After a very long day of travel, we made it to Berlin - three planes and two trains later.

We went to bed very early even for us.

I made pancakes for Sylvia. An american food that she loves. We had fresh strawberries with them.

After our brunch, we went to the Radio Tower which gave us a bird's view of Berlin. Then to the necessary visit to Starbucks. We will watch the final ep of CSI which we missed since we were flying at the time.

I don't plan to write too much at one time because I don't to hog my hostess' computer.

Stay tuned for more exciting adventures of Jadie and Stan in Germany. (Or the many places Stan has snored.)
:pcwave:
Jadie

Part 2

We had a good time today relaxing with Sylvia and Jana. We had a wonderful meal wtih Sylvia's mother. I had white asparagus for the first time at dinner. I think I am being spoiled. I loved it even more than the green.

A storm woke us up last night, so I was very happy to see the sun come this afternoon. The wind from the storm slammed both of the doors that we had left slightly open so that Willy(the cat) could move freely through the rooms. We woke up startled and watched a brief light show in the sky. Sylvia slept through the whole thing and in the morning wondered why we shut the door. I think that we wore her out the day before. Stan, on the other hand, didn't get back to sleep very soon, so he is now snoring. ;)

Now I will go because we are going to watch Finding Nemo. Believe it or not, neither Stan or I have watched it before.

Until tomorrow.......

Part 3 - Late

Today (Monday) we went to the Hubertus See (lake). We had visited this lake in November on our last visit. This time the trees in the forest were fully leafed out and the birds where singing to the top of their lungs. Caffey said she knew she was a city girl when the birds' singing started to annoy her.

We watched a male duck grooming himself while his girl friend swam around. The water seemed to be full of fish. It was hard to believe that we were still in the city of 8 million. We sat on a bench and just enjoyed while Stan took lots of pictures.

We had lunch at a lovely chinese place. The food was very good, and I didn't even miss the fortune cookie since at the end of the meal we were served a small glass of plum wine with a liche fruit.

We came back to the house to talk and watch the original 12 Angry Men. Stan and I had never seen it before either. It was a gripping film, showing the dymanics of a group setting and the jury process. The acting was very good too.

I hope to get Tuesday's entry done on time. It's hard to remember the next morning.

until tonight ......

PS I don't mind getting comments. :)

Part 4
Today we visited Sylvia's real house, aka Charlottenburg Castle. She doesn't live there because although there are over 150 rooms, there is only one bathroom. And it is at the far end of the house. Not very in convenient for nighttime use.

The castle is an impressive example of baroque/rococo style. Although he spoke some english, the guide didn't even give us the name of the rooms we visited. We had only a guide sheet in english which wasn't always helpful since we didn't always know the numbers of the rooms. But I did enjoy the tour even without proper narration.

I think my person favorite of all the rooms was the china cabinet. And I do mean a room. the walls were lined with blue and white china pieces of all sizes and shapes, from 1 inch tall to at least 3 ft. The gold on the panelling and molding made the place look like my newly remodeled kitchen/dining room if I stretched my imagination just a tad.

We ate lunch at another potato restaurant - kartalfelhaus (Sylvia will probably correct my spelling later. The food was great and it was plentiful which was told is unusual. After dinner we stopped at a little piece of americana in the heart of Berlin - Dunkin Donuts - and bought a dozen. I must say after the rather unfriendly guide at the castle, the cheerful girl who waited on us was a joy to be around. She even spoke english well which was nice.

We tired Sylvia out today. (sorry Sylvia) Tonight I think we will go to bed early to get a good start on tomorrow.

see you then....

Episode 5 Attack of the Clone Tourists

We were going to have lunch in the TV Tower restaurant, but the line of tourists going in was so long that we decided that the cost was not worth it.

Stan took another hundred pictures and we walked through Hackische Höfe and we had to visit the Starbucks. The weather was nice today and at times almost too warm in the sun.

We came home and after some refreshments we watched Ice Age. Again a movie we haven't seen. It was cute and funny. You have to love Sid.

Tommorrow will be a very lazy day.

Tschüß

Sounds like great fun. Wish I was there!

And aren't you getting clever typing the German.

:-)

- Anne Rose

Part 6 Lazy Day

Today was our relaxing lazy day. We got up and lounged while we waited for Caffey to come for brunch. I made American pancakes again after she got here. We did a lot of reading and Caffey laughed about Barbara Cartland plots while I enjoyed one of the Cartland books Sylvia owns.

Stan worked the hardest. He took out the garbage, played pizza delivery guy, carried the groceries to the flat, and dished up ice cream. Oh and he found time to read and to pet Willy a lot. Willy the katze, loves Stan.

The weather is getting very warm so it was a good idea to take it easy although tomorrow it will be even warmer to our boat cruise on the Spree. I have to go help Sylvia make our lunch for tomorrow.

