Saturday 6 August 2016

Monthly musings: July




I won't start this blog with an apology otherwise I would sound like an old record player or a very old YouTube video that gets played and played until you know what is going to happen before it does or you know the lyrics inside and out.

As I am writing this, I have boxes surrounding me. I have finally moved to Newcastle the town called Ryton. So let's talk about July. Shall we?

So July was here and there and shake it about quite literally. So the first week in July Dad and I went up to Newcastle looked at the rented houses well more like my Dad. I was at Newcastle college doing summer college and having fun being creative with a sharpie taking portrait and compiling the doodles on the portrait. Meeting lovely people though don't ask me to speak Geordie as that I haven't got my head around. Though ask me to take photos anytime. Dad and I had fun at Newcastle though something was missing and that was my Mum unfortunately she had to work. Annoyingly!!!!!!!!!!!

I had less than a half a night had home. Then I got an early flight from Gatwick to Berlin my first flight on my own well in a way is not really. I have always flown on my own since the age of seven by the sky flyers you always have a person that takes you through the security and on the plan the best thing about it is you can have many biscuits and cookies and no parents telling you "Come on that is enough." In fact no parents had all. I got to see lots of celebrities by flying on my own. I must say I was about upset when my Dad told me I will be flying from Gatwick to Berlin with Easy Jet as I am so used to flying with British Airways.

I staying over with my Grandparents who was cat siting for my Uncle Chris as he was working in the states in a town called Rangsdorf which is the eastern part of Germany. Rangsdorf will capture your imagination and it's not all because of its beauty and exciting culture. There's a valiant piece of history attached to this little town dating back ti World War II. You see, it's from the local airfield here that Claus Schenk Graf Von Stauffenberg set off in his bid to assassinate Hitler in what Tom Cruise has now made famous as Operation Valkyrie. Of course, as we all now know he was short dead for his pain. How history would have been changed if he had not failed in this valiant bid.

Day in Berlin


I'm not going to tell you the ins and outs and my adventure in Berlin otherwise I would be here for days trying to rack up my brain and remember. But here are the highlights. So enjoy the ride!

I had a day to Berlin. The firth thing you should do when you get to Berlin? Take a deep breath and understand this: you will not see it all in a day. Berlin is huge, as in nine times the physical size of Paris. There is no downtown area per se, but several, and no two neighborhoods have the same look and feel. So what to do? Step back, understand, and come along for the ride. Even more reason to come back to Berlin.

Please excuse the photos to be a bit different quality I was on a bus doing most of these photos.

Brandenburg Gate
The Brandenburg Gate is one of the most well-known landmarks in Germany, but did you know that it once stood without its Quadriga statue at the stop? Stolen by Napoleon in 1806, the famous chariot by four houses was kept in Paris until was returned to Berlin upon his defeat in 1814. An impressive theft for sure, but if the Quadriga had been of gold, it would have been one of the biggest thefts of all time

Top of the Brandenburg gate

Reichstag

First let's clear up a few thing. The German word Reichstag means "imperial parliament" (das Reich, empire + der Tag, diet.) The term Reichstag acutally refers to the historic series of governing bodies in the German realm, and the former Prussian/German legislative body that was created in 1867 (for the North German Confederation). However, the term is often used as shorthand for the building in which the Reichstag met for many years.



Memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe

Alxenderplatz also known as the Eiffel tower in Berlin!!

The central square in the heart of Berlin was brought to life in the early 19th Century. The former Trade Square Ochesenplatz was renamed by the Russian Tsar Alexander the first (1777-1825). Over the years, the square had several different purposes. First, for a quite a long time, the square was known as a cattle-market where people came together to do business. Later, during the Second World War, Alexanderplatz was used for its underground bunkers and unfortunately this also meant that it was one of the main targets for the enemies of Adolf Hitler. 


Berlin Wall
Can you imagine waking up in one morning to find that soldiers were building a wall across your town? Can you imagine what it would be like to not to be able to go your work or college in your neighborhood because there was giant wall in the way? That was what happened to some people in Germany in August 1961, when East Germany started raising the Berlin wall to Separate itself from West Germany. 

Checkpoint Charlie

A visit to checkpoint Charlie is a bit like time travel. There are only few sights in Berlin that are still in the original shape they were during the Berlin Wall Era-only few details left of Cold War Berlin. Checkpoint Charlie is kind of one of them. Checkpoint Charlie was one of the series of different Checkpoints between East and West, some of them named after the "Army Alphabet." I guess it's worth mentioning that the West Allies did not really check on the regular people-only military personal and officials had to show their papers-their credentials.


A sunny day in Potsdam


Grandparents and I wanted to change the scenery, we decided to make a day-trip to the neighbouring city of Potsdam. Although still quite busy in its own right (we even spent 30 minutes finding a park that has a space for the car), Potsdam has long been touted as a favorite place of residence for the Prussian and German royal family until 1918 and now attracts visitors with its charming dutch influenced city center, beautiful architecture, and extensive Sanssouci park and palaces. 

After exploring Potsdam by car trying to find a parking. We made our way to the main reason that most people head to Potsdam-Sanssocuci park. We wandered through the grounds build by Frederick the Great before finding our way to the highlight of the park, the Sanssouci Palace (the park is actually home to two palaces, the Sanssocui palace and the "new" palace. Although relatively small for a "palace", the Rococo masterpiece was built in the likeness of Versailles, complete with a sculpture garden, fountains, and a beautiful terraced vineyard. 

Sanssouci palace






After admiring the architecture and snapping many photogrpahs, we stumbled onto a small cafe and had a lovely cup of coffee and cheese cake and more cake.



So that is the end of my Berlin trip. Well for this blog post. As I said I'm only writing the highlights on this blog. My intention is to upload all my photos on a blog post. 

Quotes

Dad: Why is Dishwasher not done Rebecca?
Me: Well, I didn't know where to put the clean dishes  as you packed everything up. I didn't want to forget these few items. Do you?
Dad: Haha  

It;s a shame, I can't use that excuse again.

Now if you excuse me, I better start unpacking my boxes. Oh wait, I only got one more box left ah it can wait. Surely!



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