caotic, bizarre, colorful, expressive, creative, disturbed and earthy display of art that I have ever seen. At first sight you just want to turn away (actually run away) and yet you are drawn in to the courtyard to see the many sculptures and rundown old shacks and vehicles. You are drawn up the dark stairwell where the walls are covered with grafitti and art.  Sometimes I'm not sure which was which.  But when I think of the history and the freedom for artists to be able to express themselves after years of repression, I can sort of get it.

Here are a few photos . . .

 

 

I decided to have an early dinner at the family owned Thai restaurant in my neighborhood then end with a nice hot Toddy at the restaurant in the park next to my apartment. I shared a table with a mother and her son whose cheeks were so red from the cold. So cute! 

Today was a beautiful day, the sun actually came up and it warmed up a bit. So all the families were out with their children snow sledding in the park.

I once saw a video and the person making it said that Berlin is an evolving city with many faces. During my short stay here I can see why she made that statement.  Berlin is as diverse a city as say Amsterdam. I saw many faces here and I saw so many things that proves that it is a city that is continually evolving. There are old and new. There are rennovated and rebuilt. There are berliners who are as diverse as the city.  There are reminders of the past and movement towards a better future.    

I was not able to get to all of my must see's on this short trip simply because it is impossible unless you're just whizzing by snapping photos. I decided that if I didn't get to everything I will just have to come back. It was more important for me to savor my experiences.

Thank you so much Berlin for a fabulous time!  I shall remember and cherish my time here forever.

Well, it's time for me to finish packing as I have an early flight out tomorrow morning.

I want to take this time to say thank you so much to all of my blogging friends and fellow Slow Travelers for taking the time to read my blog and for all of your fantastic recommendations and travel tips and advice before and during my trip. Thank you so for your encouragements, your support and for sharing so much of your own experiences.  I could not have enjoyed the experiences I had on this trip without all of you.  And I always want to thank Pauline Kenny (founder of Slow Travel) for creating Slow Travel.  It has really changed my life. And as always, thanks so much to my family, friends and co-workers back home for all of your support and encouragements.

I can't even begin to summarize this trip, but here goes....I will remember my beautiful canal in Amsterdam and the amazing dutch architecture and windmills of Zaanse Schans. I will remember Van Gogh's Sunflowers and the very interesting museums in Amsterdam :), I will remember my contemplative moments in the Church of our Lady in Brugge, Belgium. I will remember riding my Dutch bike in Vondelpark (and luckily not crashing), I will remember the many markets that I've visited both in Amsterdam and Berlin.  And I will forever remember a young girl's words while standing in her darkened room.

In Berlin, I will remember the smile of my good samaritan hottie who helped me find my apartment when I was lost my first night.  I will remember standing by a wall that once stood to divide East and West. I will remember my 360 degree view of an amazing city. I will remember a memorial to so many who were killed. I will remember the grandeur of  the Brandenburg Gate where the celebrations took place when the wall finally came down.  Lastly, I will remember my very cool neighborhood that used to be in what was once former East Berlin.  I watched the families and children playing outside and I am thankful for this day . . .

Thank you everyone for everything.  And I am looking forward to catching up with you all when I get home. 

So now I leave you with this final live blog post from the road.  And on my long (and I mean looooong) journey back home I will think about where my next adventures will be. 

And the dream lives on . . . 

Berlin: Berlin Cathedral, Snow, and a few Hot Mulled Wine . . .

Today, nearly a foot of snow fell on Berlin but I loved it because it was warmer than yesterday and the wind wasn't so piercing.

Today I decided to return to visit the interior of the Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral).

The Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral) dates back to the 1900's.  It was heavily bombed in World War II and remained in ruins until the 1970's when renovation began.

Here is the actual front view of the Catherdral . . .

Here are some interior shots . . . It also has a beautiful big organ.   If you climb up the stairs you can have a great view below.

My traditional lit candles for some very special people . . .

Next, I wanted to check out the famous Ka De We (Kaufhaus des Westens) department store where I made a B-line for the 6th floor to find the largest food hall in Europe.

