This is the trusty 3 speek I rented in Potsdam. I don't know who the two heads on the posts are, they flanked the path leading to some prince's summer house. I liked the juxtaposition of everything.
Me in Potsdam, I'm not sure what the building behind me was. Potsdam was the home of the Hohenzollerns (the guys who tried to subjugate most of central Europe and make life miserable for all!) There was just too much to see so I just started snapping pictures as I went by.
Some random images from my trip so far.
The glass pieces are by Dale Chihuly, a native of Tacoma. He's been doing a big display at Kew all year long and this is the one that struck me the most. He's really an amazing artist and Kew is a great backdrop for his work.
The one with the German flag flying in front of the massive stone building is the German Bundestag, comparable to the US Congress. It's not a very good picture but I took it because of the crowd of people at the right. They were awaiting the announcement of who would be the new Chancellor. By that time, Monday the tenth, it was pretty certain that it was Angela Merkel but it wasn't yet official. What struck me was that after I took that picture, I went over to the Bundestag steps and waited around for a couple of hours. There were a few guys in cheap suits with suspicious bulges under their left arms but surprisingly the security seemed pretty slim. Or else Germans simply aren't as paranoid as Americans are....
The sun was shining and I talked to a few people about the state of politics and the mess that's been created by neither party having a clear mandate. I waited for about 2 hours but as it was my last day in Berlin, I needed to move along. The announcement didn't come until about 3 hours after I left so I'm glad I did leave when I did. It was sort of cool being so close to such a momentous event, Angela Merkel is the first ever female Chancellor and the first to be elected from what was East Germany.
The church thingie (!) is in Wawel Castle in Krakow. The Castle's origins are about 1000 or so years old and like many such places had been remodeled many times. The Austrians (Habsburg Empire) really destroyed a lot in the 1870s and they've been repairing the damage ever since. I'm not sure as to why those domes are on the side like that. I'm waiting for Monday when entrance is free. There's supposedly a resident dragon in the castle so every gift shop in town has some version of it for sale.
Today, I went for a bike ride along the Vistula (sp) The Polish spelling has a funny consonant in it and I haven't seen an english version yet. Anyhoo, there's this incredible path that runs all the way along the river. I saw a mile marker that said 40 km so it must be quite long. The 3 speed that I rented in Potsdam made today's steed look like a thoroughbred. The bike was probably as old as I am and weighed a ton. Single speed, wobbly and half-inflated front tire, kickstand that kept falling down, but it was fortunately free courtesy of the hostel. There's a wonderful greenbelt that runs outside of the old town walls, I think it was the old moat, so I was able to ride on that path to get to the river instead of on the streets. The tourist guide that was handed to me at the airport states that "driving in Poland is not for the weak hearted" so, I'm a little leary of riding on the street.
Had a very lazy afternoon, I've forgotten how tough it is to function in a country where I don't know the language, ok, so English accents are pretty weird and the Berliners speak too fast but at least I can read the signs. Here, ha!, other than a few obvious loan words from English I'm SOL. Yeah, let me tell you it's no fun navigating Windows XP in Polish. The grocery store wasn't too bad at least you can tell from the pictures what you're buying. This morning I went down to the main square, which is unbelievable beautiful to find some coffee. No luck. So, I went to McDonalds. Thank god the woman at the counter spoke impeccable English and that coffee sounds the same in all languages or I would have been starving.
Tomorrow down to the old Jewish quarter for some Klezmer music and some hopefully, excellent pierogis.
Til then,
Lyle
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