Jan and Arancha in New York again

Jan and Arancha went to New York for their second visit
They traveled by train last Friday and seem to have had a great time. I was ending my first typing course at the time! They went to many places including Times Square, Madison Square Garden, Central Park, 5th Avenue, Rockefeller Center, Wall Street, Brooklyn Bridge, China Town, Little Italy, Statue of Liberty, Lower Manhatten and UN Headquarters.

He has his usual studies this week and Arancha her English lessons, but he is looking forward to Halloween this Friday and the election next Tuesday. Have fun studying both and thanks for sharing your news and photos.

Treptow Park visit

I visited Treptow Park this afternoon.
I mentioned coincidence in my last blog about my neighbour and we have another one. I got a call from 'Oldie' Hermann asking me what I was doing this afternoon. I said, 'Nothing'. So he said, 'Okay, we'll go to Treptow Park. The maintenance work on the Soviet Memorial is over and we can now visit it'. So I put my camera in my rucksack and off I went.

The memorial was opened on my birthday in 1949. In the picture you can see the soldier on a plinth on a mound. The mound contains the bodies of 2,000 Soviet soldiers. In the green areas in front are the remains of another 7,000 soldiers. They are some of the 26,000 Soviet soldiers who died capturing Berlin. It is the biggest memorial to Soviet soldiers outside Russia and is maintained by the German government.

It is a moving experience to go there and shows that there is more to see in Berlin than the Brandenburg Gate and Reichstag. As I walked in the memorial area. I thought of my neighbour who I had had coffee with a day earlier and listened to her talking about her husband and his death returning home from a Russian prisoner of war camp in 1947. What a coincidence that I should experience both in one weekend.

A Special Birthday

A Special Birthday last Wednesday

Frau Pirow celebrated her 90th birthday last Wednesday. She lives in the flat below mine. I took her a flowering plant as a gift. She was very grateful and asked me to come on Saturday for 'Kaffe und Kuchen'. And so I did.

I took this photo as she asked me about my family and we got to know each other better. She told me an interesting story about life in Berlin during the war and just after when there really was a fight for survival. She showed me a photo of her marriage. Her husband was in uniform and I commented that her grandson looked like him. She smiled proudly to hear that.

He was sent to the Russian front just before she heard that she was pregnant. She had a daughter who he never saw except on a photo. She discovered that her husband was in a prisoner of war camp in Russia and so had a photo taken of the baby. She went to a Russian officer responsible for her part of Berlin and asked for it to be sent to her husband. The officer did this.

How did she know? Her husband sadly died on a train transporting soldiers back to Germany in 1947. His personal things were sent to his wife - including the picture of the baby he had never seen. What a story.

She studied typing and stenography and worked all her life. What a coincidence that I am starting Part 2 of my touch-typing course tomorrow!

Learning to type again

I went back to school again to learn how to type correctly

Yes, I started a typing course on Monday.
Ja, am Montag habe ich einen Tastaturschreibkurs begonnen. I taught myself over forty years ago and although I use all my fingers I realised that I could be better. Vor mehr als vierzig Jahren hatte ich mir das Schreiben selbst beigebracht, und obwohl ich alle zehn Finger benutze, habe ich festgestellt, dass ich es noch schneller tun könnte. Now that I have retired, I have time to take a course. Nun, da ich Rentner bin, habe ich endlich Zeit, einen Kurs zu beginnen. It is from 9.00 am to 1.30 pm and have registered for the level 2 course next week. Er dauert von 09.00 früh bis 13.30 Uhr, und ich habe mich für die zweite Stufe nächste Woche angemeldet.

It is at a vhs (Adult Education College) and very interesting. Er findet an der VHS statt und ist sehr interessant. I have learnt what I have been doing wrong for years - for example: using my middle finger to type M for I should use my first finger! Ich habe gelernt, was ich über all die Jahre falsch gemacht habe, z.B. habe ich immer meinen Mittelfinger für den Buchstaben M anstelle meines Zeigefingers benutzt! Most of the group are women but there is a woman with her son and daughter which is nice. Die meisten der Gruppenmitglieder sind Frauen, aber wir haben auch eine Frau mit ihrem Sohn und ihrer Tochter, was nett ist. Tomorrow they are going to bring cakes and have a small farewell party. Morgen wollen sie mit Kuchen kommen und eine kleine Abschiedsfeier haben.

