Thanksgiving Vacation 2012 - Paris, Last Day

Our first stop of the day was the Vincennes Castle, located further out of town than we had been. It was easy to get to, just get on the Metro line near our hotel and take it to the last stop. As we left our hotel we were surprised to see the entire street closed to traffic. There were barricades along the sidewalks and police everywhere. Apparently something big was going on this day and hopefully it wouldn't interfere with our plans. So to the Metro we went and sat, at each stop more and more people got off. By the time we reached the end of the line there were only a few  people left. When we got to the surface we were right at the entrance to the castle.

A short walk to the entrance where we took some photos and then crossed the drawbridge across the moat. We used our Paris Museum Pass to get our tickets and then were free to wander the sites that were open in the castle. There weren't many people here yet, but there two groups of guided tours, one with mostly older people and one with children. We planned our first stop by going in the building that the children didn't - the bell tower and dungeon. It was fun exploring the different rooms and levels of this building. Some of the rooms were small, once used at the latrine. We climbed more spiral staircases to get to the upper levels, but sadly the path to the very top of the tower was closed and looked like it was only accessible as part of a guided tour.

The second building was the chapel. It was one big room with paintings on the walls and more stained glass windows. There was a second level that gave a good view of the chapel from above. We left this building and walked back to the gift shop to warm up and decide where to go next. We opted to try the Conciergerie again, the place that was closed the day before.

Back on the Metro we headed back to our familiar stops, and along the way we heard announcements that the Metro line would be closed between certain stations, most likely related to the police activity we saw in the morning. Luckily we didn't have to go to any of those stops to get to the Conciergerie, and since we found the entrance the day before, we were able to walk straight there from the closest Metro stop. There was a small line to enter, and once again we used our Paris Museum Pass to get in.

It turns out that it was closed because they were setting up a special exhibition that seemed to be dedicated to castles. They had lots of miniature castles made of various material including Legos! The room was dark, but they had cool lighting for each castle giving the room a fantasy like atmosphere. Now the rest of the place was a palace and prison. You walked through various rooms where they had mannequins set up like prisoners waiting to be executed. The highlight, if you could call it that, was a room depicting the cell that held Marie-Antoinette with her sitting with her back to the door dressed in all black. Once we finished the self-guided tour we left to go find lunch.

It took three tries to find a place to eat that we all agreed on, and once again we were given seats near the window. I ordered a plate of meats, and I'm not really sure what they all were. One could have been liver, and if it was that's the first time I've had liver. It was all good. Next we wanted to see something that wasn't too far away and would take too long to visit. We somehow decided on what we just called the sewer museum, "a history of water and mains drainage, and a visit to the hear of the sewerage network.". Well, we found the entrance, a small building along the banks of the Seine. However, it was closed. We weren't the only tourists showing up to find it closed. And actually, I forgot that earlier we tried to see some Roman ruins near Notre Dame and they were also closed, as well as some catacombs that were also not open on this trip and the previous trip to Paris.


At this point my sister was ready to go back to her room to warm up and do some blog posting. So my brother, sister-in-law and I attempted to take the train to another site, but our tickets got rejected. We had three day Metro tickets so they should have been good. So instead we walked across the river towards the Metro stop and along the way stopped to take a look at a full sized replica of the Statue of Liberty's Flame. While walking around it I noticed writing on the bridge we were standing on and it was all messages to Princess Diana. Turns out that we were standing above the tunnel where she crashed and died. There were also small memorials to her placed next to the flame. Very sad.

So back down to the Metro where we had more trouble with our tickets, at least my brother did. His wife and I got through okay but his ticket kept getting rejected. All we could think of is that the system knew that the ticket was used and rejected a few times within ten minutes, so it may have been rendered invalid. So we gave up and decided to walk. Along the way we stopped to take photos of the many statues, mostly men who we didn't know on horses. We also decided not to go to the site we were originally taking the train to because it was getting late and most museums close by five. So we walked passed some interesting looking buildings before ended up back at the Christmas Market. It was now in full swing, with people shopping at the little shops and ice skating in a cool looking ice rink and path that  passed by displays of animatronic animals like bears and pandas.

We walked all the way to the end where the Obelisk stands in the center of the Place de la Concorde. There was also a large Ferris Wheel that I had been seeing since I got to Paris and finally got to take a photo of. We then crossed the street and continued walking through the Christmas Market as we headed to our hotel. Along the way my sister-in-law stopped a woman from steeling from a man's backpack as he was taking photos. I had no idea she did that until later. And no, the two women, working together, were not wearing red like in the warning posters.

We finally made it to our hotel and by now all the police activity was gone and the street was opened up to traffic. We later learned that a Russian delegation was in town and there was a wreath laying ceremony, and we luckily missed any Metro stoppages by just a few minutes at one time during the day. So a short break before dinner where we were joined by my sister. This time we ate at the other Italian restaurant across the street. After dinner we made our final stop - the Arc de Triomphe. It was a short walk up to the tunnel which led under the street to the arc. We used our passes to enter and proceeded up a very long stairwell where people seemed to be in a rush to get to the top. Another 284 steps to add to my total for the trip. It was now dark and from the top there was a great view of the Champs Elyesse lined with lights and the Eiffel Tower all lit up. I took many photos, many turned out blurry because I wasn't using a tripod to stabilize the camera for long exposures, but enough turned out semi-decent. Then, I think on the hour, the Eiffel Tower changed to its "sparkle" setting, with lights all up and down the tower flashing brightly. This caused everyone on the arc to walk to one side for viewing.

