Barbara and Fran

Barbara and Frances

Hi both, I read my last post again and thought about you. I decided to show you where I shall be as we move from one year to the next. It is my living room!

One shot is of where I sit/lounge around and another is of what I look at when I am sitting on my sofa and want to turn off my brain.

I recently put some of the speakers on top of the screen as part of playing around with the sound. I know they look strange but I am more interested in sound than appearance. Even so I may move them tomorrow as I continue to play around with sound reproduction!

I still have very special memories of our day at Harrogate as one of my highlights of 2009.  This post is just for you so don't tell anyone else about it :-)

January things

January things

Just a few hours away from January. I am going to relax and ease my way into the New Year. I think a glass of sekt will be in order later!

Nothing great planned for January 2010 so far. Just each Monday taking Hans out and making sure he is okay. Tuesday and Thursday mornings at my Wellness Club to try to keep my left leg functioning. Teaching three students on different days, taking Micha to the Oldie computer course each Wednesday afternoon and going to my Photoshop course each Friday afternoon,  just about make up my weekly routine as I face January 2010.  

On the left is a photo of the entrance to my flat.

What about those of you with birthdays in January 2010? 

Peter Lee in Canterbury starts the year with his 51st birthday on the 5th. Daniel will be celebrating his 25th in Sau Paulo in Brazil with his family and friends on the 9th. Hannelore will be opening a bottle to share with Peter at their house in Province to celebrate her 67th on the 12th. Harald Porsch will hit 46 on the 21st, Peter Schmidt will be celebrating his 26th in Potsdam with friends on the 24th, Paul Bateson will be having a party with Beth and friends in New Zealand to celebrate his 25th on the 27 January and our dear Larissa will no doubt open a bottle of Rotkäppchen to celebrate her 47th with her family in Bernau on the 29th January.

Na, Prost alle(t)!! Have a wonderful day each!

Just going to add a few photos of the area around my flat as I write this. I thought about Barbara and Fran as I took these photos for both are interested to see more of the area where I live.  You can see that we are going to enter the New Year with lots of snow in Berlin. Even with such winter conditions, I heard on the radio that about 1 million people are expected at Brandenburg Tür for the midnight party and fireworks!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year

I got lots of nice presents and cards for Christmas and had a really interesting week from Christmas to New Year. This started with a visit to Hans and was pleased to see him looking well even though continually pulling on a cigarette!

Next day I went to my Wellness Club and weighted myself. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I had only added 0.02 Kilo over Christmas. Anja, the trainer, said that was nothing and could be the water I had just drunk! I did try not to add weight over Christmas and was pleased with the result.

Next day I set out for lunch (more eating :-) with Teresa at Hackescher Markt. It is near to Alexander Platz and is one of my favourite areas in Berlin.  It is just opposite where I worked for years at the old British Council building. We went to one of my favourite restaurants famous for its range of German beers, and traditional German food. It was really nice to see her again and catch up on news.  Today I did some shopping and then decided on a lazy relaxing day to end the year.

It has been a good one for me and much better than the year before. I hope the next one will be as good. I have already started to organise it with a possible ski trip to Austria in March, a visit to New Orleans in April-May and taking Hans to Greece at the end of May. Let's see what happens and you can always follow events by reading this blog.

It's still snowing so I shall share a photo of my cards and a few taken of the flat and area where I live.

Boxing Day

Boxing Day plus 1

I spent the afternoon and evening with Christa and Detlef and friends at their flat in the north-east of Berlin. I enjoyed traveling there on the tram and seeing the happy faces of children - and even most of the parents!

It was a traditional round of Kaffee und Kuchen + chat, then a glass of Rotkappchen Sekt + more chat until the meal arrived on the table + more chat during and after. I get a shot of the Kaffee und Kuchen Tisch and what appeared to me to be  an alternative to the traditional tree and decoration.

