Germany (part II), England (again) and Scotland

We had finished off in Poland, and then re-entered Germany – this time to Berlin. Luckly we have some friends who live there: Daniel and Carmen! If any readers have been paying very close attention to this blog you might remember thata we also saw Daniel and Carmen in Sydney, Australia at the end of our trip, just as they were moving back to Germany. In fact, on their way moving back they stopped in Edmonton whle we where there, so in the past few months we've seen them in Australia, Canada, and Germany. I think they're probably getting sick of us! But we really enjoyed seeing them, and of course, Berlin.

For some reason, I am very curious about the cold war and Berlin was the hot spot of the cold war (if I can use such an expression). I really enjoyed going to the old American military sector with the famous Checkpoint Charlie border. It was so interesting to be actually standing at the very epicentre where East and West, the Communist and Democratic ideologies faced off. Here is a picture of a picture showing the height of the tensions at Checkpoint Charlie where the two armies had several of their tanks pointing menacingly at each other. The photo is from the vantage point of the American side.



Just imagine the nervous feeling in the air during these tense moments. We also went to a nearby museum and learned about how people escaped (or died trying) into West Berlin. One brave family actually built a hot air balloon and floated over the border. Wow!

Of course this all had to do with the dividing line drawn through Berlin, and that line was embodied by the Berlin wall. Today sections of the wall still exist as a memorial, and artists are given the opportunity to express themselves, using the wall as their canvass. This image shows a car made in East Germany (called a "Trabant") breaking through to the west...



I don't want to overload this with too many pictures, but Berlin had so much more to see. The Brandenburg gate, Hitler's command bunker, the Reichstag, and many museums, etc.

We said goodbye to Daniel and Carmen and then went to Cologne (a.k.a. Koln) where Amanda recently spent a six month university semester. Of course she had some friends there and they gave us a very warm welcome. Here we are enjoying a dinner together. Lucky me! Unfortunately Inita, our main host was the girl taking the picture, so she's not in it.




Koln is a beautiful city, and here's a typical view. Followed by another picture showing an activity the Germans love – drinking beer. I just didn't know they could combing drinking and driving so safely...








That's right - it's a "beercycle".

After a few days in Koln we went by ferry back to England and then on into London. Once there we submitted our passports to the Indian consulate to apply for visas which we'll need in a few months. We enjoyed our time in London, and went to a very interesting restaurant for dinner. It's called "dans la noir" which is French for "in the black".




It is so named because once inside the restaurant it is entirely black. And I don't mean black tablecloth, walls, and plates. I mean there is no light inside the restaurant. At all. It is entirely 100% dark in there. The restaurant hires blind people to be the waiters who also guide you to your table and explain where your cutlery is, how many glasses you have etc. Once the food comes, it's a very different experience to eat without first 'tasting' the food with your eyes. The menu is vague – you choose either red meat, seafood, or vegetarian. After that you need to rely on your other senses to know what you're eating. When you've finished your blind waiter guides you back out of the restaurant and they show you what you ate. One person at our table actually age chicken heart. She said if she saw it on the plate she would never have eaten it, but without seeing, she thought it was very tasty. So we though this was a really interesting evening. Apparantly the restaurant has some franchises in the larger cities: Paris, London, New York, etc.
Anyway, we had to wait at least five business days to get our passports back, so we thought we'd rent a car and drive up into Scotland. But first, we headed west to go see Stonehenge.




And from there to Stratford, where Shakespaere was born and spent most of his life. Here is a pic of his house.





Then we had a big driving day and got ourselves to Edinburgh, Scotland. I must confess that I've never been clear on exactly what is the U.K. vs. Great Britain, and how England and Scotland factor into the mix. Well, I learned that Scotland has only been an independant country for about 10 years now. Here is a picture of part of their grand and new parliament buildings.




Scotland was enchanting in both rural and urban settings. I just couldn't get enough of the huge stone buildings along the royal mile in Edinburgh...

We couldn't resist getting back into our car and driving further north to go see Nessie, the famous Loch Ness monster! Now, I think I caught a glimpse of her in this next pic. You need to look really carefully. She's about 2/3 of the way down, and a little to the left, but not too far. You'll see some strange waves and ripples there. Which could only have been caused some something very big moving very fast. If you zoom in you can see something just under the surface. I think that was her.

Of course I also got another pic of her. This one came through a little more clearly...

Throughout the summer at most villages are the Highland Games. We stopped by one to watch for a while and got some great pics and a few little video clips. Check them out...

This next guy is lifting two stones, weighing about 750 lbs.

Next we carried on to the tiny village of Haworth where the famous literary sisters Emily Bronte, Charlotte Bronte, and Anne Bronte lived and wrote their novels (such as Jayne Ayre, and Wuthering Heights, etc.). Here is a pic of the church where they are buried. We also toured through their house.

After this is was back to London to collect our passports and continue on to Africa, except there was only one problem. They had managed to process only one passport – mine. Amanda didn't have her passport and we had a flight booked for the next day. No passport, no flight. In the end, she had to forfeit her ticket and get another one. I, on the other hand, carried on into Cape Town, South Africa as scheduled and waited for her to arrive several days later.