The teacher is really good with lots of humour and we do finger stretching and relaxing exercises. Die Lehrerin ist wirklich gut und hat sehr viel Humor, wir trainieren Fingerdehnungen und andere Übungen. I also like her stick with the red ball at the end, and she readily agreed to let me take a photo of her with her pointer. Ich mag auch ihren Zeigestock mit der roten Spitze am Ende, und sie hat mir bereitwillig erlaubt, ein Foto von ihr mit ihrem Zeigestock zu machen. The photos were taken today and show nearly all the group. Die Fotos sind heute gemacht worden und zeigen fast die gesamte Gruppe.

Tomorrow I shall give them this url so they can look at the photos, even if they cannot all read English. Morgen werde ich ihnen die URL geben, so dass sie sich die Fotos ansehen können, selbst wenn sie nicht alle Englisch lesen können. I have really enjoyed my week and hope the next group is as nice. Die Woche hat mir wirklich viel Spaß gemacht, und ich hoffe, die nächste Gruppe ist auch nett. Now to the photos which includes one of the building for I like the architecture. Nun zu den Fotos, die eines der Gebäude zeigen, da ich die Architektur sehr mag.

Nice meeting!

I had an unexpected meeting on Sunday

I expected to meet Daniel on Sunday afternoon for a Spanish lesson and had the bonus of meeting Kati. Here is a photo of her on my balcony. Who is Kati I can hear you asking?

Kati is a good friend of Daniel. They met on a Spanish beach last summer. She was studying in Barcelona and speaks very good Spanish. They visited before she went back to uni at Leipzig. We got on immediately and from starting in German we ended up in English and a bit of Spanish. Daniel just looked on and smiled! He later said my pronunciation was getting better.

He also brought my new-old laptop for there were problems with the monitor. Here is a pic of Daniel catching up on his e-mails before I took it to be checked today. I took it to the place where I have my Thursday Photoshop course. Thomas is a technician there and agreed to check it.

Here is a nice photo of the laptop showing all its secret insides! We had quite a session and discovered that the problem was a loose connection of a cable carrying the image information to the monitor. The solution was sticky tape and some old sweet papers stuffed into the hole to stop it from moving around. Very high tech - and so far it has worked!

The King of the Posers

The King of the Posers is coming tomorrow

Yes, Daniel is coming to visit me tomorrow (Sunday) at 1.00pm. I am going to practice Spanish pronunciation and he is going to correct me. He has to work later and so we are going to meet earlier - just as well for I have to visit Micha later to sort out another learning problem!

Daniel is also going to bring my laptop - which he uses. There are some problems so I am having it checked next week. I also hope he is also going to bring a Spanish-English Dictionary. I told him about a bookshop near where he now lives so I hope he has been able to get one.

Last week I went to visit him at his new flat in Kreuzberg. Nice area and flat even though Daniel lives the life of the true student and it showed in the flat. He had forgotten our appointment and just woken up. It was mid-afternoon! He works in the evening and parties all night so it no surprise that his day is the opposite to mine. Even so I got a few pics and here they are.

Micha-Pauline-DVD and books

Micha-Pauline-DVD and books

What an interesting mixture! First I got a call from Micha saying he had problems with his computer and writing a letter, so I suggested he came to me. He agreed for sometimes he has enough of his flat and wants to look at another four walls. I can understand his problem!

And so Micha came, and I got my old practice computer from the balcony and put it on the table so he could practice. The main problem with Micha is that he doesn't listen, and that he is trying to do step 2 before he has learnt step 1. He came and we sorted out his problem. In-between we had a number of cups of coffee, he had a few cigs and I had a few minutes to think about learning problems for 'seniors'.

I took this phot0 as he relaxed on my balcony with a cig! Now he has another problem so I am going to visit him tomorrow, after Daniel comes here to help me with Spanish pronunciation!

What a surprise! I got a nice package from my no-techi sister, Pauline, on Friday. She sent me a book she had read about Einstein, details of her choir and their performance and of course, a nice letter!

Finally, I have added a photo of a book I have just read - it is about the Catholic church and shows how debased, cruel, murderous, deadly and vindictive it became. It was written by a Catholic theologian and not an atheist! I wonder if the catholic half of my family have read it! I suspect they just go through the ritual each Sunday with no thought about what they are doing nor about the serious issues raised in this book.

Interesting that the term 'Roman Catholic' is a contradiction in terms and appeared after the Protestant break away - rather like saying it is a part of the whole, but the whole no longer exists. First the loss of the eastern church then the loss of the church in the north. Well worth a read.

You can also see a few DVDs I have just seen. I can really recommend ' Into the Wild' and 'No Country for Old Men'. Wonderful stories and well made! Get them immediately! And now to the pics.