More tomorrow .....

A boat cruise sounds fun. Have a great time.

Tina T. :cat2:

Part7 - Cruising down the river

Today we took our 5.5 hrs river cruise. We were happy that the boat had a canopy so that we didn't have to sit in the hot sun all day. Somethings the bridges that we went under were so low that the driver had to lower the cover. He didn't always warn us either. It is an interesting sensation to say the least.

Since it was so hot, we all felt a bit wrung out by the time we came back to the dock.

I took a nap - my first of the vacation - when we got back. For dinner we ordered pizza to be delivered. I found out that when you ordered olives on your pizza, the olives are whole and with the pits still inside. Just one way that things are a bit different over here. btw, I loved the pizza.

Tomorrow San Soucci and meeting Caffey's family.............

Part 8 - a day in the sun

Today we joined Sylvia's mom, Caffey and her dad and sister Anka in Potsdam. The city is just across the river from Berlin. We went to the market first and then to Sanssoucci Park. The plan had been to visit inside the castle however being that it was extremely hot and the castle entrance was up 6 flights of stairs, we decided to fore go the 'pleasure.'

Instead we walked to the China tea house. It was a very elaborately decorated house. the columns around the place were gilded palms trees and there many figures of chinese people.

The grounds of the park are very beautiful. I really wish that it hadn't been so hot. We could have enjoyed it more. It was all we could do not to jump into the fountains.

We did have a bit of trouble finding a place to eat. It took 4 tries before we found a place that was serving lunch or that was serving something that everyone wanted to eat.

The strangest thing about the whole day was that even though we walked more and it seemed hotter than the day before, I feel better tonight than yesterday.

Tomorrow will be our last full day in Berlin. We will be lazy again and will take the time to pack up. Sylvia and Willy have been wonderful hosts. We will miss them both very much.

Until tomorrow ......

Part 9 Last Full Day in Berlin

I'm a bit sad since it is my last full day in Berlin. We had a relaxed day sleeping in and enjoying each other's company. Sylvia took us back to the Charlottenburg Castle museum shop so that I could find a book about the castle in English. Then she took us to an Argentine steak house. The steak was so good and Stan and I had the salad buffet which was an interesting thing with so many german salad items in it.

I was finally able to get to a letter box so some will be receiving postcards soon. The others will have to wait for theirs.

At the moment I'm eating ice cream and so is Stan. For Stan reading and eating ice cream is his idea of a vacation. Sylvia just took pictures of us doing just that. This is the link for the pictures: http://www.lonedreamer.org/dig/vacation.jpg

Tomorrow we will be leaving for Zernikow to visit Gine. From the big city to the small village will be quite the change to scenery especially now that I'm beginning to feel right at home here.

You two looked very relaxed :) Glad you're having a good time.

Tina T :cat2:

Hey, I can sleep in my own bed again.
I can drink the whole pot of coffee alone.
I don't have to go onto the balcony anymore to smoke a cigarette.
I can take a nap whenever I feel like it.

Ooooh Jadie, Stan, you left not even 6 hours ago and I already miss you sooooooooooo very much!!!!!

Sylvia :(

Staaaaaaaan! I want ice cream.

And I could use someone to rub my tummy, too.

Willy

(I tried to add a picture, but the BBCode for that doesn't seem to work.)

What's on a German salad buffet?

And, did you get the pancake recipe/email?

- Anne Rose

Sylvia - We miss you too. I hope that your day at work was enjoyable. ;)

Willy - Stan sends you a virtual tummy rub and ice cream.

Anne- Yes, thanks I got the recipes. As far as the german salad buffet. It is hard to explain but there is ice burg lettuce, beets, red and white cabbage, olives (with the pits in) grated carrots, and seceral other salads that I didn't try Oh and whole bolied eggs.

Day 10 Zernikow (late posting)

This morning Gine came to Berlin to pick us up. We saw a part of Berlin that we hadn't seen on our way to Brandenburg and Zernikow. The ride was lovely even without the sunshine.

Gine will is a very small village. She took us down a old road and showed us the pond. There was a mist swirling on it like something from Lord of the Rings.

We are probably going to the Thermal Baths tomorrow since the weather is cooler now.

more tomorrow....

Part 11 Day at the Thermal Baths
I'm posting this early because I may not stay awake long. First we visited the lovely old field stone church in Große Leppin. Gine asked for the keys so that we could go inside.

Then we went to what Gine called the water castle in Plattenburg. It is process of being restored. It was awesome to see all the carvings and the beautiful red brick and stone. The sun finally came out for a while so that Stan had a chance to take a `few'. Sylvia will tell you how few he took.

