Monday, April 14th, 2008...10:12 am
Himbeeren Blog Nummer Einz
Many people ask what they did with the Berlin Wall after it was knocked down. Much of it was taken by the people of Germany as souvenirs but it has always been a mystery what happened to the rest………..I have discovered what they did with those big lumps of concrete……..they were sold to the Berlin Hilton Hotel who then made their beds out of them. I have to say that after the beds in Estonia and Russia which were like sleeping on blocks of soft butter the bed in the Hilton was as hard as a wall and I had 6 hours of blissful sleep.
The problem with a soft mattress for me is that during the night Heidi tends to turn over and with me on the other side that’s like rolling down a large hill.
Good morning and hier ist nummer ein of my Himbeeren (raspberry in German) blogs. Once again sorry that I cannot post a regular blog but we started our touring at 8 am and we will not be returning to a hotel at 10 pm and then the last thing I feel like doing is sitting at the computer …….well……actually……..it’s actually the second to last thing I feel like doing but don’t tell Heidi.
Breakfast this morning was fantastic for two reasons. Firstly because they had 10 different types of sausage and because there wasn’t a piece of Herring to be seen. Unfortunately during breakfast I found my self relegated to the hund hause (doghouse in German.) Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day and so far this trip I have either had no time for breakfast or it’s been a quick piece of bread and some herring. However, this morning Heidi woke me up at 6:30 am and this gave us an hour to get ready and 30 minutes for breakfast. Heidi has now discovered that on these trips she does not need to look like a Supermodel and therefore an hour was enough to do with whatever she does in the bathroom.
Breakfast was luxurious not because I tried all 10 sausages but because I got to read a newspaper which I do whenever I am at home. So there I am happily munching away on the sausages which apart from the white one which looked and tasted like Polar Bear poo, my head is buried in the Herald and Tribune and I vaguely remember Heidi saying something about getting up to get something else from the buffet……..however I was so engrossed in a story about how weak the dollar was and why that I didn’t see the waitress take Heidi’s plate of bread and cold meat. She returned, found her plate gone and that was me in the hund haus.
Well, the touring has begun with our fabulous hosts and the top tour operators in Germany European Land Excursions. We began the day with the best guide I have met in a long time. His name is Burkhard and never have I met someone with such passion and that passion continues even as he spoke about the darker days of Germany’s history.
We have just been to the Allied War museum and now we are approaching the Brandenberg Gate which I will tell you all about in the next mini blog later today.
Just before I go the Allied War Museum featured aircraft and military equipment from the war. There was a Bren machine gun used by the British fired in anger during the march to retake Germany. There was an American Jeep with a big caliber gun on the back which probably had been used to recapture the city of Berlin by a brave GI. Then there was a French Officers pistol, shining and gleaming and probably never used.
I will write soon
Auf Wiedersehen
15 Comments
April 14th, 2008 at 10:37 am
John, when I’m eat at a buffet I base the waitress’s tip on two things. 1 my coffee cup must never get empty. 2 when I return from another trip to the buffet my old plate is gone. So if Heidi left her plate behind without warning you to watch it well that’s her fault not you or the waitress. Sorry Heidi I got to stick up for John this time. Speaking of stick up did John get the stick up.
BIG ED
April 14th, 2008 at 10:46 am
Hi John: Well I can tell you were some of the Berlin Wall went to - it was sold on ebay! I kid you not! Hope you and Heidi are relaxed and enjoying these tours, glad to read your mini blogs, they are very entertaining. Keep up the good work! Linda
April 14th, 2008 at 11:43 am
John:
WOW…you have been writing these blogs faster than a Frenchman runs from soap.
I truly do not see how you do it or how “the wonderful Stephanie” keeps up with you.
If you are staying in the same hotel tonight, why don’t you ask them if they have a “pillow top” for your mattress? (sorry I don’t know how to say that in German…if only Josh (our oldest son) were here…he could tell me.)
Enjoy the day with Heidi!!
Linda (Mom of your friend DJ)
April 14th, 2008 at 11:51 am
Some of the Berlin Wall can be found in the men’s restroom in Main Street Station on Fremont Street in Las Vegas. I have mixed feelings about that: I want to say, yeah p*#& on communism; but I also think that to display it in a restroom is a dishonor to those who fought to bring it down. sigh. Such is our world.
April 14th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Finally a blog about food! Keep up the good work!
My time in Genoa will be limited in Genoa before embarking on Splendor in July. I’m collecting a list of restaurants that may be worth trying. Would you mind trying them all and let me know which one or two were the best? Thanks, so much!
April 14th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
There is a place just on the outskirts of the city I live in, where there are 3 large pieces of “the wall” erected. Some guy spent a lot of money to bring them over from Germany.
April 14th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Hi John,
There’s nothing quite like a good German breakfast to get the day off to a good start.
Where did the rest of the Berlin Wall go?????????? Well, I have a chunk of it framed in a shadow box hanging in my living room. Friends of mine who were stationed in Germany at the time of the fall chipped a piece off & gave to me. I suspect there are millions of people around the world who can say the same thing as me.
April 14th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Guten Tag Y’all,
Linda, I believe you - you name it, it’s on E-bay. Just wait, when they tear the old Yankee Stadium down, the concrete, the seats, the dirt - everything will be on e-bay.
Sausages & more sausages! How about some giant pretzels & beer?
Can’t wait for the next chapter of the mini-blog thingy.
I was wrong this morning - it’s only 169 days left to my cruise. I think I’ll pay the final installment this week. Then I’ll really start counting the days.
Hugs,
Carol
April 14th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
John thanks for this mornings raspberry thingy. You had to wait until the last sentence to hit us with the French dig and make me LOL. Thanks!
April 14th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Hi John.
We knocked down a wall in the office building last year to extend the building and to get access from reception into the new bar.
I’ve still got some of the rubble. Interested?
Offers, anybody?
April 14th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Hi John.
I’ve also got a can of underarm deodorant, previous owner one Frenchman.
Never used.
Offers?
April 14th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
John
I know what you mean about sausage. My favorite is Italian sausage with peppers and onions on a crispy hoggie bun.
Enjoy…….Kathleen
April 14th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Hallo heb je mail nog ontvangen
April 14th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Hi John/Heidi:
Sausage and beer for breakfast. Yum.
Sounds like college all over again
Glad all is well.
You bring back memories of the rock hard mattresses (literally). I’d rather sleep on the ground.
Hope everything is going ok and looking forward to catching up soon as you come back to our neck of the woods.
Thanks again,
David
April 14th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
I’ll expect a “THRILLER” on tomorrow’s blog!
Keep smilin’
-Tina
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