Frankfurt Friends in Berlin!

Look who came to visit us!!!  Our old Frankfurt pals, Johanna and Frederic, came to spend the weekend.  We filled the weekend with several adventures including a to the German Historical Museum.  Johanna, Frederic and Fritz are all historians so this was quite fitting.  

We also decided to explore the charming city of Potsdam, which is just south of Berlin.  While Berlin is the capital of Germany, Potsdam is the capital of the German federal state of Brandenburg (Germany is divided into 16 federated states).  It was historically the residence of the Prussian Kings and the German Kaiser until 1918.  

There were several lovely rivers and streams around the city. 

An old communist building has been converted into a university building.

The Dutch Quarter is characterized be these quaint brick buildings.

The Brandenburg Gate is pictured above, not to be confused with the other Brandenburg Gate located in downtown Berlin. 

The Palaces of Sanssouci (pronounced San-Soo-See) is a must-see for anyone visiting Potsdam.  This is the former summer palace of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia.  He carefully sculpted the park that surrounds the palace with gardens, greenhouses, nurseries, obelisks, goddess statues, and several thematic temples.  The steps leading to the palace's front door cut through a terraced vineyard.  Sanssouci was built in the Rococo style and has been said to rival the French Palace of Versailles.  "Sanssouci" means without worries as this location was intended to be a place of relaxation for the Prussian King.  It was built in 1747, but various upgrades continued to be completed, including the New Palace built just 20 years after Sanssouci. 

We came a few months too early to see the vineyard in bloom, but you can see the terraces behind us.  All of the busts and statues were covered up for the winter as well, each hiding in its very own tiny house.  I guess we will have to come back once spring is really underway so we can see the palace in full bloom. 

It was a lovely view of the grounds and the city in the distance from the top of the palace steps. 

Next to the burial place of Frederick the Great was a puddle where someone had dropped a little white origami crane.

Here's our gang looking so cool on the steps to nowhere.  Literally nowhere.  There was a wall with a locked gate blocking our way, so we took a picture and went a different way. 

Thank you so much for coming to visit us Johanna and Frederic!  We had such a lovely adventure with you!  

Our First Berlin Visitors

After our week in Ireland, Fritz's parents followed us back to Berlin for a short visit.  

We were excited to show them "our city" complete with a trip to the famous Brandenburg Gate, a view of the federal buildings, a walk past Check Point Charlie, and a pass by a remaining section of the Berlin Wall. 

Mike happily allowed himself to be absorbed into the magic of the "moving statue woman." 

And the spring birds nibbled the budding trees. 

We took the train to the East Side Gallery, one of the largest and longest-lasting open-air galleries in the world.  It is an international memorial for freedom painted on a strip of the Berlin Wall stretching 1.3 kilometers.  105 paintings by artists from all over the world were completed in 1990 after the fall of the Wall in 1989.  

"Many small people who in many small places do many small things that can alter the face of the world."

Unfortunately, we got caught in a downpour so there is still a stretch of the East Side Gallery that we did not get to see.  

Mike and Ellen were pleased to see how popular their son's name is in Germany.  "Fritz" is all over the place... from a sausage stand, to a popular soft-drink company, to the name of our wifi provider.

Paddy's Day at the Cliffs of Moher

Full disclosure, I do not have a drop of Irish blood running through my body.  Also, I don't really drink alcohol.  Which is to say that my history with St. Patrick's Day is relatively inconsequential.  I could never honestly wear those funny pins that say "Kiss me, I'm Irish" because I'm not, and I've never used the day as an excuse to hit up every bar selling Guinness for the excessive consumption of alcohol.  I'm not Catholic, so my knowledge pertaining to the Saints is quite limited.  Before this year I didn't know very much about St. Patrick, who is accredited with bringing Christianity to Ireland in the latter half of the 5th century.  In previous years, the 17th of March came and went much like any other ordinary day for me.  But from this point forward, I will think of St. Patrick's Day with fondness when I recall the memories from this trip to Ireland. 

