Catching up

Sunday was a full day as has been Monday. As a result, I've fallen behind reporting my activities because I must share time with Paul on his computer, and since both of us have a lot of activities in our daily routine that involve using it, something has to give. Tonight Paul has gone to another event that he must cover this evening (Monday night -- remember Berlin is 6 hours ahead of East Coast time in the U.S.), so while he's away I'm trying to do some catching up with this weblog.

Sunday morning he and I had breakfast at The Einstein Cafe, an Austrian restaurant, where I had an omelette with what the Germans calls "earth apples" or potatoes as we Americans know them. I have just posted some new pictures at my Pbase gallery and these shots (21807040, 21807041, and 21807042) in particular show the restaurant and us there. Notice in this shot (21807041) that Paul's Dachshund, Maxe, accompanied us to the restaurant, a common practice in this dog-friendly country.

Up until we left the restaurant, our morning was relatively normal, but getting home was no simple matter. Sunday, as it turned out, was the day for the annual Berlin marathon, so the city was blocked off from one end to the other in a way Paul hadn't anticipated. The 26 mile course formed a circle around the city and we were, unfortunately, within that circle, hoping to get outside of it to get to where the apartment was located. What should have been a drive of only a few minutes took nearly an hour as we encountered blockades at almost every turn. I held my hands over my ears, kiddies, to make sure they weren't burned by the language that emerged from my companion due to his frustration. But eventually, we got home.

On Sunday night we completed my Blitzkrieg of Culture by attending "Der Rosenkavalier," again at the Deutsche Staatoper. This one cost me a much more reasonable entrance fee of 12 Euros. This picture, and several that follow, were taken inside the opera house in a hurry without flash. They aren't the best in the world, but they'll give the interested an idea what the facility looked like.

Today (Monday) I took what Paul calls a "rubber necking" tour, the City Circle Tour, for 18 Euros. The bus arrives at each of the 14 stopping points along its route every 15 minutes. You can get off and on as much as you like, to take pictures, shop, eat, etc., from 10 AM until 6 PM. If I can find the time, I may make this trip again and this time do more getting off and taking pictures than I did on this first trip. This one served as an orientation tour, giving me a better idea of which sites I want to stop and photograph.

Tomorrow Paul and I are taking a car trip to Quedlinburg, a 1000 year old town about 130 KM from Berlin for the purpose of taking pictures and seeing the other side (meaning "Old Germany") of this country, and on Wednesday, we're off to Usedom (pronounced ooh-za-dohm) which is an island in the Baltic Sea off Germany's Northern shore for a concert that Paul must cover. Therefore, I won't be posting much, if anything, for the next couple of days. I do hope to get some interesting pictures, however. Perhaps, I'll be able to post something on Friday, if not before.
- posted by Perry @ 3:10 PM