Sutton in Berlin

I didn't get any visitors from Silsden this summer, but I got some from Sutton-in-Craven. I can imagine my readers scratching their collective heads and asking, 'Where is that?' It's in the Aire Valley slightly south-west of Silsden.

Nicholas and Julie with daughter Laura and son Matthew live there. I met Nicholas' father in my first job so I have known him since his birth. He is able to communicate in German and likes the country and people. It was not their first visit to Berlin.

I galloped to Schönefeld Airport to meet them. Here is a photo of that. I went with them to their hotel near to Alexander Platz, on the River Spree and opposite the Berliner Dom (cathedral). A nice place to stay. They had good weather during their stay.

We spent some days together starting with the centre where they said hello to Karl Marz and Herr Engels - as you can see. One some days we met to journey into the countryside where tourists don't go, on others I left them to visit the standard tourist places with their guide books.

One such collective day was spent at Muggelsee. The station is called Friedrichshagen and you can see them posing for a pic. A walk down one of my favourite streets with a stop at Julie's request for a large roast Thüringa Bratwurst. Tasty!

More walking before we reached the lake. It was a warm  day so time for a cool beer. You can see that those of us who did, were very happy with that choice. In the latter part of their stay I had to juggle time to welcome Alan and Lynne and go to a wedding.  More of that in the next posts.

Their visit was one of the high spots of my summer and I enjoyed seeing how relaxed they were in and around Berlin.  It was also nice to get to know Laura and Mathew again. This time as young adults and enjoy their spontaneous humour - and note they were masters on a 'Smart-Phone'!