The last historic site we visited in Berlin was the site of the first Nazi labor camp, Sachenhausen, about 40 miles outside of Berlin. It was also the place where many of the methods of mass extermination were developed for the later death camps in Auschwitz and elsewhere. Needless to say it was a profoundly moving visit and other than the main entrance to the camp and the memorial, we did not take any photos of the camp itself. The clock on the watchtower below is painted on and shows the time of day that the camp was liberated by…

On Thursday, with John’s meetings finished, we took a day trip to the nearby town of Potsdam. Someone (Rick Steves?) noted that Potsdam is to Berlin like Versailles is to Paris. Seems reasonable and maybe now we need to visit Versailles too! We took the train and first ambled around the town of Potsdam before heading to the former Royal summer palace called Sans Souci. Let’s just enjoy the grandeur and salmon color of these buildings, rather than trying to identify each of them 😉 We also went to the Dutch part of town, where the architecture truly looked very…

We three visited some great saunas and swimming pools in Berlin, including Hotel Oderberg and Vabali. Mildred and I also took a day trip to the kiez of Charlottenburg to swim at the public pool there. Also near Charlottenburg, we visited the Memorial Church, which was very sensitively rebuilt after the war. The main church is stabilized and partially rebuilt, showing that damage was extensive while also giving a sense of the original shape of the building. Mosaics on the inside are intact and beautiful.

Mildred and I met in 1988 at a volunteer project in Neu Wulmsdorf, a small town outside Hamburg. After the project finished, we hitchhiked around Germany, and spent a very memorable week – for both of us – in West Berlin, with a day visit to East Berlin. Mildred came to Chicago in 2023, which was really fun, and so on this trip it was amazing to meet up again but this time in Berlin, where she has lived for over 25 years. We were both very keen to visit the flat in Kreuzburg where we stayed in 1988. We…

Reporting from a very pleasant (so far!) couple of hours layover at Heathrow! On Monday, we had 9am tickets for a visit to the Reichstag dome, so we met up with Mildred at our local tram stop and took Berlin’s excellent train system there. It was a lovely misty morning, with nice late fall colors hanging on in the trees and in leaves on the ground. Berlin is so full of history, it’s hard to think I can do any of these topics justice. So in this case I’ll put in an iconic photo from the end of WW2, showing…

Prologue We flew to Berlin on different flights, due to my booking earlier to use frequent flier miles and John booking later once his work trip was 100% sure to go ahead. John arrived early Saturday and checked into our airbnb in Prenzlauer Berg, went for lunch and had some relaxing time. I arrived Saturday afternoon and Mildred met me at the airport. When I came out of the gate, she was helping a young man at the airport who asked her to film his reunion with his brother. After a while he found that his brother had entered through…

Maddie had a choir concert last week, with a very prominent solo earned through an audition! Here she is starting the song off with here with her solo. Amazing singing, Maddie! We had a great visit from Barry between his visit to Wisconsin and flying back to London! We also met up with Liam for dinner but didn’t manage to get a photo of the whole group. Next stop for us: Berlin!

We were down in Michigan this weekend, getting the house ready for winter, with the first freezing temperatures of the winter, but still nice enough for some lovely sunsets! Despite being busy we managed to find time to drive up to Grand Rapids, with our friends Karen and John, to visit the famous Meijer Gardens. The triggering event was a new Juame Plensa exhibit, who long time readers with remember from our visit to Antibes, Madrid, and Chicago’s Millennium park. But the gardens themselves were also fantastic, with an amazing sculpture garden, with some real world class artists and monumental…

After a lovely week in sawyer, we drove back to Chicago. John headed off on a business trip and I worked a few days while Paddy and Kathleen visited some of their favorite spots like the bean and added some new adventures like taking an architectural boat cruise and – very exclusive opportunity – a tour of Liam’s apartment! On Friday miles arrived first thing on an overnight flight from the west coast. I had a few days off starting then and John got back on Friday too. We had a lovely visit to the indoor and outdoor gardens at…