Well, it was really cold and windy, so we walked by down after a visit to the gift shop, where I bought another souvenir. Back at the hotel it was bed time. My flight with my sister home in the morning left early, so we had to leave the hotel by 5:45 in the morning. My brother and his wife had one more day in Paris. The next morning we checked out and took a taxi to the airport which was much quicker with no traffic. Then the long trip home. Paris to Frankfurt to Washington DC to San Diego, which one to three hour layovers at each airport. By the time I got home I had basically been awake for 25 hours as I got very little sleeps on the flights.

So what did I think of Paris? Well, everyone said what a great city it was and it was a must see, and I agree. But I didn't get a "Paris" vibe.  Maybe all major European cities are staring to feel the same, like Madrid, Barcelona, Rome and Vienna. Would I go back? Yes, there is still plenty to see. Some people say you could spend three weeks there and never get bored.

Thanksgiving Vacation 2012 - Paris Day Two

Our second day in Paris became a museum day. For one, it was going to rain and museums are a great place to be when the weather is stormy. Also, the Louvre is open late on Wednesdays, so we decided to make that our last stop. After our breakfast buffet ritual, we bundled up with warm clothes and this time umbrellas as it was already lightly raining outside. A short walk to the Metro station and we were ready for a quick trip to our first stop, the Cluny Museum. According to Wikipedia, the "Cluny houses a variety of important medieval artifacts, in particular its tapestry notable works stored there include early Medieval sculptures from the seventh and eighth centuries. There are also works of gold, ivory, antique furnishings, stained glass." It was a smaller museum, so we spent less than an hour here. Instead of buying a ticket for just this museum, we ended up buying a two-day Paris Museum Pass, which is good for entrance to over 60 museums in Paris. So we planned our day around museums that were on this pass to get our monies worth.

Just up the street was The Pantheon, not to be confused with the famous one in Rome. The inside was well decorated and had picture-worthy architecture with the usual tall columns, statues and paintings. In the center was a pendulum hanging down from a very high ceiling. It represented the rotation of the Earth, according to the green brochure I'm looking at. They were consistent  in having the English brochures in green in most of the museums. Down below was a very large crypt, where many famous French people are interred.

Once outside the Pantheon it was nice to see the rain stopped, for we were walking to our next destination, the Conciergerie. It was located on an island in the middle of the Seine near Notre Dame. The building was supposed to be big and hard to miss, but it took us a long time to find the entrance just to find out it was closed but would be open the next day. So off to lunch we went. There are so many places to eat, we tend to stop and look at the menu, and if it looks good and someone from the restaurant welcomes us in, that's were we eat. We were seated next to a window along a busy street and with a great view of Notre Dame and other buildings. I ordered the special, which included the appetizer of the day, a main dish and then the dessert of the day. For a drink I went with a coke, and man, cokes are expensive. A single small bottle can cost up to $10. Beer and wine are cheaper, but I knew a beer in the middle of the day would make me more tired. The food and service was once again good, and we left to head to our next stop which I believe was the Museum of Cinematography.


It was located further away from the city center, so it took a few Metro lines to get there, which put us in yet another district of Paris - Bercy. The museum is located in a building that houses many attractions, but our tickets got us access to two rooms. The first was a room dedicated to the history of cinematography in France. It contained old film projectors and cameras. There were projections of movies on the walls, and some of the exhibits were hands-on, which were probably for the children, as there was a large group of children there on a field trip. Upstairs was an exhibit dedicated to the famous French director Marcel Carné, who I probably had heard of, but I was not familiar with his works. They were projecting clips from his movies on the walls and there was other stuff to look at as well. As you might have guessed, I can't remember much from this museum, maybe because to photos were allowed (or I was tired), and I tend to rely on my pictures to piece together my trip and write this blog.

Now we were headed back to the Champs Elysees district to the Museum of Decorative Arts, located near the Louvre. It contains, according to Wikipedia,  "... furniture, interior design, altar pieces, religious paintings, tapestries, wallpaper, ceramics and glassware, plus toys from the to the present day." These displays are in various rooms on different levels, some of which were closed, such as the room of tapestries. However, we were lucky to find that there was a special exhibit of Star Wars collectibles that contained some very rare pieces such as prototypes for Princess Leia. I'm sure the collection was very valuable, and I would have loved to have owned some of the figures, even though I don't really collect Star Wars memorabilia. And unfortunately but understandably, no photos were allowed. People of all ages were looking over the exhibit that included all six movies. After this exhibit the rest of the museum was kind of boring so we walked quickly through most of the rooms. The French furniture room for some reason contained only a few pieces of furniture. A more interesting room was a few floors up. It was dedicated to music and pop culture. They had lots of album covers displayed and had music playing. The highlight of this room for me was a display that included an Atari ST, just like the one my Dad bought back in the 80's and I still have! What made that computer unique was that it had build in MIDI ports to be connected to other MIDI equipped hardware such as sequencers and synthesizers.  I thought I took a photo, but I can't find any so photos must not have been allowed.