There are 30 places to eat from . . . . I ate here . . . .

 

The food this chef prepared was so delicious . . .

There are 400 types of Bread and rolls . . .

 

 

there are 1,300 types of cheese, 1,200 sausages and cold cuts, 240 dessedrts and 2,400 wines from five continents. It  was very impressive.

Next I stopped by the Gendarmenmarkt which is a delightful and historic square. They have a very beautiful Christmas Market here but you have to pay 1 euro to gain entrance to the actual market.  I decided to have a little hot toddy instead. :)

Seems like everyone stopped off in Alexanderplatz for some hot mulled wine, yummy! :)

So I decided to have another one!

Adorable . . .

These three locals were cool . . .

So after a very delicious spaghetti dish, one prosecco and two hot mulled wine I'm feeling  pretty good.  I had a fabulous day in snowy Berlin!  Great idea on the hot mulled (toddy) wine Shannon. It is a fun way to hang with the locals. :)

Berlin: My peek into Daily life here . . .

I was just commenting back to Shannon on my recent post and it inspired me to write this one. :)

I have to say that one of the things I have learned from Slow Travel and other experienced travelers is the ability to slow my travels down enough so I can experience the culture that I'm visiting. Maybe one day I can pick one place and stay there the entire three weeks of my vacation. That would be cool!

I've been sort of picking on the cold weather a lot lately, but to be honest I expected it to be cold.  I mean it is afterall December.  Of course, I had no idea until now just how cold it would be :). But you know that's just life.

I really love the apartment that I chose for my stay here in Berlin. I will definitely write a review of it when I return home. It is in a fantastic location. Not too far from the nearest U station.  There are several markets around and a variety of cafes. Just the other night I found this small hole in the wall family owned Thai restaurant and the food was pretty good. Further down the street is another popular cafe where they serve a decent pizza margarita and a nice salad, directly across from there is a cool cafe that sells pastries, coffee and sandwhiches.  And all these places are so cheap. 

There is a beautiful park just outside my window and a great view of the TV tower. Each morning while having my morning cup of coffee and breakfast, I can see joggers and just this morning in about an inch or two of snow I watched a local walk and have a friendly snow fight with her dog. It was amazing.  I've bumped into other residents in the elevator and am greeted with a friendly smile and hello.  Even putting my trash to the trash room (separating plastic, paper into their apppropriate recycle bins) have been an experience.  My apartment building is located right next to a day care center so each morning I watch moms and dads walking and riding their bikes to bring their little ones to the day care all bundled up with just their little pink faces showing.

I am enjoying visiting all the great landmarks and historical sites here in Berlin.  But I am also loving watching and yes even living daily life here.

So the cold freezing wind and the snow are both a part of daily life here and so I am going to embrace the experience more than whine about it from this point on.  I'm also going to put an extra layer on with some thicker socks that I just bought yesterday. :)  Well, I also have to be practical too. And maybe before heading back to the apartment, I will stop in the Christmas Market and Alexanderplatz to have another hot toddy drink (I love Annie's Hot toddy term for the mull wine Shannon recommended) and stand amongst the locals in the cold wind and falling snow. Yes folks, I am in Berlin and loving it!

This is this morning's view from my apartment balcony as I sip my morning coffee listening to Christmas songs . . . I feel so blessed and lucky to be able to travel the world and to see and have so many wonderful experiences. I only wish that mom & dad could've seen Europe. I'm working on Sis to come to Europe with me one day...Gosh I get so contemplative and emotional sometimes when I travel.

And so this is Christmas (War is Over) 

For weak and for strong

The rich and the poor ones

The road is so long

So happy Christmas

For black and for white

For yellow and red ones

Let's stop all the fight

A very merry Christmas

And a happy New Year

Let's hope it's a good one

Without any fear . . . .

(Lyrics by John Lennon)

Berlin: Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, Reichstag, Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe . . .

