Above: early Sunday along the Aussenalster (Outer Alster) in Hamburg; below, a view of some of the later swimmers in the Binnenalster (Inner Alster) in the first leg of the HH triathlon. I was just out for a walk before heading for the train home to A’dam after a short visit with family / friends :-). The weather was much more conducive to lovely photos than it was the last time I walked (and showed you) these shores.
Queen Louise of Prussia was very much loved indeed, judging by the many monuments and memorials to her, and the flowers I saw by some of them. Above and below left, in the Tiergarten; below center on an island in Charlottenburg castle gardens and below right her mausoleum in another part of the castle gardens. We’ve got *lots* more fun stuff from those gardens stored up for you…think royal cherubs and such 🙂
Above left: the bridge depicted in the movie “Bridge of Spies” along with another view from Steve’s and my cruise on June 1. Below, from Pfaueninsel looking over to the shores of Brandenburg. Back in the day, the W/E German border ran down the middle of that water.
Peacock Island (Pfaueninsel) in the Wannsee – Havel lake and canal network in the SW corner of Berlin along the border with Brandenburg. When West Berlin was surrounded by a walled and guarded GDR, this was a lovely natural escape from the city vibe, which I myself first visited with my mother in May 1980. Steve – now a renowned and published scholar in German studies – and I spent a delightful late-May weekend in Berlin recently, during which in addition to fabulous educational narration from him, we did a lovely cruise during which we also stopped off and re-explored this island, a former royal back-to-nature pleasure garden from the 18th Century, complete with peacocks to add to the vibe, and royal dairy built to look like a monastery.
Consider this my memorial to Rosa Luxemburg. You’d think the work I do would inure me to cruelty and murder, but it doesn’t. If you don’t understand why I’m finding this post strangely hard to finalize and would like to, google either her or Landwehr Canal. She was a person, and her friends and family mourned her in ways I must assume were personal not just politcal.
Peacock Island (Pfaueninsel) in the Wannsee – Havel lake and canal network in the SW corner of Berlin along the border with Brandenburg. When West Berlin was surrounded by a walled and guarded GDR, this was a lovely natural escape from the city vibe, which I myself first visited with my mother in May 1980. Steve – now a renowned and published scholar in German studies – and I spent a delightful late-May weekend in Berlin recently, during which in addition to fabulous educational narration from him, we did a lovely cruise during which we also stopped off and re-explored this island, a former royal back-to-nature pleasure garden from the 18th Century, complete with peacocks to add to the vibe, and royal dairy built to look like a monastery.
(so much world, so little time....) 