So finally, our last museum of the day was the Louvre. The biggest and most famous in Paris. Since my sister was tired and had been there before, she headed back to the hotel for the night. So my brother, his wife and I entered the Louvre, at least the shopping area downstairs which in itself was massive. Once we found the entrance, there was no line and all we had to do is to show our museum pass. Now the Louvre is really big, taking up four stories that are divided up into themes. Really the only painting I had to see was the Mona Lisa, and since it is the most popular artwork there, all signs led you to that room. So we made a beeline to the room and there it was, sitting on a wall all by itself, protected by glass and a roped-off area. There were crowds of people jockeying to get up close for a photo of the painting a photo of them near the painting trying to make a Mona Lisa smile on their face. I opted just to get a photo of the painting, and the problem I had was in every photo you could see the reflections of other people in its class covering. So I took about seven photos hoping one would turn out.

So now we had to plan what to see next. Unless you want to spend a whole day here, you need to decide what to see, and more importantly, how to get there. It is not always easy to get from one room on a floor to another room on a different floor. The map may show that the rooms connect, but they don't always, sometimes due to closed areas of the museum. As we tried to get to the section that contained paintings from France, Germany, Belgian and other European countries we viewed what we passed along the way, including the Venus de Milo, which I almost walked passed without seeing. Whenever I think of this statue I think of the Simpson's episode where Homer stole and ate the Gummy de Milo.

We passed through a large section dedicated to Napolean III that had lots of rooms filled with fancy furniture and chandlers. Another room contained large Egyptian statues, much like the ones I saw in the British museum, which should probably be returned to Egypt some day, when they have a stable government. After making lots of wrong turns, walks up stairs and escalators, and hitting dead ends, we finally made it to the European paintings. We walked through the rooms and after a while we all agreed that it was time for dinner. I was told that there was great food in the Louvre, but when we went to the main food court, most of the places were close to closing and only had limited foods selections. Another restaurant was closed for a  private event. So we chose to leave, get on the Metro and get off on a stop and find a place to eat in the city. Well, we chose the wrong stop because we found no restaurants that looked good, and the one that did had no customers. So we got back on the Metro and got off near our hotel, and decided to eat at the first place we saw, which was a pizza place, and pizza sounded good. The restaurant was very busy and they seated us once again near a window. I ordered a whole pizza and ate all but the crust, and drank a beer or two.

So needless to say, we were all exhausted and ready for sleep. A short walk across the street to our hotel where we retired to our rooms for the night. Tomorrow was our last day in Paris, at least for me and my sister, so anything we wanted to see, that was going to be our last chance. Luckily I slept really well and was ready for breakfast the next morning.

Thanksgiving Vacation 2012 - Paris Day One

It is usually the second night on an overseas trip that I get the worst sleep, and yes, once again I woke up at 4 AM and didn't get back to sleep until 7 AM and my alarm went off at 8 AM. Well, there's plenty of time to sleep when I get back home, so begins my first full day in Paris. We met for breakfast in the hotel and opted for the full buffet, where all the food was tasty. Since today was going to be the sunniest day of the week, with rain forecasted for the next day, we agreed to head straight to the Eiffel Tower. The rest of my family had been to the Eiffel Tower eight years before when it was cloudy and had no good views of the city. So out the door and off to the nearest Metro station we headed.

It took three Metro lines to get us there, but we probably could have made it in two if we looked at the map more carefully. A short walk from the Eiffel Tower Metro station and there it was. Finally I got to see the famous tower, and like I was told, it was much bigger than you'd expect. We headed straight to the ticket line which really wasn't that long. Once we got our ticket and through security we queued up for the next elevator, which takes you to the lower platform where you have to stand in line to take  another lift to the top. There are signs everywhere warning you about pick-pockets, and apparently they all wear red because the photos show a red person reaching into unsuspecting people's backpacks.

They pack you in tight in the elevators but it wasn't too bad, and the lifts go up surprisingly fast. Now I have acrophobia (fear of heights) and I was a little nervous at first, but once I got to the top I was so amazed with the view I ignored how high up I was. So the first order of business is to get a photo of yourself at the top, which I did, and then walk around to all sides taking plenty of pictures of the city. You get a great view of the city and can see the different districts, parks and downtown buildings. It was also cold and windy, so finding protection from the wind was wise. Then back inside where it was warm I visited the conveniently located gift shop and bought my usual souvenir magnet that best represents the city. After we had our fill of the top we look the elevator back down, getting off by mistake on a mid-level section, where I snapped a few more photos before getting the next lift to the bottom. Then we walked towards the grassy park area where you have a good, unobstructed view of the tower and took more photos.


