Blog 68 through 70

I didn’t mean to stop writing; the blog just dropped a few notches on the “To Do” list, and the next thing I knew it has been almost two months.

The last posting in this blog was our hiking trip to Austria; still a top-ten thing to do in our minds. Activities, fresh air, beautiful scenery, and good food and drink. But, since that time, we have done and seen a lot more. We went to Brussels, Belgium for a weekend, to Maastricht, Netherlands for a weekend, spent a long (in many ways) weekend in Berlin, spent eight days with Aj and Aaron here in Amsterdam and Leiden (remember the Pilgrims; blog 46), and last week we wrapped up 10 fabulous days in Finland. Yes, Finland. It continues to be true: It is good to be a Benjamin!

With all that, it would just be too, too much to write about each experience, so what follows are a smattering of pictures with a few comments and links. Part 1 of 2 “catch up” postings.

We begin with Brussels:

Brussels, Belgium was home to the 1958 World’s Fair, or Expo 58. The Atomium was the symbol of a technological leap into the future.
The view from the top of the Atomium, looking down the fair’s main parkway entrance.
In Brussels, we spent 8 hours on a walking tour! We met at the city’s Market Square, beautiful by any standard or time period. We then started the tour with seven different chocolate shops – Belgian chocolate is deservedly world-famous and highly regulated to maintain the quality. Yum.
The tour, of course, included a visit to the Manneken Pis statue. What I had not known before is that one costume designer is responsible for outfits for the boy and that he may wear as many as 400 in a year. This was his second outfit for the day we were there.
After all the chocolate, it was time for beer tasting. Again, plenty of different bars/restaurants to learn all about Belgian beers – ending with the beer that has been proclaimed “The best beer in the world”. Westvleteren XII It is so good, it no longer enters the competition and is sold only by lottery which the monks run themselves.
We end the tour at the Galleries’ Royal, where we see only the Love side of a Love/Hate installation. The stop also included our final tasting – a true Belgian waffle.

A few weekends later we were off to Maastricht, Netherlands. Maastricht is a university town in the southernmost part of the Netherlands. It is in the region of Limberg; known for its cheese and for being fought over through the generations by the Belgians, French, Spanish and Germans. The food, the architecture and cobblestone streets reflect these multitudes of European cultures.

If you go far enough back in history, you find the Romans were here too. A waterportal remains from the times Roman ships docked on the Meuse river.
We stayed at the Kaboom hotel. A very convenient location, right across from Central Station. Unique in many ways; you can rent a stick insect terrarium to place in your room overnight if you want. We did not need insects; our room came with a mannequin in the large corner window, light at night for all passerby’s to see. (dark curtain on our side)
A thing to do in Maastricht is taking a tour of the caves. The caves are not true caves, they are tunnels created by hundreds of years of chalk and limestone mining. This is a picture taken in the tunnel which shows the maps of all tunnels. People have been known to get lost in here and die. Note: no cell service. It was also used as an art depository during WWII. Both sides honored the stash of art because both sides wanted the art in tact when they won the war.
In more recent times, early 1900’s, Maastricht developed into a European pottery making center. The huge Sphinx complex housed all phases of pottery making – dishes to the kitchen sink. This is the gate workers walked through as they entered the complex. It is now home to shops, theaters, hotel, and student housing.
We went into what we thought was one home furnishing store; candles, afghans, that kind of thing – it turns out it was an IKEA sized group of linked stores offering all manner of things for the home. We were trapped with no way out – still, a very cool space, that used to be the mold-making rooms.
There are very few Jews in Maastricht. Yet, there is a beautiful synagogue built in 1840 with funds supplied by the city.
We realized walking across the river to our hotel, that we never see a wide-screen sunset in Amsterdam; we are too close to the buildings here in city-center. That made this sunset in Maastricht extra special to us. This is not photo-enhanced. The sky was that orange.

We end part 1 of 2 with Berlin, Germany

When I realized it was only 6 hours by train from Amsterdam to Berlin, we had to go. I wanted to see the Brandenburg Gate. The Gate does not disappoint, and I guess as a tourist, I cannot complain that there were too many tourists there. And, look at that clear, blue sky!
Almost by accident, we also went by Checkpoint Charley. Andy was instructed to stand behind the sandbags for the requisite tourist picture. We both laughed as we crossed the street; not only were we leaving the previously cordoned off American Sector, we were also leaving the KFC!
We spent some of our time waiting in a “day of” ticket line to see the Reichstag that night. (If you did not order tickets months ahead online, this is the only option to go inside) 96 tickets are available each day at 1:00 pm at this booth across the street. However, if there are a lot of people in line, and there are always a lot of people in line, the tickets actually go on sale about noon. They are easily sold out by 1:00 pm. We were among the 96.
It is difficult to take a good picture from within the dome. The glass top opens directly over the Plenum meeting space so that all government laws will now be made in the open for all to see. The history is beyond difficult and while it is a light-filled space, even at night, it remains an oppressive sight.
We spent quite a bit of time at the Jewish Museum and wandering the Memorial to Murdered Jews of Europe. Both remind us; do not become comfortable, do not forget.
More time was spent at the Topography of Terror Museum. It is built on the remains of the SS and Gestapo headquarters. The lower wall you see on the right is the remains of the interrogation cells. The goal of the museum is to explain how systematically the Nazi’s took over every aspect of daily life – it truly did terrorize me.
Close up from the Topography of Terror – Brandenburg Gate right after the war’s end.
In 1866 a Jewish congregation built a new synagogue. Reflecting the Moorish style in vogue at the time, it was beautiful inside and out with tile, metal, and wood works. It was among the first buildings destroyed during Kristallnacht, November 9 – 10, 1938. The building façade has been restored to its former glory, but much of the inside is actually now outside as the restoration shows only the outline of the previous building and what remained of the entry.
Guards were aligned at the Gate for a protest.
Perfectly aligned, as Andy captured a Heart of Berlin.

This is the end of part 1 of 2. Coming up next, 8 days in the Netherlands with Aj and Aaron.

2 thoughts on “Blog 68 through 70”

    1. Thanks Vic,

      Truth is that the trip to Berlin really got to me. I could not wrap my mind around it well enough to write – so in the end, just some pictures; but they do not fully show how impactful of a trip it was.

      Better now. Literally moving forward.
      L

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