Heading South

Berlin! Richard had never been and I hadn't visited since the wall has come down.  Lots of things to see and experience, so we set to with a will.  We loved the Pergamon Museum and the scale of the exhibits  - the rooms were enormous and the pieces were really see-able.  An excellent way to spend a morning.  Another highlight was The Museum at Checkpoint Charlie including a really neat little film about the two families that escaped over the wall back in the day by building their own hot-air balloon.  There was a replica in the museum along with lots of other cool 'escape stuff', including two hollowed-out surfboards.  Too much information, though, and very sobering when we read about how many people were killed or imprisoned during escape attempts. We also visited the East Side Gallery, which is the longest remaining part of the wall - lots of graffiti-style art, which was meant to be the point of the exhibition, but the wall itself was exhibition enough for us.  Once again, we were reminded how lucky we are to be living in New Zealand.

Next was a great train trip out to Potsdam where Fred The Great had a summer palace - and what a palace. Lots of buildings of all different architectural styles and lovely gardens with various themes - we had wonderful weather and a great day out there.

We ate and drank very well in Berlin; I reacquainted myself with German bread and Richard made friends with various sausage and beer combinations - yum!

Three days there and we headed off to Munich on the bus - a long trip but the lovely Elke and Gotti were there to meet us, as promised.  They live in a barn they have just finished converting in the countryside about 30 minutes away from the big smoke and we were really impressed with the job they have made of it.  It's just beautiful inside and out and is a real credit to Gotti's fine craftsmanship and Elke's eye for the quirky.  Not that we were there long, as we set off for Lake Attersee the next day, in the Salzkammergut area of Austria for a long weekend.  We had a gorgeous time there, walking, eating, drinking and chilling together.  Gordon and Maria were there as well, as they always are when we are with Elke!  Gordon is a bit of a gourmet, so he is always there whenever food is, Maria loves walking, especially up hills, and Mario  - well, he has just started tagging along whatever we do.  They are easy company and we had a fabulous time together. We had never been to the Lakes area before and, although it was a little misty most days, it didn't rain and we have some fantastic pictures of the beautiful lake and forests.

 

Back to Elke and Gotti's for more eating, drinking and being merry.  We took a quick train trip into Munich to have a wander about , but by now, we found ourselves getting tired easily and were more than happy doing "Nichts" at home.

 

We were sad to go on Thursday, but that meant that we were that much closer to being back in NZ.  Besides, Elke, Gotti and the gang will be with us in the next few years, we are sure of that!