Upon my sister's suggestion, we walked to the Seine River to go on a one hour boat ride, but then decided to buy tickets for the Boat Bus, a hop-on-hop-off boat that stopped at eight major sites, including Notre Dame and near our hotel. The boat runs about every 15 minutes, so it didn't take long before we boarded the glass enclosed boat. You had a great view of the buildings along the Seine, but if you wanted to take any photos you needed to go outside in the back where it was cold. I stayed inside. Once we reached the Notre Dame stop we disembarked and walked to the site. Entrance to the inside of the cathedral was free. It is an active church and they keep visitors away from the church goers, and there are signs everywhere reminded you to be silent. It is very large inside, probably the largest cathedral I've been in. The walls are decorated with stained glass windows which sparkle when the sun shines through. After making a full circle inside we then headed to the entrance to the tower. We realized it was past lunch time, and if we were going to climb 425 stairs we needed some food. So after a quick snack we got in line. It took about 15 minutes before we were let in, as they limit the number of people to prevent overcrowding in the narrow staircases and walkways.

Somehow the trip to the top of the tower didn't feel like 425 steps, but you go up in sections so it is broken up. They should warm people at the beginning that you really do need to be fit and not overweight, because some of the passages were very tight. Luckily I saw no one get stuck. Once we got near the top of the tower the line stopped for about 10 minutes. There is limited room on the tower and once again they need to let one group off before letting the next group in.

Just like the Eiffel Tower, you have a great view of Paris and I took plenty of photos. After our allotted time was up we made the hike back down which is done all in one staircase. Even with the hikes I had been doing at home in the weeks before taking this trip, my legs were really feeling the stress of all the towers and domes I'd been up so far. Yes, there were more towers to tackle. We then walked back to the boat launch and hopped on the next boat for the ride to the stop near our hotel. Now I believe that this is when we discovered the Christmas market along the Champs Elysees. We didn't spend much time here as we planned to come back later in the trip, but my sister and I stayed long enough to buy some Gluhwein. We walked back up the street to our hotel for a much needed break. We had been walking and moving about all day and needed to rest before going out to dinner.

My job for the trip was to find a restaurant, or brewery, that served local beer, and luckily I had found one not too far away by Metro. It was also my job to figure out what Metro lines to take go get there. That turned out to be harder than expected. I spent 40 minutes of our hour long break to figure out the best way there. The maps of Paris are hard to read and there are many little street that run in funny angels to the main roads. But the planning paid off. It took us two lines to get to the stop and the place was just around the corner. It was called the Frog and Rosbif, part of a local chain called Frog Pubs.

We were there early for dinner, as I'm told Europeans tend to eat later in the evening than us Americans, so there were only a few people inside, which was actually nice. Our waitress was very friendly and spoke English well enough. Looking at the menu, both my sister and I started with a pint of their darkest beer, the Dark de Triomphe, yes a play on words. And yes, it was a really good beer! For food I opted for the cheeseburger, and should have asked for it to be cooked well done, because it was so rare I heard it go "mooo". The second beer I had was the Parislytic, a very mild but malty beer. Once we got our check and paid, I wanted to explore the neighborhood. It had a much different vibe than the Champs Elysees, and I spotted a pedestrian only street that curved off in the distance. Not really knowing what direction we were headed, I assumed that we'd find a Metro stop along the way. This street had lots of shops, some of which made us feel like we were in a red-light district, and we may have been. But my sense of direction turned out to be good, and we ended up at the Metro stop that we had used to transfer trains on the way to the Frog Pub. So back on the Metro to our hotel stop we went.

It was after 9 PM by now, and that meant time for bed. We were all very tired but had a full day of exploring Paris. So once again be planned to meet for breakfast in the morning.

Thanksgiving Vacation 2012 - Berlin Day 2

For our second day in Berlin we had until about two in the afternoon to continue exploring the city before leaving for the airport. I slept really well having been awake for almost two days but was ready for breakfast, coffee and more walking. Our first sight to see was the Berlin Victory Column located in the middle of the famous Tiergarten (actually, I'd never heard of the place until now). Our hotel was located on the edge of the park and we cut across the Tiergarten using one of the many bike and pedestrian paths. This huge park, which was about two miles long and a half mile wide, had designated bike and running paths everywhere, and even though it was pretty cold, there were abundant people biking and walking this morning. As we walked towards the Victory Column we stopped to take photos of statues, trees and lakes. The path was covered with wet, fallen leaves but there were still red and orange colored leaves on the trees.

Getting to the intersection where the Victory Column was located was easy, getting to the column itself took some time. There were no cross walks to cross the street and after walking in circles we finally found the underground path. There was a three Euro admission to enter and once inside we found that there was a whole museum containing various artifacts and pictures. Our main goal was to get to the top, or as far up as the steps led. Well, there was a spiral column of 285 steps to the very top and I got winded walking up as I tend to climb too fast. Once at the top you have a full 360 degree view of the garden and surrounding city. But just like the day before, it was cold and cloudy so the visibility was limited. The statue on top of the column was above us and was larger than it looked from the bottom. After taking or fill of photos we walked back down to the warm rooms of the museum and then left for our next sight.

As we had walked through the park we saw a building with old tanks in front, so that was our destination. Once there we found out that the building was a Soviet war memorial. There are memorials all around this part of town, and later we'd visit the Jewish memorial. The Soviet memorial was all outside, and if there was something inside it wasn't open. After taking photos of the tanks and guns we walked back towards the Brandenburg Gate, stopping briefly in front of the Reichstag building, now used by the German parliament. Just past the Brandenburg Gate was the Jewish Memorial. This memorial is very different than any other I've seen. It was about the size of a city block consisting of rows of rectangular blocks ranging in height from four to ten feet. The blocks had no writing on them and  you could wander the maze between the blocks.