The thermal baths in Bad Wilsnack were pretty amazing. There were three big salt pools inside under a big clear dome. Each pool is a different temperature. We started in the coolest (34C) and ended in the hottest (36C) Also each pool was saltier. In each pool there were bubblers and water falls. There was one pool that we went to through a channel and a curtain. The water was very warm, but since the air was almost cold it was refreshing. In the outside pool the water was moved, so that we were forced along like in a river.

We had lunch in the cafe while in our swimsuits. And after eating we went into a meditation grotto to relax. Stan and I dosed off for a bit.

It was a relaxing day and I'm feeling a little drowsy right now.

There were many people including many elderly. The bath are great for sore joints and muscles.

One more thing I have to say in reference to what I saw today. Men over the age of 30 should not wear speedos.

later.....

Ah, I only have to go to work tomorrow again. Willy and I both slept for most of the day. We don't really know what else to do without your company. At least I finally don't feel tired for a change. Only lonely. :(

Willy says thanks to Stan.

Hey, didn't Gine say she wanted to give you some relaxing days after the stress in Berlin? Seems to me as if you did about as much today as we did in the last 10 days all together. :wink_smile:

:hug:

Sylvia

now that brings up some unpleasant mental images..... enjoying the commentary :) miss you

Stan and Gine says that we should be happy that they were at least wearing speedos. They didn't wear them in the sauna. We didn't go into sauna btw.

Day 12 More Castles
Today we visited two castles, Castle Ludwigslust and Castle Schwerin. And we visited Gine's mentor's pottery shop and sales room.

The first castle was still in a state of repair but it was a interesting different place. Castle Schwerin is a very tall fairy tale castle on the Schwerin Lake/See. The gardens were right on the lake. I'm glad that I bought books for all of these castles here and Berlin because we couldn't take pictures inside.

Gine's mentor's place was fasinating. He was a farm and a pottery barn and a cafe. There they serve cake and coffee, all you can eat which is rare in Germany.
I got to see them making pottery and then I got got buy some.

More tomorrow .......

Mmmmmmmmmm, cake!

I hope you're bringing back some for everyone!

- Anne Rose

Hi Jadie,

I'm all caught up.

cat (hi Willie), storm, icecream, great food, books, movies, castle, lake, food, great hostesses, icecream, hotsprings, speedos (or not) and castles

Sounds like a good time.
(I'd say minus the speedos, but as Stan and Gine pointed out that's probably not a good idea. I won't touch the speedos.)

m

anne- I don't think the cake would make it that far. Customs agents would eat it all.

M - LOL - I think that we will leave the topic of speedos be. ;-)

Day 13 - Lazy Day
After a full day yesterday we decided to take it easy. We slept in a bit and spent a long time over breakfast. We did some grocery shopping and after a typical German lunch of schnitzel made by Gine.

After lunch we visited a large church in Havelberg. The building is over 800 years old with beautiful stained glass windows. We have seen old churches in the UK, and I enjoyed seeing both the similarities and the differences. I ended up buying a small book about it although it is in German because I wanted to see the pictures again and again.

At the moment Lord of the Rings is playing. It is Gine's favorite movie. In fact I should stop typing and concentrate now the movie.

Tomorrow I make pancakes again.

Day 14 - Making things
Today was the day for me to make things. I started out making American pancakes for everyone. We even found some maple syrup for them. I was told that they were lecker (delicious). Then I sorted laundry and started to make chocolate chip cookies. I did have to improvise some, but the end product was lecker too. *yes Sylvia, I know I will owe you some the next time we visit.

After the baking, a tour of the vegetable garden, and hanging the clothes outside to dry, I got to try my hand at painting ceramics. I did a likeness of Mitzi as a kitten. It was so much fun, I'm going to do more things tomorrow.

We had a lecker lunch that Gine prepared for us, I finished my painting. Later we visited a church in Bad Wilsnack, one in Rühstädt. Rühstädt is also the stork village. There are 37 nesting pairs of storks there. Their nests are on the peak of the roofs of the houses, and some houses have more than one nest. This village has the most pairs of storks of any in Europe. It was fasinating to see the birds so close. One of the many pleasant surprises of Germany.

Tommorrow is my last full day in Zernikow. Again we have had wonderful hosts. I regret one thing. The cats here didn't become our friends like Willy. Although the neighbors' orange cat came by to say hello. He was very talkative. I think we understood each other well. I think I speak katze deusche.

I should go to bed now.

Until tomorrow ......

You know your way around in my kitchen now, but you can also make some chocolate chip cookies for me when I come to visit you next time. :)

Willy the Katze fell from his favorite place on my computer when I read this to him. :lol:
However, in defense of the Zernikow cats I should remind you that it took you two visit at my place to become best friends with Willy. :)

Hugs for you and Stan. :hug:

Sylvia

Oh, and hey, I would like a ceramic handpainted by you. You think that'll be possible?

