Historic Buildings

While Heinrich was visiting Berlin he was able to see some famous buildings from Germany's history. One of these buildings was the Olympic Stadium.

This is the place where the Summer Olympics were held in 1936. They are famous for some of the record setting events that featured Jesse Owens. He was a very good American athlete but the German leaders wouldn't attend the award ceremony because Jesse was black.

 

Another building was the Reichstag. This used to be the main government building a long time ago. But in the 1930s the Nazis tried to burn it down. For along time it was just an empty shell of a building.

When Germany was reunited in the 1990s the Reichstag was rebuilt to be the main political center of Germany. The stone dome that originally covered it was damaged by the fire and bombing. When it was rebuilt a glass dome was built to cover the top.

The Berlin Dom or cathedral was very beautiful. It has many statues and designs on the exterior of the building. There are also many stain glassed windows. It sits on the original site of old Berlin, an island in the Spree River.

Across the road there was an old church with a very important statue. In the church gardens is a statue of Martin Luther. He is a very important man in German history. He caused an enormous change in how people thought about God.

Berlin Bears

On one of Heinrich vacation weekends he was able to travel to Berlin which is the capitol of Germany. The city of Berlin takes it name from the symbol of the bear. All through the city there are bears of many types. There was a golden chariot pulled by golden polar bears. The bear in the chariot is holding the crest of Germany. His paws straight up and this is the shape of bears scattered through Berlin.  During the rest of his visit through Berlin, Heinrich was on an adventure to find as many different types of bears as he could find. He got some really nice pictures of some of them.

There was a bear in front of a hotel dressed up like a concierge.

 

Another bear was advertising a rental car agency.

 

One of the bears celebrated the Olympics and wore a gold metal.

The bear in front of the Malaysian Embassy was painted with tropical scenes.  Heinrich had to take this picture from the bus ride - so it is a little blurry.

One of the bears was painted with pictures of the Beetles, a music group from several years ago.

Out at the Olympic Stadium were two bears dressed up as supporters of the local football team. Remember in Germany football means soccer. That's why there is a soccer ball between them.

Connelles part 2

The next morning Heinrich went for a walk around the grounds of the Hotel. It was snowy and a little chilly but it was still a beautiful day. He crossed a river that ran in front of the hotel on a bridge with a wonderful French countryside view.

 

 

At the other end of the bridge was a little island. On the island was a fun looking playground. It was too snowy to play today but Heinrich figured he would probably come back an other time with guests.

 

 

Down by the river was a stand of bamboo. With the snow, it made a very pretty scene. Heinrich thought maybe this would be a good place for a panda bear. They really like bamboo.

On the way back to the Hotel Heinrich found a wall with several interesting pots hanging from it. 

The pots were a small herb garden that the hotel restaurant used for cooking in the winter. Even with the snow some of the herbs were still trying to grow.

Heinrich thought he would try to translate Thyme Citron, but then he realized the sign already said it in English – Lemon thyme.

  

The last pot had fennel. Fennel is an herb that tastes kind of like licorice.

The hotel at Connelles was one of the nicest Heinrich had ever stayed in any where in the world. And it was certainly the least expensive.

Connelles part 1

Sometimes Heinrich finds some outstanding bargains as he travels around Europe. One weekend he found a Booking bargain in France. It was a long drive over on a very snow day (and really, French people do not drive well in the snow). But when he got there he found a very nice hotel that was out in the French countryside.

The room was amazing. There was a nice sitting area with a full size TV and a comfortable couch set.

And a really large bathroom. Some hotels have one bathroom at the end of the hall that all of the guest share. And most French bathrooms are very small. But this thing was spacious.

And the bedroom was a completely separate room with a big, soft, cozy, fluffy bed. (Heinrich probably should have made the bed before he took the picture).

And there is more. The room came with a full kitchen with a stove, Microwave, refrigerator. The most amazing thing is the room was only 12.50 Euros or about $15.00 US. Unbelievable.

Lindt

Heinrich found a wonderful little corner of Germany in a city named Aachen. On a very short part of a road on the north side of Aachen is a outlet store for the Lindt Chocolate company.

The store sells chocolates made by some of the best chocolatiers in the world. Heinrich found a picture of one of the chefs stirring a bowl of fresh chocolate.

In the store there are rows and rows and rows of chocolates. There are many different flavors and many more different shapes. It was like being a bear in a candy store.

Across the street was a Katjes store that sold many kinds of sweets and non-chocolate candies. And next to that store was a cookie outlet. It seems that Heinrich eyes were bigger than his stomach and probably his wallet as well.

When he got home Heinrich got a pictures of all of his Katjes,

and all of his cookie store bargains,

and all of his Lindt candy store treasures. The most amazing thing of all --- When he finished Heinrich asked, “Aren't you glad I showed discretion? I could of bought a lot more!”

Christopher's Zoo

Heinrich was on an adventure across the countryside in France when he saw something very surprising. He was sure he saw a panda bear sitting on the lawn in front of a house. But Heinrich was pretty sure Panda bears are from China not France.

 

Before he could figure out why there was a panda bear in France he noticed a snow tiger sneaking up on the panda bear. Heinrich was pretty scared and was going to yell to warn the panda bear.

But then he realized there were lots of other animals there as well. He could see cows and horses and gorillas and an orang-utan.

Across the way Heinrich could see a reindeer and a turtle and lioness.

 

Silly French people. Why would any one put that many animal statues in their front yard. It really was quite a zoo. There were camels and dogs and a goose and a penguin and a rabbit and goats.

Belgium Frites

Heinrich was driving through Belgium when he saw a man wave a sign up and down. It was pretty cold that day and the man didn't look like he was dressed warm enough to be out on such a cold day. But when Heinrich looked closer he realized it wasn't a real man. It was a mechanical mannequin. In Europe they use these a lot in construction sites. Instead of a live flag man or woman they use mechanical mannequins.

But this wasn't a construction site. So Heinrich decided to find out what was being advertised. It turned out to be a Belgian Friterie or fry shop. Remember in Europe they aren't called French Fries, they are called “frites Belge” or Belgian Fries.

Heinrich was pretty hungry so he thought he would try something to eat. There were lots of different ways the fries were being served inside. He decided to try a “fricadelle” or French fry sandwich. It tasted good even if it wasn't the normal way Heinrich usually eats his fries.