Well, it was now past noon, and we had a late check-out from the hotel, so we headed back to the hotel but first we had to figure out how to take the Metro to the Hard Rock Cafe, which was my sister's suggestion for lunch and to kill time so we didn't get to the airport too early. The subways did not have clear directions on how to get to our destination, so back in the hotel my sister got online and spent 20 minutes figuring out what Metro to take and what stop to get off on. So we checked out of the hotel and walked down to the Metro station. The trip took about 10 minutes, defiantly not walking distance. As you may know, each Hard Rock Cafe has a local menu item unique to the city. Their's was a curry sausage burger. I had seen signs all over the town advertising curry sausage and until my dish arrived I didn't know what it was or tasted like. Luckily it was really good! My sister said the other customers were looking at my plate as the waiter brought it too me, but I didn't see anyone else ordering it.

After lunch, we were ready to go to the airport and jumped into a taxi. Our time in Berlin was short, and there was defiantly more to see, but I did get a good feel for the city. It has been over 20 years since the Berlin Wall was torn down the the East and West united. I could see no difference between the old East and West sections of town, and if it weren't for the maps to reference, I would not have known which was which. The city still seems to be under construction. At the top of domes and columns you could see tall cranes where building were being constructed or renovated and there were still vacant lots where new buildings could be built. I'd recommend that if you have a chance, visit Berlin.

Our taxi got us to the airport in plenty of time and the driver was really nice. He took the time to let us determine which terminal our flight left from. There was a large digital sign just outside the airport that listed all the departing flights and what gates they were departing from. Once we checked our bags, we spent some time in the Lufthansa lounge before heading to the gate. Our flight from Berlin to Paris was only one hour, but it seemed to take almost that long once we exited the plane in Paris to get to the luggage carousel. We took the longest moving walkway I have ever seen! Our next adventure was how to get to our hotel. We attempted to find a city bus but our long walk to the other terminal ended when we found out the bus left from the terminal we landed in. The signs were very confusing - or we were really tired. So taxi it was. It was later in the evening so we were hoping for little traffic and a quick trip to the hotel. There was some traffic in a very long tunnel, and then again once we got to our street, the Champs Elysees. Now, I'm still trying to figure out how to pronounce these words. I don't know any French, and if you pronounce the words like they are spelled in English, you'll get laughed right out of the country.

We arrived at our nice, centrally located hotel before our brother and sister-in-law and after checking in and taking a short break, we went for a walk along the Champs Elysees. This is the main "drag" in Paris, and it was very busy with people walking up and down and decorated with bright lights that changed colors. The Arc de Triomphe was a short walk up the street where we stopped to take some photos, but did not go inside. That would wait until our last night there. Once back at the hotel we were surprised that our brother and his wife had already checked in they were about ready to go take the same walk we took. After discussing what time to meet in the morning and what our plans were, they left and we each had a very expensive beer. The hotel charged 10 Euros for a bottle of beer, which is about $13 USD. This wasn't so bad considering we had three rooms for four nights for free using my sister's hotel reward points. What a deal that was. By now it was almost 10 PM and our plan was to meet for breakfast at 8:30 in the morning. Paris is ten hours ahead of Pacific time, so my body had not yet adjusted to the time shift and jet lag was setting in. After uploading some photos to Facebook, I fell asleep with the help of extra strength Tylenol PM.

Thanksgiving Vacation 2012 - Berlin Day One.

This year our annual family Thanksgiving vacation was a trip to Paris, France. Each year we take turns on where to go for this trip. This was my sister's turn and she had chosen the Maldives, a small, tropical island chain that is expected to be under water within a 100 years. Well, somehow that trip got changed to this Paris trip that I wanted to take. My sister, brother and his wife went to Paris before I started going with them on these overseas adventures. So now I'll have to wait four more years to choose our next destination, which as of now will be Santiago, Chile with a side trip to Easter Island.

I had options to travel to Paris. I could have used frequent flyer miles to travel for free, but my sister was able to get me free tickets on all legs of the trip but one and in business or first class! How nice. And as an added bonus I got to travel with her on a side trip to Berlin, Germany. So one day in Berlin and then we would meet up with our brother and his wife in Paris for three days. We had planned another day trip to Luxembourg, since it was a short distance by train from Paris, but it turns out that it is also very expensive, so that trip was scrapped, leaving Luxembourg for another day.

We left San Diego Saturday morning and jetted off to Washington DC for a short layover. Then the overseas flight to Frankfurt. Flying in business class on these trans-Atlantic flights is nice because you get plenty of food and the seats have lots of leg room for sitting and sleeping. However, with the flight being only seven hours, by the time they get done feeding you, there is only about four hours left in the flight, and they wake you for breakfast 90 minutes before landing. So you only have three hours to try to get some sleep, and I was lucky to get about two hours. From Frankfurt we transferred to Berlin and got to our hotel by 11:30 AM on Sunday and were then ready to explore the city by noon on very little sleep.