Trip to Bad Saarow

Last Sunday I went to Bad Saarow

Just before then I had been to a not very successful two day workshop about Linux. Even the teacher apologised, so I was pleased when Oldie Hermann phoned and asked if I was interested in a day out a Bad Saarow. I said, yes, for I needed a break from Berlin and two days of computers and systems not working properly - and just wasting time on theory.

And so as Jan and Arancha got wet at Niagara Falls and Paul was climbing up a pass in the north of Pakistan, I got on a train and headed off for Bad Saarow. It is to the east of Berlin not too far from the Polish border. As the name suggests, it is a place where people go to 'take the waters' for it is a small town built around a volcanic hot springs which erupt very close to the nearby lake.

About five years ago, Alan and Lynne with myself and Peter von Longlegs had nice day there - and Alan and Lynne are Paul von Pakistan's mother and father. What an interesting coincidence. Very interesting that I should return there and so spontaneously. I thought about the earlier trip as I wandered around with Hermann and we even went for lunch in the same restaurant and yes, I ate fish as I had done so many years ago.

It really is a pleasant place to visit and takes you back to the health spa culture of the Kaiser Zeit or as we say, to the late Victorian period. You are surrounded by water, trees and very nice villas. Certainly not a place where the Arbeiterklasse came to settle. It relaxes you as soon as you get out of your car - or in our case - out of the train.

We went to the famous Kurbad where you can see people relaxing-swimming in the thermal waters, and I took a photo of the building. Then to the lake which is only two minutes walk away but not heated by the thermal spring - interesting what Nature does or doesn't do.

We wandered around part of the lake taking in the ferries where years before we had taken one to explore the lake. The memories came flooding back for I had spent part of this summer with Alan and Lynne but when we had last been here I had no idea that Paul would be galloping around half the globe when I made my next visit!

I can recommend a day out to all visitors to Berlin. I have just read that my sister Pauline wants to visit Berlin next March so perhaps we shall make it there for a nice day out. Now for the photos. I have selected seven to give you a flavour of the place, so here goes!

Jan and Arancha inCanada

Last weekend Jan and Arancha went to Canada

Compared to Paul's travels it was a relatively safe journey. They went for a long weekend and Jan posted a nice report on his blog. Canada is BIG so in fact they only went as far as Toronto and to Niagara Falls. I thought only newly-weds went to Niagara Falls for their honeymoon. Mmmmh !

I think it is great that a young couple take the chance to do this. I have never been there so I have to live it through their eyes, report and photos. I wonder why I was always attracted to the other part of the world when I was younger? At least I can enjoy their weekend via Jan's blog report and taking five of their Niagara Falls and two of their Toronto photos to share with you.

I shall start with the Toronto pics and then add the Falls pics. Get your umbrellas out!

Paul in Pakistan

Paul sent photos from Pakistan

I took them from his facebook account and find them a really great set of photos to show we armchair travellers what is is like in that part of the world. Well done Paul and it seems that your stomach problem is now over. He either tells me of news and sends photos in an e-mail or notifies me via facebook, so I am happy to share these views with you. I selected five interesting ones of the thirteen I got.

They show him in what we called the foothills of the Himalayas (in my day!) or what some call the Kamarokooran, but whatever you say, they are in the north of Pakistan and border onto China and Afghanistan. I know he wants to go to Kazakhstan so I wonder which route he is actually taking. Me thinks over Afghanistan for he is wearing some Afghani style clothes in a few photos. Mmmmh still a dangerous route. More news please Paul - and take care of yourself!

Mid-October News

Latest news in the middle of October.

I have some photos and news of Paul in Pakistan and of Jan and Arancha in Canada. Also of me at Bad Sarow last weekend and news of Micha, Pauline and Daniel. Let's go!

Paul leaves India-Pakistan

I got an e-mail from Paul with pictures. I decided to reduce all and post to my blog because they were taken as he left India to go to Pakistan from where I think he has moved to another country. You know that I lived in these countries many years ago, so it is always special to get news and photos and re-live my time there again.

I start with a pic of Paul in the middle of a field and then pics of a town, hotels, restaurants including one owned by Mr Gupta - for I can read it in the sign above the family cooking in the open kitchen. These photos must have been taken in India, probably in Delhi for the language is Hindi. He had to travel through Punjab to get to Pakistan and there the language is Punjabi and Urdu in Pakistan - neither of which are in his photos. Sound like Sherlock Holmes, don't I?

Toilet humour we can see in his two photos of the museum and a shot inside. Luxury - when I was there we used a field! Now to the photos and I shall try to present them in the above order - didn't work out. Okay, let's start with the toilets! More news and photos please, Paul.