Now is the day after and I am relaxing at home and note this is the first day I have not been out visiting and/or celebrating since last Sunday = exactly a week. I plan to go to my training centre on Tuesday and see how much damage has been done to my weight over the last week or so :-) I have eaten nothing today but am now feeling rather peckish (hungrig in German). Wonder what is in the fridge?

Friedrich and Donald

Friedrich and Donald Duck

On the 25th I sorted out my presents, cards and flat then talked to Andrew and family, over Skype, and the Lynch family per telephone. I later went to Marita's very nice flat and enjoyed the rest of the evening in the company of Marita, her mother, Friedrich the cat and her traditionally decorated tree. There was also Donald Duck, but we ate him!

Friedrich had a recent operation to remove a tumor so was not his usual active self. Even so, he perked up a bit when Marita fed him some pieces of Donald. He then tried to climb onto the table to get at the rest of the bird. Signs of recovery. We had red cabbage cooked in the traditional way with lots of wine and spices. Delicious with duck!   

We sipped dry Cava sekt as an aperitif before a dry red with Donald. Very tasty!  The space behind the large windows in the living room housed a 'real' fully decorated tree. All very different from my 'spartan' living room. Some photos to share with you.  Unfortunately Donald had disappeared before I thought about my camera!

Presents

Christmas Presents

I got more presents than I thought I would and I got 29 Christmas cards. Unfortunately not one from the north of Spain :-(

I took a photo of the collection before I opened them on the morning of the 25th. I bought myself a present. It was a new sound system for my iMac and made by Trust for a Mac. It cost one seventh of the price my Apple shop offered for their system!

I had the iMac connected to my old Cambridge Sound Sytem, which I had used for many years on my previous XP computer. Two weeks ago I dropped the speakers I use on my Windows XP - Asus laptop, and they broke! Oh no!!

Yes, so I put the new one onto my iMac and moved the old Cambridge system to my Asus laptop and now I have the perfect sound system, no matter where I am at home. Why didn't I do this earlier?

Rathaus Köp

Rathaus Lunch

On Monday 21 December, I went to Hans' home as per each Monday. This time there was the bonus of Hans calling me on the way to say that his sister was coming to visit him. What a nice surprise, and I actually met her as we got out of the same S-Bahn. Time for a quick chat as we walked to his door.  I then left them alone for some time before I rang again.

We had talked via his mobile the day before and agreed on a small excursion. His sister is called Karin and she agreed to come with us. I noticed that Hans had showered, put on new clothes and cleaned his room before I arrived. Signs of progress! Pleased with what I saw, we then went to the tram and got out at Rathaus Köpenick.

We went into the Ratskeller and ordered a meal and drink. It was really nice. It was decorated for Christmas and there were many other diners. Karin and I did a lot of talking. Mainly catching up on her family news. Hans looked on happily as he ate his meal and drank beer.

It was a very pleasant atmosphere and I took a few photos. I have since sent the larger versions to Karin, so she can send them on to other family members, but here you can see the smaller versions.

December flowers

Flowers in December

I always think of flowers in spring or summer but it is interesting what florists here come up with in the 'non-flower' season including December. Yesterday I visited some people and got the following flowers as gifts.

I still think of giving someone a bunch of flowers prepared in a florist's shop but I think I shall have to start looking more attentively at what is available in different seasons.

One is of a Christmas Star, and very popular at the moment in Berlin. The other is cotton growing on a branch. Now who would think of that? I like them both and they add a certain style to my previously flowerless flat!

Friday course pics

Friday Photoshop course images

I found some images of my Friday course and decided to post here before the year ends and we start a new course. In the new course we shall be learning how to create small cartoons. Should be fun!

Here is a black and white landscape image in which we had to select something to add colour - in my case to a tree. There is also one of me posing on the U-Bahn bridge that takes me to my Photoshop course on a Friday afternoon - but I put it together at the start of my first course. I added a river where there is actually a road and put some other things into it.

You can see that I had a problem to embed an image in its base. We learnt this recently and you can see the results in the image of fountains in a garden with people passing by in the top section. I embedded all into the base garden image.