Our hotel was located in a historic part of Berlin. There were remnants of the Berlin Wall right outside our hotel as well as the Berlin Wall Trail. We had an idea of what to see, and thought about getting tickets for a hop-on-hop-off bus that would take us too many of the important sights, but it turned out we walked to most of these sights. Our first stop was the Checkpoint Charlie museum. We followed the Berlin Wall Trail, stopping along the way to take photos. Most of the original wall is gone, and there are many small sections that are on display and many have been painted by various artists. We did pass by one of the longest remaining sections of the wall, which sat between a busy street and the Museum of Terror.

From there we found the Checkpoint Charlie Museum in an area that was very busy for a Sunday afternoon in November. It was also very touristy and there were people asking for money, which is really annoying. I made sure my wallet was safe from thieves. Once inside the museum I really didn't know what to expect. It was made up of many small rooms on three floors, and each room had a theme. The most crowded room was also the most interesting. It had many artifacts from when people were trying to escape from East to West Berlin, such as a suitcase that was used to carry a women across the border. It had the stories of these escapes written on the walls in four languages. I found it hard to read them because of all the distractions from the people walking around.

So we continued on to other rooms and floors. Not all rooms were dedicated to Checkpoint Charlie. One room was all about Ronald Reagan and his famous "tear down this wall" speech. Other rooms had paintings of the "Arab Spring" from 2011. After more than an hour we left the warm museum and returned to the cold streets. There was lots to see on the streets in the area, and we spent some more time taking photos of decorated Berlin Wall pieces. Then we walked back to the hotel to take a short break.

After our break we headed out the other direction from the hotel. Our first destination was the Brandenburg Gate. This area too was very busy and now there were tour buses everywhere too. Down the street from the  gate was a pedestrian walkway that was lined with trees lit with white lights. They were getting ready for Christmas and more lights were be strung up as the day went on. Since we didn't use the tour buses we ended up doing lots of walking. We were headed to the Berliner Dom, which we could see from a distance (or a landmark near it), but it took a long time to get there, partly because there was some event going on and the police had the road and once side of the sidewalk closed. There were near 100 police and dozens of police cars and vans. We didn't know what was going on, but eventually we made it passed the closed section and to the Dom.

We weren't sure what was in the church, probably just that same stuff that's in all Cathedrals in Europe. Once inside we did see the usual displays of religious art and sculptors, stained glass windows, organ pipes and of course the painted dome at the ceiling. After walking around we found the entrance to the steps leading up to the top of the dome. We weren't sure how far up they went, but we were happy that there were 270 steps that went all the way to the top where you were on the outside of the church dome and could walk entirely around to get a full view of the city. Unfortunately it was cloudy and hazy outside, so views were limited, but it was still worth the climb to see Berlin from above.

We then walked back down the steps and continued the self guided tour to the basement where the crypts were located. This was a much bigger area of crypts that usual. We wandered around for about ten minutes before leaving the Dom and walking back to the hotel. By now the police activity and ended and all the streets were open. We stopped by the building that seemed to be the center of the activity, and inside was a large room with a small statue in the center, which was surrounded by newly laid wreaths. There just had been a ceremony where foreign dignitaries had visited the site and laid the wreaths, apparently a common event. We encountered the same situation later in Paris.

By now it was getting dark Berlin is pretty far north, and the Sun sets near four in the Winter. As it got darker the Christmas lights shined more brightly, making the mode more festive. The Brandenburg Gate was also lit up, making for more photo opportunities.

Our plan was to go back near our hotel and get some Gluhwine form the not-quite-open Christmas market. The market was opening the next day but they were already selling the hot wine which we first discovered in Vienna two years before. The hot drink tasted good in the cold, but since we were so sleep deprived and tired, the alcohol took effect quickly. So we went back to the hotel for dinner. We had access to the private lounge where they had a full dinner buffet available for free. The food all tasted good and after two beers I was about ready for bed. I had thoughts of going back outside, but was glad that I returned to my room. It didn't take long before I crawled into bed and got some much needed sleep.

We didn't leave for Paris until later the next evening, so we still had a half day left in Berlin and  planned to make the most of our time the next day.

Vacation in Vancouver

So I had been wanting to take a vacation in Vancouver, Canada for some time. Well, ever since I saw a show on TV about all the great microbreweries there. So last year when I got invited to join a group of friends who were going to Vancouver to celebrate a friend's honeymoon, yes, as group honeymoon, I said yes! The group consisted of the newlyweds, their friends, family and dog. Many of the people had been to Vancouver before so they were familiar with the city and what to do in the two full days we had there.

I ended up on a flight with three of the other travelers, and by chance I was sitting next to two of them on the flight from San Diego to Seattle! It is always nicer to travel with someone than alone. The photo above was taken from my seat on the plane as we approached Seattle.

Once in Vancouver we met up with a fifth member of our crew and on her advice we hired a limo to take us to the hotel. As we waited a sixth friend showed up. She arrived two hours after us, but it took us 90 minutes to get through customs and it only took her five minutes. So the six of us piled into the stretch limo for the ride to the hotel, and as you can see we were in great spirits and had a fun ride. There's a funny story here about getting dog food through customs, but I'll have that tail (pun intended) for another day.

