JUST A BEGINNING GLIMPSE OF GERMANY

A little background about my recent trip ----- my son teaches high school science and math in a small Colorado community where the art teacher arranges overseas trips for the students in this small school to expand their horizons. My son, Mike, accompanies them as another teacher. The tours also include some parents, relatives, and friends. Two years ago, Mike told me they were going to Germany & France in 2011 if I wanted to go. And that is how I became part of the tour group that included ages 14 up to 72 (me!). The wide range of ages and interests only contributed to the fun experience. I traveled with people that I wish I could get to know better, and enjoy their friendship further.

We started our trip in Berlin, Germany. Below is a part of the remaining, infamous Berlin wall.

And more of the wall that has been painted. I enjoyed the graffiti
art on the wall, but was surprised by the amount of graffiti tagging all over the city.
The Brandenburg Gate - once the symbol of the undeclared Cold War, but now the symbol of a reunited Berlin.

We also toured the Checkpoint Charlie museum - shocking to see what was going on in the 60s, 70s, and 80s at the wall.


On a fun note, we stopped by the Lego Museum. Here is my 42-year-old kid under the giraffe all made of Legos.

And the teenagers in our group having Lego building contests in front of the museum.

One of the newer landmarks in Berlin (1969) is the TV Tower.

I left the tour group to go to the Handcraft Museum - no pictures allowed, but it was a wonderful exhibit of art nouveau and art deco dishes, silver, etc.

Lots of walking!

I had a Coke in a beer garden, bought T-shirts for the grandkids, then met the group for dinner (after a long walk) - we had broth, currywurst, potatoes, bread and Berliner filled donuts.

AND ON TO DRESDEN--

So different than Berlin with beautiful houses, buildings. They were having a huge festival with 130,000 Lutherans in town, plus it was a National Holiday.

We toured the Zwinger Palace to see paintings by Raphael, Durer and Titian in the Old Masters' Gallery. Then we saw in a different section their National Jewels, etc. More Coke in a beer garden; then walked to another beer place for dinner of Schweinsnitzel, fries, potato soup, bread and a bread pudding with apple sauce and whipped cream. Then, an hour drive on the autoban to Chemmitz for our hotel.

Next up - Nuremberg -- stay tuned for another post.

(All pictures may be clicked on to enlarge further for details.)