Sylvia

It is very possible and I decided on something that reminds me of our visit. It isn't what I said in chat either. It will be a surprise.

Jadie
:hug:

Day 15 - A fest and packing
Today Stan and I both painted ceramics. He painted me an angel and Karen a tea candle holder. He did very well.

Gine had promised to attend a fest in a small village. There was games the whole family and good cheap food and beer. We didn't have the beer. We had cake, ice cream and bratwurst with potato salad. It was fun watch even though we didn't know the games. Also I enjoyed watching Gine teach a little girl to paint a horse. The girl was so proud of her accomplishment.

Yesterday I mentioned that I was sorry that the cats didn't become our friends. Well Stan did it again. He got to pet at least two of the three cats here and I got to pet one.

I will have to finish packing soon. Chris arrives tonight to drive us to Kassel tomorrow.

Tomorrow from Kassel......

Oh, thank you so very much!!!! :hug:

So, it reminds you of your visit. Hmmm... lemme think...

A castle?
A book?
A pancake?

Oh man, the suspense is going to kill me. :P

Sylvia

It's more likely to be a bowl of ice cream......

Good guesses all but we aren't telling.

Jadie

Day 16 Arrival at Kassel
After a restful morning and a lovely lunch, we said goodbye to Gine and left for Kassel. On our way we stopped at the old east/west checkpoint on the autobaun. It was very interesting to see.

We bought asparagus and strawberries on the way as well. The ride was about 5 hrs long with sheets of rain at times and then at one stop we noticed smoke and a funny smell. It turns out that there was oil leaking, and the oil was low as well. We got more oil and made it to Chris' home.

The country side here is much more hilly. And Chris has a lovely home and a very friendly large, red cat name Rusty with a very loud purr.

Tomorrow is a quiet day ....

Day 17 - Touring Kassel
Today we started the day a little late. We slept in. After we had breakfast, we took Chris' car to the garage to get it fixed. This was interesting to see that the man who owned and operated the shop lives there, too. He has a wonderful patio made of granite with two white stone lions at the top of the steps. Very different from the greasy places in the US.

After dropping off the car, we went to see Herkules. It is at the top of a very high hill above Kassel. One can see all of Kassel in the valley from up there. The day was misty and cold so we didn't stay long, but it was an impressive place, built just for pleasure of the Landgraf of the time. There are many fountains and waterfalls that cascade down the hill, but they only go on Wednesdays so we didn't see it.

Then we headed down the hill to a beautiful park. We had cake and coffee at building at beginning of the park. The cake was lecker. Stan took lots of pics. *surprise*

Shopping was next on the agenda. I even managed to pay without help from anyone.

On our way home went to a mongolian/chinese buffet. The kind of place where you pick the raw ingredients from the choices and the man cooks it for you. I will definitely have to diet when I get home after all the good food I am eating.

We came home and are watching the dvd from the Galileo con that Chris attended.

Tomorrow................

Greetings from my :cat2: :catani:, they don't miss you so much, but I do!
Good to hear you have a good time!

:hug: to you and the XO
Gine

Day 18 - Where has the time gone?
After a late start(this time it was Chris who slept in), we took a trip to the Harz Mountains with a side trip to Grenzland Museum. It is a museum about the Wall between east and west. Stan and I were able to get an idea of what it was like. The land that held the wall and the checkpoints is all but reclaimed by nature which a good sign of healing.

All though the valley, the foothills, and into the Harz, I kept thinking about how the landscape looked like a large patchwork quilt, mainly in shades of green but with surprises of gold, yellow, brown, and red. The pieces were connected with seams of gray (roads), blue(rivers), and dark green(trees). Some of the gray seams had lofts of white steaming from them and sometimes the dark green was sprinkled with golden sunlight. The outside borders of the giant duvet were thick forest green or dark cloud gray. Every once in a while we would even see threads of gold from above as with a curtain was drawn back in a dark room so that we could better see the handiwork before us.

I know that I haven't been so descriptive before but I couldn't help myself today.

We had a lecker dinner of cream of asparagus soup, potatoes, and more asparagus and ice cream for dessert. We have come up with a nickname for Chris' mom Admiral Asparagus. :) She liked it.

Stan is now being the handy man that he is. He trimmed Chris' tree away from her parking place, fixed her hand saw, and is trimming bushes. Chris said she understand why there is a need for a Stan fan club.

Tomorrow we are off to Hamlin of the Pied Piper fame.

Gine wrote

We miss you too.

:hug: from us both
Jadie

Day 19 Chris wore me out.
I will write my log in the morning because it is late, I'm tired, and it is all Chris' fault.

She promises us an easy day tomorrow.