Our hotel for the trip was the historic Sylvia Hotel in Vancouver. Several of the crew had stayed here before, and besides being a nice, centrally located hotel, they were pet friendly, and the newlyweds had their dog Sonny with them. They had actually left several days before from San Diego, right after their wedding, and drove up in their truck, making several stops along the way. They ended up getting to the hotel just as we were walking to get dinner.

We had already decided that the theme of the trip was serendipity, because so far everything good and fun had happed by luck or accident. The fact we were all on the same flight, I was sitting next to a friend and her son, and the sixth friend showed up in time to join us in the limo.

So we were all there for our first dinner in Vancouver, minus my sister, who was arriving much later that evening. I had my best meal of the trip at the Boathouse, a place recommend by the staff at the hotel. I had ravioli stuffed with crab and lobster, and topped with shrimp! What decadence.


 

We had no specific plans for the trip, other than to have fun, relax, hang out and drink beer or whatever. The Sylvia Hotel is right along the beach of English Bay. This beach provided lots of trails for walking with great views of the harbor, city and sunsets. We had fun just walking along the beach taking Sonny for a walk. As a bonus, we were there on the first day of Summer, when the sun didn't set until 9:40 P.M. And even better, the forcasted rain never came. It was neither too hot or two cold, and there was enough sun to provide good lighting for photo and even a sunburn.

After dinner, drinks and a long walk, we went to bed and planed to meet for breakfast the next morning. As we were waiting my sister came down to take care of some work stuff and ended up joining us for breakfast. More serendipity! We found a place where we could eat outside with the dog. The food was good, I had a salmon omelet, and then we regrouped for the rest of the day.

Our plan was to go to Granville Island, a very touristy place with a huge marketplace and a brewery. To get there we walked about a mile down the coast, then hopped in a water taxi for a short ride across the "river" to the island. With nine of us, we knew we weren't going to all do the same thing, so we agreed to meet at the Granville Brewery at 2 PM. Three of us wandered the island and I took lots of photos. After about an hour or so we were already done and ready to drink beer. So we headed to the brewery early, but were disappointed that the brewery could only serve each customer 12 oz. of beer! So we opted for three 4 oz. samplers, and were sadly disappointed in their beer.

Once the others got there, we hung out a little longer and then once again separated to go eat a late lunch. Eventually we got back to the hotel, and after the previous day of travel, the walking around and drinking one beer, I took a nice, long nap.

We met once again in the hotel lobby and headed out to dinner. We went to a place that I really wanted to try, but this is where we had our worst meal of the trip. It was Mexican night, so instead of selling any of their main dishes, they had Mexican food. I did not travel from San Diego to Canada to eat Mexican food, so I had the pizza. It was not good, and neither were anyone's drinks. They even made a bad tasting rum and cokes. And even worse, the beer I wanted to try, Alexander Keith's Indian Pale Ale, was really bad. Why did I want to try it? It had my name in it, but spelled differently than I've ever seen it. How did it taste? Not good. Worse than Budweiser, but I still drank my pint, as well as my sister's glass as she had one sip and stopped. Hey, beer is beer.

After dinner we went for another walk along English Bay and then turned in for the night. I opted for the smallest and cheapest room in the hotel. The room was just big enough for the bed and some furniture, but all I needed was a place to sleep.  This hotel was old, and all the walls were made of cement, so you could hear anything within the hotel, but every morning around 4:30 AM some very loud bird started chirping outside my window. Luckily I brought ear plugs and that took care of the problem.

The next morning we had breakfast in the hotel restaurant and it was good food, but they were not ready for a group of nine people, so the service was slow but good,  just like the morning before at the small cafe down the road. After breakfast we made our plans for the day. We ended up breaking up into four groups as everyone wanted to do something different. My sister and I opted to ride the hop-on-hop-off bus which had a stop near the hotel. We took the bus two stops down the line to Stanley Park. Stanley Park is actually within walking distance of our hotel, but it is quite expansive and there is much to do there. My sister had been there before, so I just had two stops to see, mostly for taking pictures. The first was Beaver Lake, pictured below, which is covered mostly in lily pads and other vegetation. Then we walked to the coastline with a view of downtown Vancouver.

Along the way we ran into two of our friends who had actually just walked there from the hotel. They were there to see some totem poles and then off to Chinatown. I snapped some photos of downtown, and then my sister and I walked back to the bus stop to get on the next bus. Once on the bus we got off on the ritzy part of town, not to shop, but to head to the top of the tallest tower in Vancouver for a good view of the city. However, turns out it was closed for a private party. So we headed to the food court and had our lunch.

Then we got back on the next bus, and went back to the hotel, skipping the rest of the stops. Our plan was to all meet in Gastown at the steam clock at 5:30. So after a two hour break at the hotel, my sister and I got back on the bus, since our tickets were good for 24 hours, and then we just rode the bus to the last stop, which was in Gastown! There was a tour guide on the bus that pointed out the sites to see and interesting facts, such as the Starbucks we passed was the highest grossing one in the world.

As we got closer to Gastown, the driver found out that it was closed off due to a music festival. So they let everyone off one stop early, but the guide led us to the steam clock as that is where the main office was just by chance. And once again we were all together. For dinner we obviously chose the Steamworks Brewery, a few blocks away.

