Gun Powder Tower
Old Town Square in pink
Pink balloons
Pink Balloons and Town Hall Tower
Lots of Ceiling in the Church of St. Nicolas
A “Chimney” (Trdlnek)
Giant Bubble
Popping a Giant Bubble
Pink Walk from the bus
Pink Walk long the Vldava
Dresden from the bus
One of Laurie’s kittens
A picnic dinner near Laurie’s apartment (note Mark’s presence as a shadow)
The famous “Ampelmaennchen”–the former East German “walk” sign for pedestrian traffic lights (now a cult and a tourist attraction worth an entire shop downtown)
Schloss Charlottenburg (left wing cleaned up, right wing still a little scruffy)
We didn’t really do another Prague day today–the time we had wasn’t quite long enough. We started out with a short walk while Kai got himself ready at the usual snail’s pace the adorable five-euro breakfast at our hotel, which was set up just for us by two women who worked for the hotel–we had plenty of food to have breakfast and fix a sandwich for each of us for lunch as well! Then, we checked out of our hotel, and took the tram and a very crowded metro to the central bus station. We still had tons of time and checked our luggage for a nominal fee (60 crowns or two dollars a bag), and walked toward the old town square again. We explored the area around the gothic gunpowder tower, walked into yet another church, and then walked to the main square one more time, only to find it full of pink balloons and people in decorated pink tees–a breast cancer awareness run coordinated by Avon. There was even a (rather awful) Czech rock band playing.
So we didn’t stay on the square for long, but wandered around downtown Prague a bit more, mostly in search of a Trdlnek or Chimney baked thing that is a specialty dessert, filled with cream or as is, baked on these metal rods that are turning, like a spit, over a heat source. We had them with cream and fresh strawberries, and Kai nailed it–they taste like a churro with whipped cream. We then went back to the bus station and just waited–the area is not super appealing, we didn’t feel like exploring the city museum, which was very close by, and other sights were too far away. Plus it was spitting a little. So we were very glad when the bus for Berlin came, and even more glad that it was a double-decker. We got a few interesting last looks at Prague, including the actual breast cancer awareness March/walk/run, for which car traffic was rerouted. The participation was pretty impressive–there were clearly thousands of people, and many in the pale pink tees that we saw being handed out on the town square. I fell asleep for a while anyway, but Mark was too excited to have the great view to close his eyes. The landscape was gorgeous–beautiful hills, a few castles, and also a number of large birds of prey–we even caught one glimpse of a stork! Our half-way stop was Dresden, where Mark was able to get a few photos through the window of the rebuilt baroque buildings along the Elbe–after Prague, which survived WWII, a rather paltry, partial sight of what was a gorgeous “Florence on the River Elbe” before the firestorm. After Dresden, when some people got off the bus, we even sat up front right up against the top windshield for the second half of the trip, so that we had even better views on our way to Berlin. We could also look down on the truck drivers, and Mark saw at least one who was texting and driving…
We arrived in Berlin at 6 pm, and our friend Laurie, who lives within 5 minutes of the central omnibus station, which is in Berlin-Charlottenburg, quite far West of the city center, but still totally urban, so she came to pick us up. She has two side-by-side apartments that she is in the process of renovating, with most major work done but some doors and walls still missing. She turned a couple of teeny 50s apartments into a great space, with a view of lots green space in the middle between apartments. We got reacquainted with her kids Mauro (14) and Stella (10), whom we hadn’t seen since 2012, even though Kati and Krynn stayed with Laurie and her family in 2013, and we’ve been staying in touch–I’ve known Laurie since my Bowling Green days in 1989, and it was interesting to meet her right after having seen Michl and Sylvia, also Bowling Green friends–while also following another BGSU friend’s adventures, Paul, while he traveled Spain at the very same time! We also got to meet the family’s brand-new kittens, Sushi and Cha-Cha. Kai was thrilled to get a bit of distance from me, and he and Mauro gladly disappeared into Mauro’s lair to talk computers and anime, while we got a picnic dinner ready, to take to the park since it was still so nice outside. We had quiche and salad and blueberry tart, and everyone had a good time. We took the picnic stuff back home, and since it was still light outside (about 8 pm), we adults went for a walk to nearby Charlottenburg, the 18th-century palace built for Queen Charlotte of Prussia, the wife of … . I had never been, so it was nice that we were in walking distance! The palace is currently being renovated (it seems like all of Berlin is currently being renovated, actually), so half of the palace looks very spiffy and clean, with new paint, while the other looks a bit more tired. The gardens are very pretty and we walked to the Spree, the river that forms the border for the park (and also the river that runs through central Berlin) and then back through another, smaller park, back to Laurie’s home. We sat and talked a bit longer (and did the dishes since the dishwasher is broken) but I started to fade at 11:30 and called it a day!