On March 16th, we took a picturesque bus ride through the Irish countryside (as you can see from the picture of grazing sheep in a green field with limestone fences) to the quaint town of Ennis.  We stayed at the Old Ground Hotel which conveniently had a terrific, traditional Irish pub on the first floor. 

The hotel overlooked a most beautiful church...

...which had this more modern sculpture on its grounds. 

After unloading at the hotel, we wandered the streets of Ennis and eventually found a spot for a picnic lunch of brown bread, wine, olives and cheese along the River Fergus. 

On March 17th, Saint Patrick's Day, we piled into a van headed for the Cliffs of Moher, one of Ireland's greatest treasures.  

We hit the road for a full-day adventure through the Irish countryside. 

Frank drove the van and was a terrific guide.  He had everything a good tour guide needs: extensive historical knowledge of every castle, pub and sheep field we passed, a clever mind full of great jokes to keep us giggling along the way, lots of patience for picture taking, and a cheery Irish accent.  His van company is based in Limerick, Ireland so he entertained us with the only clean limerick he knew:

Once there was a birdie flying high up in the sky,

who dropped a bit of whitewash into my little eye.

I did not laugh, and I did not cry,

I just thanked the Lord that cows don't fly.

Frank took the scenic route on the way out to the cliffs and let us stop at a few historic sites including this very old church in the town of Killinaboy (which sounds like a funny name but it's Irish for "church of Baoth's daughter").  If you look closely at the picture, you might notice that the stones are arranged to form a cross in the middle of the church wall.

We also stopped at Leamaneh Castle, which was built around 1480 and is now in ruins.  Frank told us the story of Máire Rúa (Red Mary), an infamous woman with flaming red hair who did everything she could to keep the castle in her possession.  She even placed advertisements stating her desire to marry a Cromwellian officer after her 2nd husband died to ensure the estate would not be taken from her.  This girl seriously loved her castle. 

One of my favorite things about Ireland was the expansive fields of green spotted with grazing sheep and bordered by limestone walls.  Truly beautiful!

The Poulnabrone dolmen is an ancient, and I mean ancient, burial site dating back to the Neolithic period (between 4200 and 2900 BC). 

Here is one of my "Amanda Artistic Pictures," as Ellen describes them.  

I propped the camera up on a boulder to get this group shot. 

We also spotted plenty of cows in addition to sheep as we drove along.  If you look closely, you might notice that the brown one is smiling for the photo. 

Fritz gazing out on the great Atlantic.

Before getting to the Cliffs of Moher, Frank let us hop off the van for a photo shoot at these baby cliffs.  This was just a sneak preview of the views to come!  Nothing like standing at the edge of the world to help put life in perspective. 

A contemplative Mitchel.

The weather was absolutely unbelievable.  I'm surprised Frank didn't try to charge us extra for scheduling the blue skies.  

The Cliffs of Moher are located at the southwest edge of County Clare, Ireland.  They are 702 feet above sea level with a straight drop down to the ocean.  They are made primarily of shale and sandstone rocks which have been cut away over millions of years to create the breath-taking views seen today.  There are more than 20 different species of birds living in the cliffs including Atlantic puffins.  Unfortunately, we didn't spot any during our visit.  Maybe next time puffins.  

The Cliffs have appeared in several movies including The Princess Bride (as "The Cliffs of Insanity") and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.  

There is a substantial stone wall preventing visitors from getting too close to the edge of the cliff, but in the event of crazy risk-takers, these caution signs say it all. 

Standing on top of those cliffs and looking out over the Atlantic Ocean was truly a breathtaking experience.  One of Ellen's friends once described the Cliffs of Moher as a place where one could see God.

O'Brien's Tower built by Sir Cornelius O'Brien in 1835. 

This was a St. Patrick's Day unlike any other.  Over the past year, I have frequently found myself reflecting on how fortunate I have been in my life.  I was born into a wonderful, thoughtful, generous, loving family and now I am marrying into a wonderful, thoughtful, generous, loving family.  Thank you Mike, Ellen, Mitch and of course Fritz for inviting me to be a part of this unforgettable adventure.  I am truly grateful.