Now this place had good beer. I tried three of their beer, the Stout being the best one, of course. Everyone enjoyed their food and beer, and even some of us had some of their unique shots. Mine had Jack Daniels in it, of course. I was slightly disappointed in my dinner choice, but everyone else liked their food. After dinner we walked down the main road, which was closed off for the music festival. They had stages set up every half block, so at any given time you could here music from three bands. A little overwhelming, plus it was very crowded. We had had enough and took taxis back to the hotel.

This was our last night in Vancouver. We kind of went our own ways. I took a walk with a friend down past the famous Burrard St. Bridge to take photos of the bridge and the sunset.

Back at the hotel is was bed time once again. We all had different flight times in the morning. My flight left at noon, while other's left later, but we planned to have breakfast once again at the hotel.

Everyone made it for our last meal together which was nice. We had time to talk about how much fun we had. Then after breakfast, we said our goodbyes. Four of us left about the same time, so we took a cab to the airport and got there in plenty of time. When flying from Vancouver to Seattle, you first go through Canadian customs, and then US customs, which took less than 30 minutes.

I had my own flight back home, so another set of good byes and the vacation was officially over. The flight to Seattle on Alaska Airlines is a short 30 minute flight on a commuter plane. Once in Seattle, it was raining, of course. I still have not officially been to Seattle, as airports don't count. The flight to San Diego only takes two hours and thirty minutes. We landed before sunset and I was home by eight.

What was nice was I still had the weekend at home to relax, and relax I did. I guess I really needed that time off because I felt very relaxed and completely forgot about work and the fact I may be unemployed at the end of September.

I'll get back to Vancouver someday, hopefully with a few days in Seattle and the surrounding national parks.

Hiking Bernardo Mountain

I had been wanting to hike to the summit of Bernardo Mountain in Escondido for some time. I had driven by this peak 1000 times but never knew it was a hiking destination until recently. First, my doctor, who is into hiking himself, recommended not only hiking to the summit, but hiking the trails of San Dieguito River Valley,  

which runs from the mountains near Julian all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Second, a friend of mine hiked to the summit and posted some very nice photos of the surrounding mountains, lakes and communities. My third reason for going on this hike was it gave me a reason to walk across the pedestrian bridge that spans Lake Hodges near interstate 15.

So I woke up late Saturday morning feeling tired, weak and fat. Those are the best reasons to go for a hike. So after breakfast I gathered my hiking equipment and headed out. When I left my house it was still kind of overcast and cool, but by the time I got to the dirt parking lot it was very warm and sunny. I started hiking around 11 AM, and took my time. Since I had never done this hike before I wanted to get plenty of photos with my new camera.

The bridge across the lake was really nice. It was wider, sturdier and shorter than I expected. I stopped several times over the lake to take more photos.

Once on the other side, I followed the hiking/biking trail westward. I'd say there were more mountain bikers than hikers, so I stayed to the right of the trail to keep out of their way. The trail then crosses a small stream where the palm trees and other vegetation keep it cooler.  Shortly after this "congested" section, the trail to the summit veers off to the right where the trial gets narrower. However, I still encountered a few more mountain bikers. After another 20 minutes of hiking I saw the last hiker/biker for the next 45 minutes. A woman was hiking down with a small dog.

 So far the trial had been very gentle and not too steep. But as I got higher up the hill the path got steeper and rockier. Once you pass a large, ugly water tank, the trail gets even steeper, which I didn't realize until the hike down where it was difficult to keep from slipping.

Finally, the summit was in sight. Once at the top I was happy that there was a very cool breeze. I was also semi-surprised that there was no one else up there, but since I hadn't seen any other hikers for a while I really wasn't that surprised. Before I rested I took advantage of the people-free summit and took many photos. I did some experimenting with the settings on my new camera to see how they would turn out. I also took a short movie, where I found out that the camera really picks up the sound of the wind. You can barely hear my voice over the wind. The biggest challenge was getting a photo of myself. I put the camera down, set the 10 second timer and hurried to get in place before the shot.

It was clear at the summit, but there was still some haze in the air, so far off mountains like Mt. Woodson and Black Mountain appeared very hazy.

After eating a snack, drinking a sports drink and stretching my leg muscles, I put my pack back on and headed back down. Hiking down went much quicker, of course, and after about 20 minutes of hiking I ran across two mountain bikers. I stopped to talk to them. They asked where this trail led, and I told them to the summit. They thought that it connected to the other side, but I told them it did not. As they debated about turning around or not, I continued on my way. In fact I went so fast I missed a turn off and ended up and a dirt road near some houses. I turned around and was only about five minutes away from my missed turn. As I got closer to the main trail there were more people, but not as many as when I started. I think the heat was keeping them away.

I crossed the cool stream again, then back to the bridge and finally my car. I had two devices recording my trip. My Garmin 500 that I use for biking, which gave me this information, and my phone which basically gave me the same statistics. The hike was almost seven miles and took me 2:45, which included lots of stops for picture taking and 20 minutes at the summit. Would I do the hike again? Yes! And I'd recommend it to any hiker, just remember to bring enough water. I drank two liters of fluid. Next time I'd like to get an earlier start, though.