Berlin

Andy and I spent a nice weekend in Berlin. What an incredible city!! I loved it. There is so much history and delicious food there, one can't help but find it an amazing place to visit. We stayed in an area called Friedrichshain which reminded me a lot of New York's East Village with all of its shops and restaurants. I very nice still slightly gritty area on the east side of town. Anyway here are a few pics of the trip.

Treptower Park home on one huge ass Soviet War Memorial.

Here we are at the East Side Gallery:

And here is a piece I liked a lot.We went up to the top of the famous TV tower and had a look around. I'd include photos, but they never do a view from up high justice, and I'm too lazy.

Here I am with a couple of huge giants. Bet you didn't know that Berliners are into giant worship... well you'd be wrong.

Pretty.

Moving.

Impressive.Fun.

Even more fun.

Well there you have it, a short view of our time in Berlin. If you haven't been, go, if you have been go again.

Authur's Seat

Andy and I went for a quick jont up to the top of Arthur's Seat, which is an ancient volcano located in the middle of Edinburgh. From the top you get a great view of the city as well as a sense of the age of this country. It's so craggy and old, very Scottish.

A Quick Stop in Rothenburg

Cindy and I went to dinner in Rothenburg last night at a little winesteube where The English Conversation Club meets every Wednesday night for food, wine, and of course conversation. The club consists of mainly 80 year old Germans who like to meet English speakers and chat it out. This club has been made famous by one of America's biggest nerds, Rick Steves of PBS fame. We were lucky enough to have two Americans show up when we were there, solely because they saw the place on Rick's tv program. And I'll save you the suspense, they were big nerds too.

All in all it was a wonderful evening of good food and drink and fun conversation with old men. Rothenburg is a magical city that feels a bit like a Brothers Grimm fairyland. It's a must see.

Reporting from Bad Windsheim

After the train ride from hell Cindy and I made it to her home in Bad Windsheim Germany. Bad Windsheim is sort of in between Nuremburg and Frankfurt. I spent the rest of my trip just wondering around the town and checking out the sites. Here are a few photos of the village.

I visited an open air museum full of old buildings from all over Germany. The buildings range from farm houses and barns to brewhouses and even a grain mill. Here are a few photos.

Reporting from Burchtesgarden, the Eagle's Nest and the salt mine

Today Cindy and I went on our tour of the salt mine with a quick stop at the base of the Eagle's Nest, that jerk Hitler's home away from home. Cindy took most of the pictures today so I'll update this post once I get them from here. Here are a few that I took though, just to whet your appetite.

Here's Cindy at the visitors center at the Eagle's Nest. The actual building was closed and WAY up the mountain but we did get a little peek of it and were told a little bit about the actual 'town' where all the Nazi scumbags had their homes and what not.

We then made our way to Burchtesgarden for a quick walk around and cup of tea.

Then off to the mine we went. Again I'll have a few pictures up of the mine once I get them from my auntie. Trust me they will be worth viewing. I'll give you a hint we had to dress up like bakers or hazmat workers for our tour. I'll keep you posted.

Here's another pretty shot of the alps.