I just hope I can remember this technique for the next course.

Pankow Schloss

Schloss Niederschönhausen in Pankow

From the Soviet War Memorial I wandered through the woods and down the park into the area containing Schloss Niederschönhausen and its garden. The River Panke flows on its southern side forming a natural border. The Schloss has an interesting history which reveals some long aristocratic names!

In 1662, Countess Sophie zu Dohna-Schlobitten (you really couldn't invent a name like that :-) of the Holland-Brederode family acquired the lands of Niederschönhausen and Pankow. In 1664, she had a 'manor' built there in the 'Dutch' style. In 1680, it was acquired by General Joachim Ernst von Grumbkow.

He came from Pomerania and was a successful soldier ending his career as Minister of War and then Minister of Finance in the government of the Elector of Brandenburg. He died in 1690, and his heirs sold the property in 1691, for 16,000 Thaler to the Prince-Elector of Brandenburg because he had always liked it. Not a bad reason to buy something!

The Prince-Elector got the workmen in and from 1691 to 1693 they changed it into a 'palace'.  After the Prince-Elector of Brandenburg crowned himself King of Prussia (an area of Poland) in 1701, he sent the workmen there again. In 1704 they enlarged the house and gardens. Making yourself a king meant you had to have bigger status symbols.

His grandson, King Frederick II of Prussia (generally known as Frederick the Great) gave the property to his wife, Queen Elisabeth Christine von Brunswick-Bevern (1715-1797) who used it as a summer residence from 1740 to 1790. Frederick never visited her there, in fact he hardly ever saw her. It is believed to have been a marriage of convenience. When he wasn't at war he was chasing a soldier around the bedroom and not Elisabeth Christine!

During her period of ownership, the house was rebuilt in 1764 to its current shape and the gardens were re-modelled in the French rococo style. The gardens were changed again in the 19th century to an English landscape garden.  Later Prussian Kings lost interest in the property and it was often used to store furniture from other palaces.

The house and garden became state property in 1920. The house was slightly damaged in the war but repaired so that it could be used as a club for Soviet officers then as a boarding school for their children. The property was given to the new DDR state by the Soviets in October 1949.  It became the official seat of Wilhelm Pieck, the first President of the DDR until his death in 1960.

It was then used as an official government guest house for visiting Presidents, Kings etc until re-unification in 1989-90. In 2005, renovation work started and when finished next year, the house and gardens will be open to the public. I hope you enjoyed this little historical gallop and now for the photos I took. One is a view of the back of the building, one of a close up of the front and one of the house and garden.

Pankow Memorial

Soviet War Memorial in Pankow

On Saturday I took the S-Bahn to Schönholz and walked towards the Volkspark Schönholzer Heide in the district of Pankow.  Pankow is in the north of Berlin and takes its name from the river Panke, which is west-Czechisch for a small river with swirls in it. The things you learn by reading this blog!

My second job when I came to Berlin was at a school in Pankow, near to the Town Hall, and my boss was Birgit Gast. I never really explored the area for I was more concerned with the route to work from the S-Bahn and local shops. Last Saturday I decided it was time to learn more so I set off to explore.

The Volkspark is shaped like an L with das Pankow Sowjetische Ehrendenkmal (The Pankow Soviet War Memorial) right at the top of the L shape. I started my tour there and later wandered through the park and turned into the bottom part of the L shape to visit Schloss Niederschönhausen. This is one of thirteen localities that make up the administrative district of Pankow.

Most people I talked to didn't know there was a Soviet Memorial in the north of the park. They know about the larger Treptow Memorial  (I posted photos of a visit there to this blog some time ago)  and the small 'cenotaph' near to the Reichstag  and Brandenburg Tur.

The Soviet army assault on Berlin started on 16 April 1945 and ended on 2 May. The war ended on the 8 May 1945. In the Berlin assault, 22,000 Soviet soldiers were killed. I don't know how many thousand were injured. Of this number, 13,200 are buried in the Pankow Memorial grounds.

