April in Berlin

"Springtime in Germany"  ---  albeit in 2015 Berlin  --- has been good,  even if the birds are waking us up at 4am (a lot earlier than the typical city noises).  Plus the chestnuts are blooming, the tourists are back in droves, the German train conductors were on strike for two days shutting down the train system, and today the local Post Office is closed due to another strike because Deutsche Bank is selling 50% of its shares of the Deutsche Post Bank --- and so it goes.

Here two spring views from our balcony with the cemetery where the birds are doing their raucous mating:

                                             

The TV tower is popular with Bill and me because we can see it from our living room couch, and with tourists because of its revolving restaurant and viewing platform.  The tower, then the tallest in Europe, was built by the former East German government as a Communist show piece and -- in contrast to many other Communist memorials -- survived German unification.  Back then the West Berliners who had as full a view of the tower as the East Berliners soon dubbed it "God's Revenge" -- because of the cross that appears on the metal bulb when the sun shines. (Sorry the photo is too small for it to be visible).

Last week's sunshine made biking even more fun than usual, so we did three longer rides in and around this city where one has almost too many choices with its many lakes, canals, extensive forests, AND, good for Bill and me, many bike paths in all directions: 
On Tuesday we took part of the Mauer-Weg (the path along the former "Wall") to Luebars, a small agricultural village, part of the city of Berlin, where time has stood still.  This path is mainly enchanting; however, there are stretches where the former "no-man's-land (the "iron curtain") is still visible and where the path is strewn with litter and needs cleaning.

 

 

 

 



On Thursday we put the bikes on a train, got off at Potsdam and rode 34 kilometers around two lakes.  We stopped at Caputh, a village where Albert Einstein and his wife spent their summers from 1929-32, and where he loved to sail his boat  just below his house on Lake Templin:

 

and where King Frederic I when he was still Markgraf of Brandenburg expanded a castle/manor house in the 17th century:                               

 

 

On we went to the former artist community Ferch where we stopped for lunch:





 

Much needed renovations are happening at the Petzow manor house. Apparently, writer Theodor Fontane (Effi Briest) found inspirations for some of his novels close by. 

We rode back through Potsdam, the beautiful capital of the State of Brandenburg.  It deserves a separate blog entry.

 

We don't need to go far to be surrounded by green:  A 5 minute walk from our apartment takes us to a large park called Volkspark Friedrichshain. Its two hills are ideal for joggers in an otherwise flat city  (they are remnants of Berlin's rubble and ashes after its total WW II destruction).

 

And one day this week we rode our bicycles along THE main drag of Berlin called "Unter den Linden" that goes right through the middle of the city, by the Museum Island, by the opera house, by all these important places, like the State Library, the Russian Embassy (remember East Berlin was part of the Soviet Zone), through the Brandenburg Gate to the Tier-Park where all we did was sit in the sun and watch the world (i.e. tourists and joggers) go by: 

 



 

Provence, Avignon and Vaucluse

April is a good time to visit Avignon and Provence: there are few tourists, the rooms are cheaper than later in the year, the weather starts getting warmer, and the cherry trees are in full bloom.  We started our trip in a rental car at Lyon airport and drove to Avignon, the medieval seat of the14th century Palais des Papes.  Avignon has a fully intact city wall that surrounds the lively downtown where it's easy to get lost in the tiny medieval streets. 

 

 

 The Papal Cathedral and dining hall.

 

 



One of the world's most famous bridges (Mount Ventoux in the background)

 

 

 

After hectic Avignon we decided to retreat to rural Vaucluse, famous for its stone villages, orchards, vineyards, good food and friendly people.  It starts east of Avignon and is just a tiny part of Provence.  We stayed in the little towns of Apt and Mazan, both in the middle of nowhere, but great places for daily excursions in all directions.  Some of you may remember traveling Europe in the sixties on Frommer's $5 a day; the bed-and-breakfast in Apt could have come straight out of Frommer: funky and quirky, the bathroom without a door, just a screen, the breakfast on the third level at the hostess' large kitchen table. BUT, much more important, she was exceedingly friendly; the breakfast was good; our room was huge with tall ceilings and a large window with exterior shutters (which we closed at night for privacy; the window stayed open so we could hear the fountain on the market place).

  

  

The B&B L'Espagniola in Apt where we stayed

 

 

Gordes and Bonnieux are the most touristy of these little towns on top of rocky outcrops, but so are Menerbes (made famous by Peter Mayle's "A Year in Provence"), Lacoste (where the Marquis de Sade tortured his female victims and whose castle ruins are now owned and maintained by Pierre Cardin), Malaucene (where the Hugenots took refuge before they were persecuted), and yes, Myra, lovely Venasque; Barrieux where the height of the castle diminishes the town, Oppede-le-Vieux which the last inhabitants left in 1909.  We visited many more, even rented bikes and did what so many French people do in that area: bike, eat and drink. The highest point of the Vaucluse is Mount Ventoux, the 1,912 meter high mountain and murderous challenge of some the Tour-de-France bike races. (We did not ascend the mountain but rambled around its foothills.)
 

 Gordes

 

 

 

 Barrieux

 

 

 Apt market place

 

 Oppede-le-Vieux

 Lavender fields near Buoux

 Bonnieux

 On a bike trip below Mt. Ventoux

 

 

 Abbaye de Senanque

 Venasques



 Vinyards in the Cavalon Valley

 

 

Near Bonnieux (Ventoux in back)

 

 

  

The B&B in Mazan "Le Secretes du Cezanne".   Agnes, our landlady, not only spoke fluent English and German, but the comforts and size of the rooms, and the loving care with which she treats all her guests are so outstanding that they overcome the lack of food establishments in Mazan (imagine having to order a table at the Pizzeria!)

 

Thankfully, it was grey and rainy the last two or three days of our stay which made it a lot easier to say good-bye to Provence.