The Brandenburg Gate is probably Berlin's most recognizable sight.  It was originally called the "Friedenstor" (Gate of Peace).  It is the only surviving Berlin City gate and was designed by Carl Gotthard Langhans in 1791.  It was intended to resemble the Acropolis in Athens.  Today, it symbolizes reunification, after dividing East and West Berlin for decades. I remember watching coverage of this structure during the reunification celebrations and it was surreal to see it up close.  I am taking this photograph from the very large Pariser Platz.

To the left of the Gate (in the next street block) you will find the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe  (Wikipedia), which was designed by American architect Peter Eisenman. 

You can walk through the memorial where it starts with small pieces then as you walk towards the middle the stones rise higher and higher and the cobblestoned path changes height as well.  There are 2,700 pillars honoring Jews killed by the Nazis.  Walking through this maze like structure was an experience to remember.

Next, I walked over on the opposite side of the Brandenburg Gate to the Reichstag which is the seat of the German Parliament.  It was constructed in 1884 and 1894 and has had a turbulant history.  Fire broke out in the building in 1933 destroying most of it.  A lot of it was also destroyed when bombing took place and it was not used from 1933 to 1999.  After the runification of Germany took place the Reichstag was once again the seat of the German parliament.  The famous Glass Dome  was the design of British architect Sir Norman Foster.  Fellow blogging friend, Sandra, visited the Reichstag on a business trip to Berlin and highly recommended it. 

Unfortunately for me the Dome and the building was closed and access near to the building was closed off with barriers and a police presence.  When I went to ask the information people about it they said that the building is currently closed with no date of when it will be re-opened due to a Terror alert.  That's really such a shame that we still live in a time where we have to worry about such senseless acts of violence and only a block away from a memorial that reminds us of the hate and senseless violence of our past. Will we ever learn?  I sure do continue to hope so.

I asked if I can still take photos of the exterior and he said that was fine and so here is the wonderful exterior photos of the Reichstag.  You can sort of see the police presence.

Here's a wider view of this amazing building.

I then visited very briefly the Berlin Cathedral (Berliner Dom) (Sacred Destinations), which dates back to the early 1900's.  It was heavily bombed in WWII and remained in ruins until it was renovated in the 1970's.  Unfortunately, I just saw the outside of the Church but plan to return to see the interior hopefully tomorrow. Why, because I made the mistake of thinking it was closed but in reality I was entering from the wrong side. oops!

Next I visited the famous "Checkpoint Charlie" and Checkpoint Charlie Museum.  Checkpoint Charlie at 43-45 Friedrichstrasse was the only checkpoint through which foreigners could pass between East and West Berlin.  The checkpoint gets its name from checkpoint number three (as in the military code of Alpha for one, Bravo for two and Charlie for three). 

Here is the famous sign telling you that you are leaving the American sector in different languages.

I also visited the Checkpoint Charlie Museum (12.50 euros) which had an extensive collection of news articles and saved memorabilia of the history of the wall and the many stories of successful and some unsuccessful escapes. It was interesting to see how creative some of the escapees were. There were secret compartments built into a VW for example. There was a lady that hid in these two connecting suitcases and there were tunnels dug and one man planes built to escape into West Germany.  

The past two days have been overwhelming at times but so interesting to see  everything first hand and to experience such deep emotions while seeing them.
 
Today was snowing lightly which wasn't bad at all. What was bad was the bitter cold wind. It was so windy that this life perserver was flapping in the wind.  It is so cold that the little pond in the park near my apartment is solid ice.  I need to warm up so I'm back out in the cold to Alexanderplatz to try some hot mulled wine (tip from Shannon). I wonder if that is similar to those hot wine drinks I liked in the Czech Republic.  I like the idea that it is a hot drink because I could sure use one.

To stay warm, I've been ducking into stores (like Maya said she did when she visited Berlin during the middle of December) just to warm up.  For me, however, I always start browsing and end up buying something.

I'm really getting the hang of the public transport in Berlin. It sort of reminds me of Paris and London's Undergound.  Here are some photos of the Alexanderplatz underground station.

 

Well, here I go again...