I was reminded of the Treptow memorial as I approached, but the Pankow one is smaller and has less of a pompous military appearance. This is due to the simple obelisk monument and the figure of 'Mother Russia' holding a dead soldier in her arms which dominates the memorial area.

You approach it from a road, walk down a tree lined avenue and enter the area through two side walls with engraved figures. I hope I can present the photos I took in the right order.

Cruising

Just cruising along!

In the 'Bob Book' note, Pauline told me about her plans. She and Lew decided to celebrate retirement with a cruise and non-better than around the Caribbean, which was Lew's childhood playground. They went with a nice couple about their age, who I remember meeting a few years ago.

They are cruising on the P&O cruise ship 'Oriana'. This is the second ship of that name and has been in operation since 2001.

This is their travel plan. Board ship at Southampton and sip a little free champers, unpack and explore! That is the hard work done! Sail off to Vigo in Spain then cross the Atlantic to arrive at St. Maarten on Friday 4th December. That is TODAY! I checked the web and tracked them down via the ships online tracking system. Very nice!

Tomorrow they are off to St. Kitts, followed by St. Vincent, St. Lucia, (a lot of saints around this part of the world!)  Grenada, Barbados, Madeira on the 15th,  then set sail to cross the Atlantic again and arrive back at Southampton on 19th December. She told me to expect one or two postcards. Can't wait!  Wow, but is that a retirement present. Life at Cherry Hinton will seem rather boring after that experience. Have a great time all of you.

Bob Book

A Bob Book

When I got home from the Photoshop course I found a packet in my mailbox. I recognised the handwriting immediately. It was from Schwester Pauline in Cambridge. She enclosed a note to say she had bought the book in a local charity shop, read it,  liked it and decided to send to me. The postage cost more than the book!
It is called, ' To the Baltic with Bob: An Epic Misadventure', and written by Griff Rhys Jones. Some of you may remember him as a kind of comedian a number of years ago on BBC TV. Now we know he earns a few 'bob' (joke!) writing about his travel adventures.

Actually I think she just sent the book so she could tell me about her cruise  in the note! More about this above.

More images

New colour ranges and images 

Today we learnt/learned how to create new sets of colours - Farbverlauf anlegen/Erstelle Farbverläufe. Stefan showed us slowly how to do this using tools in Photoshop Elements. Then how to work on the new colour sets with lines, circles and other shapes.

First we had to create a rainbow colour set, then one running from yellow to dark red and finally one from shades of blue to black and back to blue. After doing that I created the following images, which I really like.

Next week is the last lesson this year, but we will be starting again in late January and then learn how to create small cartoons.

Calendar

Calendar - der Terminkalender

Stefan prepared our work into a calendar and we got two each this afternoon. Andrea will be very pleased for she asked for a copy when she last visited, and heard I would about this.

What a coincidence. I got into a(n) U-Bahn at midday and bumped into liebe Andrea. She looked very nice and had part of her hair up at the back = very chic!  She had just been to a professional photographer for a set of new photos for future job applications and other things we need photos for. This one is just for you Andrea.

Micha Online

Micha Online

And yeah it came to pass! This morning I caught the 7:26 am tram to Micha's place and arrived just after 8:00 in time for a cup of Micha's steaming hot, strong coffee. Barely time to sip it before the bell rang and the man from Kabel-Deutschland arrived to install an internet connection.

Micha will get a newer computer for online in two weeks so to 'bridge the gap' I lent him my old ex-Jan and ex-Daniel laptop. I prepared it yesterday evening so all the anti-virus and other protection programmes were up-to-date. After an initial problem and then a hitch with his new telephone number, which needed a call to base, it burst onto/into the internet. Big smiles all round - including the technician!

Here you can see a very happy Micha and the laptop on the web page of his provider. Tomorrow I am going with him to lesson three of 'Internet for Oldies' at a place round the corner from where I live. At least he can practice at home and I have discovered that his favourite site is Wikepedia.de. Well done Micha, I knew you could do it!